Secrecy and the Bush Administration
By Ben Carlson, alibi
Attorney General John Ashcroft issued a memo to government agencies in October of 2001 urging that FOIA requests be rejected whenever possible, using the vaguest reasoning possible. Ashcroft then assured federal agencies that the Department of Justice “will defend your decisions.”
In November 2001, President Bush effectively signed the 1978 Presidential Records Act out of existence. Executive Order 13233 granted former presidents, their heirs, and sitting presidents the right to veto the release of presidential documents to the public. In one fell stroke, Bush freed the supreme executive from public scrutiny of his records. (The 1978 law required their release after 12 years — a reaction to Nixon’s secretiveness.)
Even information that was already released or slated for release fell prey to the federal government’s hostility to disclosure. …
Without offering an explanation, Bush delayed the declassification of millions of documents in March 2003 and gave FOIA officers greater freedom to reclassify information that had already been released. …
A Brief History of the Freedom of Information Act
Growing efforts to pry open the doors of the government finally came to fruition in 1966, after JFK’s notoriously closed-door presidency. Public outcry had reached such a pitch by that time that President Johnson had little choice but to sign the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) on July Fourth. (He still managed to drag his heels, though; he dodged the press cycle by signing it late at night on his Texas ranch.)
Since 1966, FOIA has varied in strength depending on the compliance of each administration. Nixon’s, naturally, was a low point, though his stonewalling led to the strengthening of FOIA (a weak bill initially) under Gerald Ford. In the ’80s, Reagan attempted to scale it back, complaining that FOIA had become too expensive—an ironic point, considering that he spent more on Pentagon marching bands at the time.
Presidential compliance reached its zenith under Clinton, who issued a memo declaring his commitment to “enhancing [FOIA’s] effectiveness in my administration.” Attorney General Janet Reno further asserted a “presumption of disclosure” in matters of FOIA. Their words became action in 1996, when Clinton approved the expansion of FOIA rights to the Net, requiring agencies to post the most frequently requested information online.
For the complete guide [to filing FOIA requests} and agency addresses, go to http://archive.aclu.org/library/foia.html