DOJ Proposes Letting Government Deny Existence of Sensitive Documents DOJ Proposes Letting Government Deny Existence of Sensitive Documents

By Shannon Bream

Published October 26, 2011 |


A longtime internal policy that allowed Justice Department officials to deny the existence of sensitive information could become the law of the land — in effect a license to lie — if a newly proposed rule becomes federal regulation in the coming weeks.

The proposed rule directs federal law enforcement agencies, after personnel have determined that documents are too delicate to be released, to respond to Freedom of Information Act requests “as if the excluded records did not exist.”

Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice, says the move appears to be in direct conflict with the administration’s promise to be more open.

“Despite all the talk of transparency, I can’t think of what’s less transparent than saying a document does not exist, when in fact, it does,” Sekulow told Fox News.

Source: http://nation.foxnews.com/department-justice/2011/10/26/doj-proposes-letting-government-deny-existence-sensitive-documents?cmpid=NL_FiredUpFoxNation_20111027