No Political Meddling with FOIA Requests, Pentagon Watchdog Finds

Responding to a senator’s suspicions, the Defense Department’s inspector general interviewed Freedom of Information Act officers for all the military services asking whether any politically appointed non-career staff had delayed or withheld release of any requested documents.

In a report released on Thursday, the watchdog said it found no such “undue influence,” having reviewed FOIA requests and 62 FOIA-related hotline complaints from January 2007 to July 2015. “We found no complaints or allegations indicating noncareer DoD official involvement in the FOIA process,” said the report titled “DoD Freedom of Information Policies Need Improvement.”

The investigation was requested in June 2015 by Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. He cited concerns about the State Department while led by Hillary Clinton as an example of the need for an inquiry. “Her staff carefully reviewed and scrutinized politically sensitive documents requested under FOIA—directly affecting what documents or portions of documents were ultimately released to requesters,” Johnson wrote to the Pentagon IG’s office.

The only possible instance at Defense that turned up involved one FOIA request that was sent to the White House, and then the Justice Department for review, since the documents pertained to Justice as well as the Pentagon. A non-career official on rotation in the White House counsel’s office approved the release after proposing that Defense also clear it with Justice. No delays resulted.

Johnson was informed of the findings last November.

After talking to FOIA specialists at the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and departments for all four services, the IG determined, however, “that DoD FOIA policies are outdated.” The Deputy Chief Management Officer had neglected to revise policies “to ensure currency and accuracy” as required by a Defense Department instruction on FOIA document issuance and President George W. Bush’s 2006 executive order 13392 on improving agency disclosure, as well as the 2007 Open Government Act, the report said.

The IG recommended that the deputy chief management officer comply with those requirements and “incorporate the notification procedures for ‘significant’ FOIA releases in its regulation.

The Pentagon officer “partially concurred,” settling on plans for a new issuance manual and for revisions of its FOIA release notification procedures under the general counsel’s guidance.