A federal appeals court in Washington, DC, rebuffed a clear attempt by the United States Justice Department to further pervert the Freedom of Information Act process.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) sued the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on May 24, 2011, when it failed to produce documents on individuals at the FEC, who CREW believed were refusing to enforce campaign finance laws. The lawsuit challenged the withholding of the documents and also the Justice Department’s interpretation of a rule in freedom of information law that requires agencies to communicate a “determination” on whether it will comply with the FOIA request within 20 working days.

The administration of President Barack Obama, when boasting about Obama’s record on openness and transparency, regularly cites how it is now releasing White House visitor logs. It has been an “achievement” the administration explicitly mentions during Sunshine Week, a week where journalists and open government advocates celebrate transparency in government.

Perhaps the best case I’ve seen made for why it is important for you to become an FDL member stems from this recent story about the Democracy Alliance. The Democracy Alliance was started by a bunch of rich donors in 2005 to try to build a progressive movement. But they recently pulled funding for worthwhile organizations in order to focus money on the Democratic Party. We at FDL need to maintain our financial independence to continue what we do.

The eye-popping takeaway from documents related to CREW and National Security Archive’s recent settlement is that, for the 21 days of emails supposedly restored, 83% of the emails weren’t restored.