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(CNSNews.com) - The Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Inspector General says it will investigate whether EPA officials -- including Administrator Lisa Jackson -- used alias email accounts to conduct official government business, thereby shielding those communications from Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. Jackson reportedly used the name "Richard Windsor" on an official email account from which she may have sent messages on the administration's coal policy. Chris Horner of the free-market Competitive Enterprise Institute says he discovered Jackson's "false identity" while doing research for his book, "The Liberal War on Transparency.” Horner said he came across an "obscure" EPA...

The Department of Homeland Security has been forced to release a list of keywords and phrases it uses to monitor social networking sites and online media for signs of terrorist or other threats against the U.S. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2150281/REVEALED-Hundreds-words-avoid-using-online-dont-want-government-spying-you.html#ixzz1w4SeLcAz

Apparently, my previous article on the famous "Situation Room" photo tapped a nationwide nerve. The response ranged from some eye-opening tips on other photos to a few perplexed criticisms as to the motivation for Photoshopping a Situation Room photo. The answer to that latter question can be summed up in one simple thought: To hide the truth. Obama was out golfing while the OBL mission was unfolding, and the administration needed the Situation Room photo op for public perception -- to give the illusion that he's presidential. Obama's entire "Composite Presidency" and administration are orchestrated in this fashion. Not only...

A Republican state representative recently asked how a private, non-profit organization funds its operations and questioned the group's credentials because it chooses not to make public the names of those who contribute to it. The group, Sunshine Review, which maintains a website that rates the transparency of state and local governments, was invited to testify at a committee hearing in which Rep. Bradford Jacobsen, R-Oxford, is a member. During the hearing Rep. Jacobsen challenged the editor of the group's website, saying Sunshine Review should share the names of its contributors. However, doing so would infringe on the rights of private...

Phoenix, AZ -- Transparency in the Obama Administration has a price. The U.S. Forest Service wants $78,935.80 before it will share public records the Goldwater Institute has requested under the Freedom of Information Act. Not only is the U.S. Forest Service blocking emergency repairs to the City of Tombstone’s Huachuca Mountain water supply, it is now hiding the documents that might explain its outrageous conduct.  In a showdown with the “town too tough to die,” the U.S. Forest Service blocked Tombstone from repairing its mountain spring aqueduct after it was destroyed in the 2011 Monument Fire. The Forest Service is...

The U.S. Department of Justice has won the infamous Rosemary Award for worst open government performance over the past year, according to the citation posted on the Web today by the National Security Archive (www.nsarchive.org). The award is named after President Nixon's secretary, Rose Mary Woods, who erased 18 1/2 minutes of a crucial Watergate tape. The Rosemary Award citation includes a multi-count indictment of Justice's transparency performance in 2011, including: selective and abusive prosecutions using espionage laws against whistleblowers as ostensible "leakers" of classified information, with more "leaks" prosecutions in the last three years than all previous years combined,...

In a dangerous power grab that will jeopardize government transparency, the Obama Justice Department wants to redefine federal public record law so that it becomes the sole arbiter in disputes between agencies and individuals who submit requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The unprecedented move would give the Department of Justice (DOJ), an extension of the executive branch, scary authority to determine if and how public records are disseminated throughout government. It would also strip those duties from the agency— Office of Government Information Services (OGIS)—that was created by Congress as a neutral party to mediate FOIA...

Complete title: Obama Administration Refuses to Release Milestones Missed by Fisker under Conditions of Auto Manufacturer’s $528.7 Million Government Loan Department of Energy Releases Blacked Out Records on “Green” Car Milestones (Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch, the organization that investigates and fights government corruption, announced today that the Obama Department of Energy (DOE) refuses to release details regarding the milestones missed by the failing Fisker Automotive under the terms of its $528.7 million bailout loan from the DOE. In response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed February 14, 2012, by Judicial Watch, the DOE released “in part”...

Complete title: Judicial Watch Obtains Documents Revealing White House Role in the Controversial Firing of USDA Employee Shirley Sherrod White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs Denied Obama White House was Involved in Firing Documents Show Obama White House Approved Statement by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack Accepting Sherrod’s Forced Resignation (Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it has obtained documents suggesting the Obama White House approved of the decision to fire U.S. Department of Agriculture employee Shirley Sherrod on July 19, 2010, based on what were thought to be racist...

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed suit today against the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), demanding data on certifications and authorizations the agency has issued for the operation of unmanned aircraft, also known as drones. Drones are designed to carry surveillance equipment – including video cameras, infrared cameras and heat sensors, and radar – that can allow for sophisticated and almost constant surveillance. They can also carry weapons. Traditionally, drones have been used almost exclusively by military and security organizations. However, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection uses drones inside the United States to patrol the U.S....

Complete title: Judicial Watch, Human Events Sue Obama Administration for Records Detailing Bailout Loan to California Solar Manufacturer Heavily in Debt$1.2 Billion in Loan Guarantees to SunPower from Department of Energy Followed Successful Lobbying Campaign by Firm Connected to California Congressman’s Son (Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch, the organization that investigates and fights government corruption, announced today that it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit on February 1, 2012, against the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Department of the Treasury for records regarding a controversial $1.2 billion government loan guarantee from the Obama Department of...

We May Get to See Some of Bin Laden's Death Photos After All The American public may finally bear witness to some, but probably not all, of the postmortem images of Osama bin Laden taken on the night he was killed in Pakistan. That's the conclusion of Dan Metcalfe, the former director of the Justice Department's Office of Information and Privacy, after reading the government's response in a lawsuit from activist group Judicial Watch seeking "all photographs and/or video recordings" taken during the raid in Pakistan. “If you look closely at one small segment of the government's brief, it in...

Democracy isn’t always pretty. Look no further than the nasty business surrounding Wisconsin’s recall campaigns for daily proof. The Kenosha teacher harassed and ostracized simply because she supports a governor that many of her peers don’t. Or the West Bend man charged with election fraud after allegedly trying to scribble out the names of recall petition signers in a reported burst of anger. Then there is, to many observers, the general childish behavior of lawmakers so swept up in partisan politics that they’ve forgotten that they’re in Madison to do the people’s business. There are a lot of people in...

Madison - State election officials put off making recall petitions available publicly on Monday after hearing privacy concerns from people who signed them. The state Government Accountability Board provided copies of the petitions against Gov. Scott Walker to Walker's campaign on Friday and had said that it planned to post copies of them on its website on Monday. But agency spokesman Reid Magney said the board was holding off on posting them online after hearing concerns about a stalking victim and others who did not want their names released. Recall organizers say more than 1 million people signed petitions to...

Judicial Watch filed a freedom of information request for documents pertaining to the possible leak of the information relating to the killing of Osama bin Laden to a Hollywood producer in August 2011. The administration has yet to cough up the information, so Judicial Watch is suing them. The DOD admitted receiving the FOIA request on August 22, 2011, but advised Judicial Watch that “at this time, we are unable to make a release determination on your request within twenty (20) working days” of August 9, which would have been by September 6, 2011. The CIA acknowledged receiving the FOIA...

Complete title: New Records Obtained by Judicial Watch Show Obama White House Coordination with Department of Justice on Voting Rights Enforcement ACORN Partner Project Vote Working with Officials from White House and DOJ to Use National Voting Rights Act to Increase Registration of Voters on Public Assistance Interest Group Urges Justice Official to “make some headway” with Attorney General Holder (Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch, the organization that investigates and fights government corruption, announced today that it has received additional documents about meetings held between Estelle Rogers, Director of Advocacy for the ACORN-affiliated organization Project Vote, and officials from the...

Complete title: Judicial Watch Obtains Documents Revealing Cost of Barack and Michelle Obama’s Failed Bid to Bring 2016 Olympics to Chicago Two-Week Trip to Copenhagen Cost Taxpayers in Excess of $467,175 (Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch, the organization that investigates and fights government corruption, announced today that it has obtained records detailing costs associated with a trip made by President and Mrs. Obama and key members of the administration to Copenhagen, Denmark, for the expressed purpose of securing the 2016 Olympics for the city of Chicago. Expenses for the two-week trip appear to have far exceeded $467,175, in light of...

Seattle has a brilliant solution to their many police problems — refuse to release police dash-cam footage, then sue the person requesting said footage.

Posted on December 2, 2011 by Anthony Watts Guest post by Professor Robert G. Brown of Duke University.Not all scientific research is equal, in terms of its probable impact on humanity.  If one is studying poison dart frog species in tropical rain forests, getting a number wrong or arriving at an incorrect conclusion will generally have very little impact on the life of somebody living in California, India, China, or for that matter, in the tropical rain forests in question.On the other hand, medical research has a profound impact on us all and has a long history of abuse, both...

Washington, DC -- December 1, 2011 Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced that it filed today separate lawsuits against the Obama Department of Energy and Office and Management and Budget to obtain records regarding the taxpayer funded government loan provided to the now bankrupt green energy company Solyndra. On September 5, 2011, Judicial Watch submitted Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests seeking the following information: Any and all records regarding, concerning or related to the issuance of loan guarantees to Solyndra LLC, Solyndra Inc., Solyndra Fab 2 LLC, and/or 360 Degree Solar...