Does the Department of Homeland Security consider the political leanings of those making requests through the Freedom of Information Act?
That's the question Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA) wants answered.
To get that answer, he has issued subpoenas demanding that two employees of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appear in front of his committee.
Politico reports:
The request comes as the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, of which Issa is the chairman, investigates whether DHS employees allow political interference when dealing with FOIA requests. People close to the committee say Issa has whistleblower documents that prove such activity occurs. His first subpoena went to Countrywide Financial.
But Democrats on the committee are not happy about the subpoenas.
According to Politico, ranking Democrat Elijah Cummings (D-MD), lashed out at Issa for "not informing the minority about subpoenas as he had promised."
“The abrupt manner in which you issued all three subpoenas over the past week has been inconsistent with this commitment,” Cummings wrote in a letter to Issa on Thursday. “The coercive power of this committee should be used only when the purpose of the subpoena is clear and reasonable efforts to obtain the information have been exhausted. Subpoenas should not be issued in a rushed and confused manner that leaves members of the Committee wondering whether they serve legitimate interests.”
Earlier in February a whistleblower who once worked for the Department of Justice claimed that FOIA requests from liberals got same day service in many cases, while many requests from conservatives got ignored.
FOIA requests from liberals or politically connected civil rights groups are often given same day turn-around by the DOJ. But requests from conservatives or Republicans face long delays, if fulfilled at all.
But the President promised the most transparent administration in history during the 2008 campaign.
Maybe transparency only applies if you're a union boss, or a liberal working for NPR.
For the rest of us - not so much.
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Comments
I wonder what the subpoenas will expose.
Everyone suspected of wrongdoing show be questioned regardless of which party they belong to.
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