Saturday, January 29, 2011

The Majesty of the FOIA Law is that the Rich and the Poor Receive Equally Shabby Treatment


A comforting fact about the Freedom of Information Act system is that it provides an equally poor performance for both plebeian and patrician.

On November 4, 2009, the Department of Defense's Freedom of Information Act office received two unclassified documents from the Mandatory Declassification Review staff of the Records and Declassification Division, Washington Headquarters Services sought by former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. (1) The files, one a 1/12/2006 Memorandum from Donald Rumsfeld to National Security Adviser Stephan Hadley and the Honorable Dr. J.D. Crouch regarding The Circular PC Meeting on "Lead Departments,' "Blended Leads," "Co-Leads," and the like,” (2) the focus of which was an unnamed project and an undated, untitled record titled “Comparison of Draft Legislation with Military Commission Orders,” (3)which was a chart comparing the MCOs with legislation then being drafted by the U.S. Congress on how to handle detainees at Gitmo and other black sites.

As the final letter response letter shows, this request was not completed until June 3, 2010, almost seven months to day that the Department of Defense's Freedom of Information Act office received the unclassified documents.(4)

(1) Page 4 of the PDF
(2) Page 5 of the PDF 
(3) Page 6 of the PDF
(4) Page 1 of the PDF

DOD FOIA File for a Donald Rumsfeld FOIA Request