« The unreported - real story - about that shoe thrower and the forces behind him | Main | Global 'un-warming' alert to Al Gore: Snow, rain and ice blankets much of US »
December 22, 2008
Senator Hope and Change offering no hope of change in disclosure of Blago documentation
Topics: Political News and commentariesIt's turning out that whatever records Team Obama has regarding Rod Blagojevich just might stay under wraps because transition records are not subject to the Freedom of Information Act which requires federal government agencies to produce most records requested by the public and media. This is because technically the transition team is a private entity, not a government agency, even though it gets taxpayer money, and so it's looking more and more like we the taxpayers are going to get screwed out of knowing the real truth about Team Obama's dealings with Blagojevich:
Barack Obama is promising . . . he'll disclose contacts between his staff and disgraced Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's office, but he's stopped short of pledging to release e-mails or other records that could be key to understanding those contacts.It seems that Senator Hope and Change has discovered a loophole and intends to use it. The guy isn't even President yet and he's already choosing to continue to operate just like the Chicago political machine he and his friends came up through, and are now bringing with them to Washington.
Whatever such records exist may never see the light of day, thanks to a gap in government records disclosure laws that allows presidential transition teams to keep their documents -- even those prepared using taxpayer dollars -- out of the public record.
The exemption from disclosure rules surprised some records law experts, and may prompt legislation from a leading Republican transparency advocate to apply the laws to presidential transition teams, which could compel Team Obama to preserve Blagojevich-related records for inspection, if only in the distant future.
But for now, a spokeswoman for President-elect Barack Obama said the transition team was not covered by a public information law that Politico cited in requesting copies of Obama staffers' emails and notes about Blagojevich's efforts to fill the Senate seat Obama vacated after winning the presidency.
Posted by Hyscience at December 22, 2008 11:57 AM
Articles Related to Political News and commentaries:
- Senator Hope and Change offering no hope of change in disclosure of Blago documentation - Dec 22, 2008
