3 ms·

> No, Obama had a personal thing against leakers. None was too many for him. Funny enough he did promise transparency https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/

by rdtsc 8y ago

> No, Obama had a personal thing against leakers. None was too many for him. Funny enough he did promise transparency https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/obama-promised-transparency-but-his-administration-is-one-of-the-most-secretive/2016/05/24/5a46caba-21c1-11e6-9e7f-57890b612299_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/obama-promise...

dgzl 8y ago
And unsurprisingly, he failed to deliver on this.
- rdtsc 8y ago
  Well the point was the leakers did it for him!
- mlb_hn 8y ago
  That is accurate: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/obama-administration-sets-new-record-withholding-foia-requests https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/obama-administration-set... Background on FOIA: Basically, in 1966 the US Government created the Freedom of Information Act that allowed people to ask for records from federal agencies. In theory, it was supposed to create transparency. Unfortunately, it's a bit outdated and in many areas it's turned into many in the Government thinking requestors are just out to get them (and a lot of it is also commercial requesters). Under Obama, the USG denied more requests than ever. In their defense though, it's got really easy to do a FOIA request online and flood the government with requests (it only applies at the federal level, states have their own version of public information laws).
  - creaghpatr 8y ago
    The EPA used/uses fake email addresses to dodge FOIAs during the Obama and Trump administrations- guessing they all still do something like this. Scott Pruitt apparently has 4. >During President Barack Obama’s first term, then-EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson came under fire for maintaining a separate agency email under the alias “Richard Windsor” — a name that derived from Jackson’s family dog when she lived in East Windsor Township, N.J. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2018/04/12/scott-pruitt-has-four-different-epa-email-addresses-lawmakers-want-to-know-why/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.775a01b2cb5d https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/20...

by rdtsc 8y ago

dgzl 8y ago

And unsurprisingly, he failed to deliver on this.

rdtsc 8y ago
Well the point was the leakers did it for him!
mlb_hn 8y ago
That is accurate: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/obama-administration-sets-new-record-withholding-foia-requests https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/obama-administration-set... Background on FOIA: Basically, in 1966 the US Government created the Freedom of Information Act that allowed people to ask for records from federal agencies. In theory, it was supposed to create transparency. Unfortunately, it's a bit outdated and in many areas it's turned into many in the Government thinking requestors are just out to get them (and a lot of it is also commercial requesters). Under Obama, the USG denied more requests than ever. In their defense though, it's got really easy to do a FOIA request online and flood the government with requests (it only applies at the federal level, states have their own version of public information laws).
- creaghpatr 8y ago
  The EPA used/uses fake email addresses to dodge FOIAs during the Obama and Trump administrations- guessing they all still do something like this. Scott Pruitt apparently has 4. >During President Barack Obama’s first term, then-EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson came under fire for maintaining a separate agency email under the alias “Richard Windsor” — a name that derived from Jackson’s family dog when she lived in East Windsor Township, N.J. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2018/04/12/scott-pruitt-has-four-different-epa-email-addresses-lawmakers-want-to-know-why/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.775a01b2cb5d https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/20...