DHS plays politics with FOIA requests
The Associated Press reports that the Department of Homeland Security has been delaying responses to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests — possibly including ours — while they are “reviewed’ by top political advisors:
[T]he Homeland Security Department detoured hundreds of requests for federal records to senior political advisers for highly unusual scrutiny, probing for information about the requesters and delaying disclosures deemed too politically sensitive….
The special reviews at times delayed the release of information to Congress, watchdog groups and the news media for weeks beyond the usual wait….
Political staffers reviewed information requests submitted by reporters and other citizens as a way to anticipate troublesome scrutiny. Days after the nearly catastrophic Christmas Day bombing attempt aboard a Detroit-bound airliner, they asked whether news media or other organizations had filed records requests about the attack.
[To confirm whether our requests were among those improperly delayed or subjected to political scrutiny, we've filed new FOIA requests for the documents released to the AP and for all records of the processing of our previous FOIA requests and appeals.]
November 7th, 2010 at 10:42 am
[...] and to which we are entitled, under the Freedom of Information Act, in order to subject them to higher-level political review and an illegal requirement for higher-level political approval prior to any [...]
May 27th, 2011 at 11:15 pm
[...] which is directly controlled by the DHS itself, has no independence, and is the subject of an ongoing scandal and attempted cover-up involving political interference with requests — including ours [...]