freedom of information compliance to be mediated by department of justice

But in his budget request this week, Bush proposed shifting a newly created ombudsman's position from the National Archives and Records Administration to the Department of Justice. Because the ombudsman would be the chief monitor of compliance with the new law, that move is akin to killing the critical function, some members of Congress and watchdog groups say.

"Justice represents the agencies when they're sued over FOIA. . . . It doesn't make a lot of sense for them to be the mediator," said Kristin Adair, staff counsel at the National Security Archive, which is suing the White House to force it to preserve e-mails the administration says it may have lost.

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Just as we thought a victory had been won on the Freedom of Information front it turns out that G.W. has found a way to bypass the law and constitution once again. The move that Bush is proposing is effectively the same thing as having someone from the prosecution represent the defense. This makes no sense whatsoever. How can they possibly believe there will be a fair decision when determining what information can and will be released?

Considering the fact that Bush has asserted that the Justice Department, as part of the Executive, can't act counter to the desires of the Executive, it's pretty clear what Bush's motives are here: more secrecy.

Those pesky FOIA requests interfere with his illegal unconstitutional acts.

It's ironic that Republicans used to talk non-stop about sunshine laws and open government. What a difference a Bush Administration makes.