Oct 30 2009
Obama Administration: “Privacy Act Does Not Apply to White House
Judicial Watch is reporting that the Obama administration argued in a recent court filing that the Privacy Act does not apply to the Executive Office fo the President (EOP). Judical Watch is a public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption. In 1996, Judical Watch filed a lawsuit against the Clinton White House due to a scandal where the Clinton administration obtained private FBI files of hundreds of former Reagan and Bush officials. It was commonly refered to as “Filegate.”
The Obama Justice Department filed a “Renewed Motion for Summary Judgement” claim with the U.S. District Court and stated the following: “The White House is not an agency under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), and it necessarily follows that it is not an agency subject to the Privacy Act.” However, the Privacy Act specifically lists the “Executive Office of the President” as an agency subject to the Act’s provisions.
This exact legal argument has been rejected before by U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth and has ruled “…this court holds that under the Privacy Act, the word ‘agency’ includes the Executive Office of the President, just as the Privacy Act says.” Even former President Bill Clinton agrees with the court’s ruling and said that his adminstration should and would be held accountable for the “Filegate” scandal.
What is the Obama administration trying to hide?
Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said “It is disturbing that the Obama administration has taken the legal position that the Privacy Act does not apply to the White House and the Clinton FBI files scandal was not a scandal. It is worrying to those of us concerned about the Obama White House’s collecting “fishy” emails and compiling an enemies list of new organizations, radio hosts, businesses, and industry associations to attack and smear. Is the Obama defense of the FBI files scandal less about that Clinton scandal and more about what his White House is up to now?”
Those are some excellent points to consider. The Obama administration is filled with radicals who use “Chicago-style” politics and have shown the propensity to use these tactics against their detractors. This is the same White House who has used a taxpayer-funded, government website, to attack Fox News. Just recently the Obama administration posted an attack against Edmunds.com for showing data that detailed the failure of “Cash for Clunkers.” See a pattern?
Not only is this the biggest bunch of crybabies that we have ever seen in the White House, it is looking like this is the biggest group of thugs and radicals we have ever had in the White House. They are attempting to stifle free-speech and now they are attempting to hide what is happening inside the Obama White House. What happen to Obama’s claim about his administration being the most open and transparent in history?
Like most things that come from Obama’s mouth…it was a lie!
