David Cuillier Comments on the Ghosting of Public Records Requests

David Cuillier, director of the Brechner Freedom of Information (FOI) Project, is quoted in “Treasury Department Sued for Ghosting Activists Seeking Emails with Left-Wing Groups” published in The Washington Examiner on Aug. 29.

The article focuses on the U.S. Department of Treasury and an impending lawsuit due to the lack of a response to public records requests from Protect the Public Trust. According to Cuillier, after a year has passed, the requests appear to have been ignored rather than denied.

“Unfortunately, nowadays it’s becoming more and more common across the federal government particularly but also at the state [and] local level. It’s really disconcerting,” said Cuillier.

“Ten years ago, when you ask for a public record from our government, you’d get it about half the time which still isn’t very good but now the federal level’s down to about 10% of the time,” Cuillier said.” “The response rate has been in ‘steady decline’ for 20, 30 years. We’re getting to the point where it’s almost down to zero.”

Cuillier said that Protect the Public Trust provided specific search terms after being asked for clarification from the Treasury Department. The organization is a conservative group asking for information regarding environmental groups which could suggest a “political agenda.”

“Government agencies do sometimes ask questions just to draw out the process. It’s happening more and more as agencies learn how to game the system,” he said. “Delay is denial and they know that.”

“We’re seeing all sorts of shenanigans with weird responses and denials that defy common sense, However, it ‘doesn’t matter who is in charge,’ since both political parties favor secrecy with public records,” Cuillier said.

According to Cuillier, the Treasury Department may not want to turn over the document because “information is power.”

Posted: August 30, 2024
Category: Brechner Center, College News
Tagged as: Brechner, David Cuillier, FOI, Freedom of Information