In the Public Interest: Monsanto and Its Promoters vs. Freedom of Information

Staff / Truthdig Oct 3, 2015 As the Freedom of Information Act approaches its 50th year, it faces a disturbing backlash from scientists tied to the agrichemical company Monsanto and its allies. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

White House Office Celebrates Sunshine Week by Thwarting Freedom of Information Act Requests

Roisin Davis / Truthdig Mar 20, 2015 Civil liberties advocates now have yet another reason to say President Obama has broken his 2008 promise to run the most transparent White House in history. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Journalists on the Government’s Blacklist

David Sirota / Truthdig Aug 23, 2014 As states move to hide details of government deals with Wall Street, and as politicians come up with new arguments to defend secrecy, a study released earlier this month revealed that many government information officers block specific journalists they don't like from accessing information. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Government’s MIA Pursuits ‘Acutely Dysfunctional,’ Suppressed Study Says

Tracy Bloom / Truthdig Jul 8, 2013 The government's efforts to account for the tens of thousands of Americans who went missing in action during the U.S.' foreign wars are in such bad shape that they risk becoming a "total failure," according to an internal report that was buried by military officials but obtained by The Associated Press through a Freedom of Information Act request. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Redacted FBI Documents Show Plot to Kill Occupy Leaders If ‘Deemed Necessary’

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Jun 30, 2013 "Did the FBI ignore, or even abet, a plot to assassinate Occupy Houston leaders?" asks journalist Dave Lindorff at WhoWhatWhy. "What did the Feds know? Whom did they warn? And what did the Houston Police know?" Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Has Obama Kept His Open-Government Pledge?

By Jennifer LaFleur, ProPublica Feb 12, 2013 After eight years of tightened access to government records under the Bush administration, open-government advocates were hopeful when Barack Obama promised greater transparency. Four years later, did the president keep his promise? Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Do As We Say, Congress Says, Before Doing What It Wants

By Theodoric Meyer, ProPublica Feb 1, 2013 Did you know Congress is exempt from portions of a number of federal laws, including provisions that protect workers in the private sector but don’t apply to the legislative branch’s approximately 30,000 employees? Here’s a look at some of the measures Congress exempts itself from. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Newspaper Draws Criticism for Posting Gun Owners’ Addresses

Tracy Bloom / Truthdig Dec 27, 2012 The Journal News, a newspaper that serves New York's lower Hudson Valley, is taking heat for its decision to post a map with the names and addresses of local gun permit holders on its website over the weekend. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

A Closer Look at the Guantánamo ‘Suicides’

Staff / Truthdig Jan 20, 2010 On June 9, 2006, three inmates at the US military's prison camp in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba -- 37-year-old Yemeni Salah Ahmed Al-Salami and two Saudis, 30-year-old Mani Shaman Al-Utaybi and 22-year-old Yasser Talal Al-Zahrani -- died, supposedly by hanging themselves in their cells However, the official account has now been challenged (continued) . Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

FBI Tracked Halberstam for Over Two Decades

Staff / Truthdig Nov 9, 2008 This is spooky: A group of journalism students from the City University of New York filed a Freedom of Information request and discovered that the FBI tracked the late Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Halberstam for more than two decades. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Scientist Targeted in Anthrax Probe Dies in Apparent Suicide

Staff / Truthdig Aug 1, 2008 The apparent suicide of 62-year-old scientist Bruce E. Ivins on Tuesday shook up his co-workers at the military biodefense labs in Maryland where he'd worked for nearly two decades. But the significance of his death extended beyond personal tragedy when it emerged that Ivins was about to be prosecuted by the Justice Department for alleged involvement in the anthrax attacks of 2001. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Administration Plays Hide and Seek With Missing E-Mails

Staff / Truthdig Aug 23, 2007 In an apparent effort to keep the estimated 5 million missing White House e-mails missing, the Justice Department is claiming that the White House Office of Administration, which handles IT support for the executive branch, is not covered by freedom-of-information law. Press-freedom advocate Lucy Dalglish notices a trend: "When they don't want to comply with the law, they just shamelessly argue they are not subject to the law." Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )