For the second consecutive year, the Obama administration set a new record for unprecedented censorship of government files under the Freedom of Information Act, spending millions to keep records secret, according to an analysis by the Associated Press.
Obama campaigned on the promise to be the most transparent administration in history, but upon examining the federal government's 2014 Freedom of Information Act data released Tuesday, AP concludes that the reality of the situation is a far cry from previous transparency assurances.
"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," wrote AP's Ted Bridis.
AP found that in nearly a third of all cases, the White House admitted that its initial decision to withhold or censor documents were "improper under the law." Of course, the admission only came when the administration was challenged.
By the end of the year, the administration had a backlog of 200,000 unanswered questions, a 55 percent increase. This could in part be explained by the cutting of 375 full-time federal employees (9 percent) whose job was to look for records.
"Citizens, journalists, businesses and others made a record 714,231 requests for information," wrote AP. "The U.S. spent a record $434 million trying to keep up. It also spent about $28 million on lawyers' fees to keep records secret."
The administration responded to 647,142 requests, 4 percent less than it did in 2013. AP found that more than ever - in 250,581 cases or 39 percent of all requests - it blacked out information or fully denied access.
In 215,848 other cases, agencies said they either couldn't locate the records, the government determined the request was improper or unreasonable, or the requester didn't pay for copies.
The Freedom of Information Act law allows citizens to request copies of federal records with little or no cost. Under the president's directive, records must be provided unless the government determines their disclose would harm national security.
However, many have criticized the government for using the national security issue as an excuse to prevent the disclosure of unethical, unconstitutional and sometimes illegal practices, according to the Guardian.
On Monday, on National Freedom of Information Day (during Sunshine Week), the White House ironically announced that its Office of Administration, responsible for record-keeping duties such as archiving emails, is no longer required to respond to FOIA requests.
