The Freedom of Information Act is a powerful tool used to compel the government to release the sort of behind-the-scenes documents they may prefer to otherwise keep under wraps. Since Trump iced out CNN, only adding to Bannon’s strategy of making an the press “the opposition”, it’s clear that outlets are doing some soul-searching about reporting on the new administration.
Case in point- Reuters is getting a lot of praise for telling its staff that when it comes to covering Trump, they’re going to continue reporting, with or without official access, just like they already do in places where “media is unwelcome and frequently under attack.” On the other hand, the Wall Street Journal is getting a lot of grief for a directive the editor-in-chief sent that appears overly sympathetic to Trump’s preferred language about the Muslim ban. (Take note, those who claim the reporting side of the paper is free from the bias that plagues the opinion section.)
But this alternative relationship between White House and the press means that FOIAs will be all the more important. And coverage of the administration does make a difference, as this McClatchy story about Heartland’s Ken Haapala being on the Commerce transition team and overseeing NOAA, quickly led to another about his removal. So take a look at CJR’s analysis of over 30,000 FOIAs for some perspective on how to file successfully.
Speaking of which, someone should make sure that Senator Markey sees this, as he is one of the loudest voices protesting Scott Pruitt’s EPA nomination. Yesterday, amid flash mobs and ads and after anti-Pruitt projections on the EPA building, Democrats successfully boycotted the committee vote on Pruitt due to his refusal to answer many of the questions they asked, specifically about his fossil fuel funding and his anti-EPA efforts as attorney general.
Instead of answering fully, he told the senators to file FOIAs to get the information they requested. Senator Markey was not pleased, telling reporters, “What he continues to say is, ‘Go FOIA yourself.’”
[Continued after the jump!]
But as many of you no doubt know, FOIAs can also be a tool of harassment. Specifically, climate scientists have long been targeted for vexatious FOIAs, with a goal not of unearthing actual wrongdoing, but recreating the Climategate scandal. For example, the Climate Science Legal Defense Fund, along with UCS and AMS, has filed an amicus curiae in an attempt to persuade a judge not to release 8,000 NOAA emails to the right-wing group Judicial Watch.
The emails they seek are the same ones that witch-hunter Lamar Smith sought regarding Tom Karl et al’s 2015 pause-busting paper, which has since been confirmed by other research.
And while Smith appears to have given up on that particular fishing expedition, he’s certainly still actively opposing science, and intends to keep doing so this Congress. Next week he’s holding a hearing to “Make the EPA Great Again,” largely by hamstringing the EPA’s ability to regulate by making overly-onerous demands that would require the EPA break patient privacy laws or ignore public health studies.
News of Smith’s latest efforts makes Rebecca Leber’s latest piece, perfectly headlined If You Liked the Inquisition, You'll Love the House Science Committee, particularly prescient and worth the read.
Because it’s doubtful that things are going to be getting any better any time soon. And for those who caution the resistance to calm down, that Trump will become more presidential now that he’s in office, that he doesn’t really believe his hateful rhetoric, and that he’ll be restrained by his party, you might want to read this.
It only took Hitler five months to consolidate his power, during which time many advised against overreaction in the exact same terms as we now hear. And at the time, the thinking was that Hitler was merely a puppet.
Which certainly sounds familiar to us. What about you, NYTimes?
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