Why It Feels Like “84 Years” When Agencies Respond to FOIA Requests
Federal agencies took years to turn over documents about Michael Flynn, Congress, Guantanamo and former CIA Director Mike Pompeo. Let’s see if agencies made it worth the wait.
Messages then-CIA Director Mike Pompeo sent to CIA personnel in 2017. The agency took seven years to process our FOIA request for these memos. When the CIA finally turned over the documents FOIA officers redacted Pompeo’s mother’s fudge recipe he shared with staff.
The first thing that comes to mind whenever a government agency responds to one of my requests is the Titanic meme: “It’s been 84 years.” I’ve been thinking about that meme a lot lately because I’ve received a steady stream of mail that dates back to requests I filed in 2017. The agencies can’t and won’t explain why it's taken seven years to turn over these documents. But that’s the FOIA for you. If you use it, prepare to play the long game. So let’s travel back in time and see if the agencies made it worth the wait. If you haven’t yet, sign up now to get FOIA Files delivered to your inbox every Friday.
Donald Trump’s presidency was chaotic, but it was a gift to frequent FOIA requesters like me. Just a month after Trump’s 2017 inauguration, his controversial national security adviser, Michael Flynn, had his security clearance suspended. Flynn, who used to run the Defense Intelligence Agency, had resigned for misleading White House officials about a conversation he had with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the US. A day later he lost his clearance.