Complete Audit 0313-YMC-clean

SUNSHINE AND SHADOWS THE CLEAR OBAMA MESSAGE FOR FREEDOM OF INFORMATION MEETS MIXED RESULTS President Obama signs his Freedom of Information Act Memo on January 21, 2009. THE NATIONAL SECURITY ARCHIVE FOIA AUDIT A KNIGHT OPEN GOVERNMENT SURVEY CONDUCTED BY THE NATIONAL SECURITY ARCHIVE THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY WWW.NSARCHIVE.ORG MARCH 15, 2010 TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments..........................................................................................................................iii Introduction..................................................................................................................................... 1 Key Findings................ 3 Implementation of Obama Freedom of Information Act Policy: Clear Message, Mixed Results............................................................................................ 5 Release and Denial Decisions: No Clear Upward Trend in Agency Discretionary Disclosures........................................ 13 The Ten Oldest Pending FOIA Requests: Progress on the Oldest FOIA Requests Still Slow, Leaves Some Behind, Far Behind.... 15 The Ten Oldest Pending FOIA Requests: Is Access to Presidential Records an Oxymoron? ............................................................ 17 Methodology................................................................................................................................. 21 i ii ...