Court Rejects Obama Admin Exec Priv...Judge dings admin for ‘cavalier attitude’ toward transparency

Washington Free Beacon ^ | December 18, 2013 1:17 pm | CJ Ciaramella

[Red Steel]

A federal judge Tuesday rejected the Obama administration’s sweeping claims of executive privilege and ordered the disclosure of a foreign aid directive signed by President Barack Obama in 2010 but never publicly released.

U.S. District Court Judge Ellen Huvelle ruled the presidential order is not within the bounds of executive privilege and called the government’s arguments in favor of secrecy “troubling.”

“The government appears to adopt the cavalier attitude that the President should be permitted to convey orders throughout the Executive Branch without public oversight … to engage in what is in effect governance by ‘secret law,’” Huvelle said.

The Justice Department claimed the Presidential Policy Directive on Global Development—a guidance memo issued to federal agencies in 2010—was covered by executive privilege and restricted to those who “need to know.”

However, Huvelle found that “the government has not, even after plaintiff raised the issue … defined what ‘need to know’ means.”

“Here there is no evidence that the [directive] was intended to be, or has been treated as, a confidential presidential communication,” Huvelle wrote.

Huvelle, a Clinton appointee, issued the ruling in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought by the Center For Effective Government.

Julie Murray, an attorney with Public Citizen and counsel for the Center for Effective Government in the suit, said in an interview that the case “is going to have important implications for public access to federal policy.”

“It represents a rebuke of the government’s attempt to keep presidential policy directives secret, even when the directives—like this one—are publicly touted, have broad application to federal agencies, and are not classified,” she said.

The Center for Effective Government originally filed FOIA requests for the directive in 2011 with the State Department and USAID. Both agencies denied the requests and subsequent appeals, prompting the lawsuit.

“We knew that we had somewhat of a unique case with the presidential communications privilege here, and we thought it was fairly unprecedented the way they were trying to claim it,” Center for Effective Government’s open government analyst Gavin Baker said in an interview. “Thankfully the judge agreed. We think it could have been a dangerous thing if the privilege had been allowed to grow that way.”

“The judge had some very cogent things to say about how FOIA was meant to constrain secret law and ensure government does its business in public so the American people can know about it and debate it,” Baker continued. “I was very gratified to see the judge take the same perspective we have. It was a win for transparency.”

The Justice Department, which represented the White House in the case, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

[Red Steel]

Obama been hiding and lying again.

[Red Steel]

U.S. District Court Judge Ellen Huvelle:

"The government appears to adopt the cavalier attitude that the President should be permitted to convey orders throughout the Executive Branch without public oversight – to engage in what is in effect governance by "secret law.""

[HarleyD]

A federal judge Tuesday rejected the Obama administration’s sweeping claims of executive privilege and ordered the disclosure of a foreign aid directive signed by President Barack Obama in 2010 but never publicly released.

Of all the things that are going on with this administration, this is the most curious. Why would this administration claim executive privilege over who is getting foreign aid? I would suspect, if this information comes to light, this will be devastating.

It reminds me of the start of Watergate, which started in a DC courthouse over some seemingly minor thing.

[austinaero]

Sad to say but this judge can probably expect a visit from the IRS very soon.

[Red Steel]

Judge Napolitano take on this court ruling.

“The first time a federal judge has smacked down a president of the United States...”

“Federal Judge Orders Obama Release Secret Foreign Aid Document”

Youtube vid:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oI7NDuRuAJY

[Moorings]

“The government appears to adopt the cavalier attitude that the President should be permitted to convey orders throughout the Executive Branch without public oversight … to engage in what is in effect governance by ‘secret law,’” Huvelle said.

An excellent statement that describes our current situation. This should be news headlines everywhere.

[mrsmith]

Presidents have and need a large constitutional ability to conduct foreign affairs in secret.

But this claim of theirs seems bizarre.
If the directive needed to be secret it should have been classified as such.

[jeffc]

The Dems will just get one of “their” judges to overrule judge Huvelle and the media will celebrate it as a victory and that will be the end of it. Smackdowns of King Zero have never gone anywhere.

[Afterguard]

I think this Judge actuall stayed her ruling so the administration can appealing it. She wasn’t so courageous after all

[Afterguard]

I think this Judge actually stayed her ruling so the administration can appeal it. She wasn’t so courageous after all.

There, fixed it. Don’t want the grammar police all over me... :-)

[Walrus]

Would that this were the beginning of Obama’s own Watergate, but it ain’t happening.

Nixon had a highly antagonistic press working against him.

On the other hand, rather than a properly adversarial media, Obama has his personal cheerleading team.

That’s the big difference.

[Revel]

I assume that this is not about the case where Holder used presidential executive privilege to withhold information from congress. Even after Congress held him in contempt. Congress just hit the snore button on that one. As usual.