Super Secret Bush Administration: A Timeline
Thu Feb 02, 2006 at 11:56:38 AM PDT
This list isn't nearly complete. It is just what anyone can find in about three hours of internet searching. And, it's appalling. We've winced at the reports that Bush's photos are "press releases" not candids, and at his circular logic about not releasing the NSA domestic spying justification: "We can't release secret information about a secret program because it's secret." However, these latest stone walls are nothing but a continuation of the stonewalling he's been doing since 2001. And, lest we be told this was after 9/11: think again. Timeline below in the extended copy, along with some articles for review.
February 2, 2006: White House refuses to release documents to the Senate Judiciary Committee pertaining to the warrantless searches and domestic spying program.
New York Times
February 2, 2006: Records sought in the CIA leak investigation could be missing because not all e-mail was archived in the White House in 2003, the year the Administration exposed the identity of Valerie Plame and compromised the "Brewster Jennings" brass plate operation. (AP)
January 26, 2006: During a press conference Bush claims the photos of himself and Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff are "no big deal" but stories circulate about Reflections Photography scrubbing their photo archives. Huffington Post
January 24, 2006: The White House says it will not release executive branch communications, certain requested documents, and will not make senior White House officials available to testify before two Congressional committees investigating the Bush Administration's response to Hurricane Katrina. (Eric Lipton, New York Times 1.24/2006) nyt
January 24, 2006: Federal Judge rules that the Pentagon must release the names of detainees at the US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Reuters
January 17, 2006: White House refuses to reveal details of Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff's visits with Bush Administration staff. (Nedra Pickler: Associated Press, 1/17/06)
January 11, 2006: Rep. Henry Waxman sends a letter to Labor Secretary Chao asking her to reverse the Mine Safety and Health Administration's 2004 decision to exclude mine safety inspector's notes in FOIA responses. The agency's secrecy policy limited disclosure about hundreds of safety violations at the Sago mine for years before the disaster. GovReformMO
January 5, 2006: White House stonewalls about meetings Republican lobbyists Jack Abramoff had with members of the Bush Administration. Think Progress
October 24, 2005: Bush refuses to release documents related to the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court. Washington Post
August 11, 2005: Bush order (Nov.2001) used to justify not releasing memos written by John G. Roberts when Roberts worked for the Reagan Administration. The Reagan Library staff were ready to release the material but lawyers from the White House were deciding which items could be made available.
June 22, 2005: ACLU and Center for Constitutional Rights request the release of the "Darby Photos" depicting torture and abuse at Abu Ghraib Prison. Bush Administration asked for a delay. Center for Constitutional Rights
see also Matt Welsh article
May 2, 2005: Bush interview on personal privacy: "I believe in open government," Bush said at a meeting of the American Society of Newspaper Editors. "I've always believed in open government. I don't e-mail, however. And there's a reason: I don't want you reading my personal stuff."
Bush once was a prolific e-mailer. But he signed off from cyberspace just before taking office in 2001 after lawyers told him that his presidential e-mail communications would be subject to legal and archival requirements." Post Gazette
July 13, 2005: The White House and CIA refused to give the Senate Intelligence Committee a one page summary of pre-war intelligence in Iraq. The summary was prepared by Bush in October 2002. Global Policy Forum
August 2004: Issues raised about Bush's military service record. Records were found using FOIA Sourcewatch
September 21, 2004: House Government Reform Committee Minority Staff Report on "Secrecy in the Administration" released OMBwatch
June 2004: "In June 2004, without public comment or input, MSHA secretly changed its long-standing policy of routinely releasing MSHA inspector notes under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The policy has been in place since 1977, the inception of the current-day Mine Act." source
May 18, 2004: Mine Safety & Health News asked for biographical information about David Dye, newly appointed Assistant Secretary at MSHA. The request was denied "based on privacy concerns." Reporter found that the Bush Administration was routinely denying biographical information on politicall appointees. OHVEC
April 16, 2004: White House - Department of Health and Human Services refuses to release Medicare Cost estimates. CAF
December 12, 2003: US News and World Report publishes article (Schmitt & Pound) including information that the Bush Administration is denying access to information about automobile and tire safety. US Consumer Product Safety Commission is more frequently denying information requests.usnwr
June 17, 2003: Appeals Court overturns decision ordering the release of names of those swept up as detainees after September 11, 2001. Human Rights News
CBS News: "Earlier this month, a long-awaited oversight report by Justice Department investigators found the FBI took too long to determine whether hundreds of foreigners held after the Sept. 11 attacks were involved with terrorism, as dozens endured "lock-down" conditions 23 hours each day and slept under bright lights. ...
The inspector general's report found "significant problems" in the Bush administration's actions toward 762 foreigners held on immigration violations after Sept. 11. Only one, Zacarias Moussaoui, has been charged with any terrorism-related crime; 505 have been deported.
Last month, the Supreme Court upheld a Justice Department policy closing immigration hearings to the public." CBS
March 25, 2003: Bush amends Executive Order 12958 for a "uniform system of classifying, safeguarding, information: "Nevertheless, throughout our history, the national defense has required that certain information be maintained in confidence in order to protect our democratic institutions, our homeland security, and our interactions with foreign nations..." White House
November 25, 2002: Bush Administration orders information gathered by the Homeland Security Department restricted from the press, Congressional Committees, and the Comptroller General. The provisions were in the law creating the Department of Homeland Security. FOI Center
August 5, 2002: Federal Judge orders the Bush administration to release the names of all detainees associated with the 9/11 investigation. PBS
July 26, 2002: Recount fund created by Bush-Cheney campaign evaded soft money disclosure law for 18 months, and did not file required forms until the last possible day. Public Citizen
July 8, 2002: Daschle calls for the SEC to release the file of its investigation into insider trading violations by George Bush when he served on the Harken Energy Corp. Board of Directors. White House blamed a "clerical error" for the $848,560 stock sale report. The reply was at odds with an earlier statement by Bush that he had filed all the necessary paperwork and disclosure forms.
May 15, 2002: The Environmental Protection Agency responds to FOIA requests about the criteria it used to remove information from its website after September 11, 2001; but, maintains that the criteria for determining what information will not be made public will remain secret. OMBWatch
March 3, 2002: Judge Gladys Kessler says that "the government can offer no legal or practical excuse for its excessive delay" in reponse to FOIA requests for information about Vice President Cheney's Energy Task Force. Bush Administration refuses to hand over documents it classifies as "Deliberative." Freedom of Information Center
December 12, 2001: White House refuses request/subpoena from the Committee on Government Reform (House of Representatives) for "certain confidential records" of the Department of Justice. FAS
October 12, 2001: Department of Justice memo by John Ashcroft to all Federal Departments and Agencies: "I encourage your agency to carefully consider the protection of all such values and interests when making disclosure determinations under the FOIA. Any discretionary decision by your agency to disclose information protected under the FOIA should be made only after full and deliberate consideration of the institutional, commercial, and personal privacy interests that could be implicated by disclosure of the information.
In making these decisions, you should consult with the Department of Justice's Office of Information and Privacy when significant FOIA issues arise, as well as with our Civil Division on FOIA litigation matters. When you carefully consider FOIA requests and decide to withhold records, in whole or in part, you can be assured that the Department of Justice will defend your decisions unless they lack a sound legal basis or present an unwarranted risk of adverse impact on the ability of other agencies to protect other important records. DOJ
Recommended Reading
US News and World Report
Report of a five month investigation by the reporters.
Eric Alterman "Bush's War on the Press" The Nation
OMB Watch "Bush Administration's Secrecy Policy"
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