In March 2009, US Attorney General Eric Holder sent a memo throughout the federal government which outlined the new FOIA policies of the Obama administration. He reiterated the President’s statement that, “The Government should not keep information confidential merely because public officials might be embarrassed by disclosure, because errors and failures might be revealed, or because of speculative or abstract fears.” His department appears not to have taken his own advice.
The “History of the Office of Special Investigations: Striving for Accountability in the Aftermath of the Holocaust” which was initially denied under FOIA to the National Security Archive, and eventually leaked to the New York Times. It’s is a terrific document which tells a balanced history of the US “Nazi Hunters.” An objective read reveals no reason why the document should have remained classified. One example of the DOJ’s egregious overclassification can be found in its suppression of the case of Kurt Waldheim, a Nazi who served as UN Secretary-General (1972-82) and President of Austria (1986-92). (more…)
