Monday, June 22, 2009
The National Security Archive at George Washington University took the U.S. Air Force to court four years ago because of its failure to respond to numerous Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. But even though the non-profit organization won its case in court, the Air Force continues to mishandle FOIA requests from the Archive and other organizations and individuals.
The Air Force Audit Agency released a report last week detailing numerous problems that continue to plague the service’s FOIA program, including: failing to properly track and record requests; overstating the number of requests it receives and understating its response times, leading to inaccurate reports to Congress; and failing to inform all requesters of their appeal rights under the law.
A lawyer representing the Archive said he was stunned by the findings of the audit. “Four years after our law suit, and despite multiple court orders, the Air Force system remains broken,” said David P. Dean. “The facts, though stunning, speak for themselves. In 2005, we complained about 82 unprocessed FOIA requests that the Archive had submitted up to eighteen years earlier. Despite several court orders requiring the Air Force to complete processing and to create a functioning FOIA system, today six requests are still outstanding and the system is still dysfunctional.”
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Air Force Audit Finds Agency Lacks Basic Systems to Comply with the Freedom of Information Act (National Security Archive)
Audit Report (Air Force Audit Agency) (PDF)
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