FC: Ashcroft instructs federal agencies to resist FOIA requests

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

*********

Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2001 11:12:39 -0700
To: farber () cis upenn edu (Dave Farber), Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>,
        freematt () coil com (Matthew Gaylor)
From: Jim Warren <jwarren () well com>
Subject: Ashcroft tell agencies to resist Freedom-of-Information requests

> SECRECY NEWS
> Project on Government Secrecy
> Federation of American Scientists
>
> October 17, 2001
>
>
> **      ASHCROFT TELLS AGENCIES TO RESIST FOIA RELEASES
> **      FRUS VOLUME ON GREECE DUE IN DECEMBER
> **      OCTOBER 17 COMES AND GOES
>
>
> ASHCROFT TELLS AGENCIES TO  RESIST FOIA RELEASES
>
> Attorney General John Ashcroft has issued a new statement of policy
> that encourages federal agencies to resist Freedom of Information Act
> (FOIA) requests whenever they have legal grounds to do so.
>
> The new statement supersedes a 1993 memorandum from Attorney General
> Janet Reno which promoted disclosure of government information
> through the FOIA unless it was "reasonably foreseeable that
> disclosure would be harmful."
>
> The Ashcroft policy rejects this "foreseeable harm" standard.
>
> Instead, the Justice Department instructs agencies to withhold
> information whenever there is a "sound legal basis" for doing so.
>
> "When you carefully consider FOIA requests and decide to withhold
> records, in whole or in part," the Attorney General advised, "you can
> be assured that the Department of Justice will defend your decisions
> unless they lack a sound legal basis...."

[It is especially important that Ashcroft has committed to having DOJ 
defend the suppression of public access -- rather than forcing the agency 
to provide its own defense if challenged in court.  --jim]

[The DOJ is the executive branch's law firm and defends agencies in court. 
There is no realistic "its own defense" option. What Ashcroft meant is that 
DOJ will mount an aggressive defense as long as there's some sort of 
reasonable legal claim and the federal agency isn't doing something 
entirely nutty. --Declan]

> The new FOIA policy statement, issued October 12, is posted here:
>
>      http://www.usdoj.gov/oip/foiapost/2001foiapost19.htm
>
> For purposes of comparison, Attorney General Reno's 1993 memorandum
> may be found here:
>
>      http://www.fas.org/sgp/clinton/reno.html
>
> As with many of the Bush Administration's new restrictions on public
> information, the new policy is only peripherally related to the fight
> against terrorism.  Rather, it appears to exploit the current
> circumstances to advance a predisposition toward official secrecy.

[...]





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