Most transparent administration in history sets new record for withholding government files

The self-proclaimed, "most transparent administration", as predicted, has been the opposite. Remember folks, President Obama signed the Open Government Directive to promote “an unprecedented level of openness in government” on his very first day in office.

From the Associated Press:

The Obama administration set a record again for censoring government files or outright denying access to them last year under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act, according to a new analysis of federal data by The Associated Press.

The government took longer to turn over files when it provided any, said more regularly that it couldn't find documents and refused a record number of times to turn over files quickly that might be especially newsworthy.

It also acknowledged in nearly 1 in 3 cases that its initial decisions to withhold or censor records were improper under the law — but only when it was challenged.

Its backlog of unanswered requests at year's end grew remarkably by 55 percent to more than 200,000. It also cut by 375, or about 9 percent, the number of full-time employees across government paid to look for records. That was the fewest number of employees working on the issue in five years.

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"This disappointing track record is hardly the mark of an administration that was supposed to be the most transparent in history.

“Despite his promise to lead the most transparent administration in history, whether it’s the chief architect of Obamacare misleading the public or the Secretary of State hiding her email on a private server, the President has routinely failed to deliver on his promise.

“Americans expect and deserve the highest standard when it comes to transparency from their President, which is why I’ll continue to fight to hold this White House accountable at every opportunity,” U.S. Senator John Cornyn said.

"We actually do have a lot to brag about. When it comes to our record on transparency, we have a lot to be proud of.

"And frankly, it sets a standard that future administrations will have to live up to," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said when asked about the report.