VA Execs Block FOIA Requests By Charging Thousands For ‘Easy To Find’ Documents
By Luke Rosiak, Daily Caller, Nov. 16, 2016
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) officials blocked the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by charging made-up, exorbitant fees such as $30,000 for documents staffers admitted were “easy to find,” according to internal emails obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation Investigative Group.
A VA hospital used the technique to get watchdogs and activists to drop their requests after a lone FOIA officer there helped expose corruption by the facility’s director. The director paid the FOIA officer to stay home without access to sensitive information, leaving the facility without anyone to process the requests.
The efforts at VA to block FOIA requests are reminiscent of those at the Department of State that torpedoed Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. As secretary of state, Clinton’s desire to keep her emails from being discovered by reporters prompted the use of a private server located in her New York mansion.
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