We noted two weeks ago that the Bush administration had refused a Freedom of Information Act request for records concerning the loss of millions of White House emails. Justice Department lawyers argued that the office which maintained that information, the Office of Administration, was not subject to FOIA.
But sometimes the administration surprises even itself with its capacity for secrecy. And so it was here, since the White House website clearly stated that the Office of Administration was subject to FOIA. And the office had been busily fulfilling FOIA requests for years, even employing a FOIA officer (the Department lawyers explained in their filing that this wasn’t a problem). Here’s the website as it was last month:
No more. Finally, the website has caught up, as Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, the D.C. watchdog that filed the FOIA request notes. Now it’s:
Problem solved!