Report: Obama lacks transparency on transparency

Via The Atlantic:

After taking heat from good government groups for its lack of progress on transparency, the Obama administration distorted its record on processing Freedom of Information Act requests, a former Justice Department official says. Despite talk early on in his administration that he would make FOIA requests easier to file and government agencies more responsive, proponents of open government have said that Obama has done the opposite. So, it was particularly rankling to see a press release boasting, "Department of Justice Increases FOIA Releases and Reduces FOIA Backlogs." Among those who think the opposite is true, is Dan Metcalfe, a founding director of the Justice Department's Office of Information and Privacy, who guided the federal government's FOIA practices for more than 25 years. He says the government's numbers do not add up.

"The department's most recent backlog reduction claim appears to be grossly wrong," said Metcalfe.

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