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12/4/2013

Statement: Cause of Action fights for transparency, pushes back against Judicial, Legislative & Executive Branch

The federal government does not want the American people to know what caused the financial crisis.  Cause of Action believes Americans have a right to know what their government is up to and, through the Freedom of Information Act, sought to access the records of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, currently held at the National Archives.  In our battle with the National Archives, we have been opposed by all three branches of the federal government: the Executive (through the Archives), the Judicial (via the trial court), and the Legislative (through the House leadership’s decision to oppose Cause of Action’s lawsuit).  ‘The most transparent administration in American history’ does not believe that the public has a right to know just what caused our nation’s most significant financial crisis since the Great Depression.  Cause of Action is committed to pursuing the release of these documents and holding the government accountable for blocking our access.

We filed our Reply Brief in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on December 4, 2013.

Click here to see all of the related documents.

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12/4/2013

Related Documents: National Archives’ Control of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission Documents

On October 3, 2011, Cause of Action requested via FOIA from NARA “all documents, including e-mail communications, memoranda, draft reports, and other relevant information and/or data contained in the records transfer of Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission documents stored at NARA to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform at the U.S. House of Representatives.” After exhausting administrative appeals to NARA’s denial of the documents, CoA filed suit in the US District Court against NARA on August 14, 2012. NARA filed a request for a dismissal of the case and Judge Boasberg granted NARA’s request for dismissal on March 1, 2013. CoA appealed the decision on April 29, 2013. The DC Circuit ruled for NARA on May 23, 2014.

United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

Opinion (May 23, 2014)

Opposition (January 24, 2014)  to NARA’s motion to strike two arguments from the reply brief

Per Curiam Order (January 15, 2014): Consideration of the motion to strike two new arguments be deferred pending oral argument schedule February 19, 2014.

Reply Brief (December 4, 2013)

NARA Appellee’s Brief (November 15, 2013)

Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (BLAG) (November 22, 2013)

Opening Brief (October 1, 2013)

United States District Court for the District of Columbia

Notice of Appeal (April 29, 2013)

Memorandum Opinion (March 1, 2013)

Complaint (August 14, 2012)

FOIA Request to National Archives

NARA Denial of Appeal (February 6, 2012)

NARA Acknowledgement of Appeal (January 10, 2012 )

CoA Appeal (January 5, 2012)

NARA Denial (December 1, 2011)

FOIA Request (October 3, 2011)

House Oversight and Government Reform Request for FCIC Records (February 18, 2011)

 

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10/2/2013

Appeal in NARA FOIA Case for Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission Records

Cause of Action (CoA), a government accountability group, took a further step toward gaining such public access, filing an appeal in our fight against the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).  We are challenging NARA’s wrongful withholding of records pertaining to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) – a temporary commission created by Congress to investigate the causes of the financial crisis– as NARA continues to claim that the requested records must remain secret and are not subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

Appellant’s Brief

Appendix

 

Click here to see other posts on our FOIA Request and Litigation for FCIC records.

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05/3/2013

Filing of Appeal in NARA Lawsuit

Notice of Appeal

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03/11/2013

Mother Jones: The Government Still Doesn’t Want You to Know What Caused the Financial Crisis

Read the full story here: Mother Jones

In the aftermath of the 2008 financial meltdown, the US government launched a vast investigation, but it still doesn’t want you to know the details of what it found.

 

In January 2011, the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) created by Congress put out its final report. But it only released a portion of all the source documents it scoured, so last year the government accountability group Cause of Action filed a lawsuit seeking the release of those documents, including emails, memoranda, and draft reports. Last week, the DC district court announced it was dismissing the case. But it’s not over yet: COA vowed on Tuesday that it will appeal the decision. In a statement, the group said the judge’s ruling that the documents were not subject to the Freedom of Information Act was “a misapplication of the law,” and said that “COA will continue to fight to shed light on the workings of our government.”

 

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03/8/2013

Cause of Action Pledges to Fight Court’s Denial of Transparency of FCIC Records

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                CONTACT:      

MARCH 5, 2013                                                                                     Mary Beth Hutchins, 202-400-2721

Jamie Morris, 202-499-2425

Cause of Action Pledges to Fight Court’s Denial of Transparency of FCIC Records

 

Judge Grants National Archives’ Request for Dismissal, Denies Access to Records About the 2008 Financial Crisis

 

 

WASHINGTON – Cause of Action (CoA), a government accountability group, pledged today to appeal the March 1, 2013 decision from Judge Jeb Boasberg of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia dismissing the lawsuit CoA brought against the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) seeking release of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) records.

 

The FCIC was established by Congress to assess the causes of the 2008 financial crisis.  However, this Commission was mired in controversy and the President has signed into law regulations, like Dodd-Frank, without the American people fully understanding what caused our economic meltdown or what went into the creation of the FCIC’s report.

 

Cause of Action’s Executive Director Dan Epstein offered this comment:

 

“We remain committed to transparency for American taxpayers and demand that NARA reveal what went into the report that shaped the nation’s response to the 2008 financial crisis. Cause of Action is appealing this case because we believe the public has a right to know whether the taxpayer-funded FCIC fully investigated the causes of the financial crisis.  Judge Boasberg’s decision – which holds that the FCIC records are not subject to FOIA – is a misapplication of the law and CoA will continue to fight to shed light on the workings of our government.”

 

On October 3, 2011, Cause of Action requested via the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) from NARA “all documents, including e-mail communications, memoranda, draft reports, and other relevant information and/or data contained in the records transfer of Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission documents stored at NARA to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform at the U.S. House of Representatives.” After exhausting administrative appeals to NARA’s denial of the documents, CoA filed suit in the US District Court against NARA on August 14, 2012. NARA filed a request for a dismissal of the case and Judge Boasberg granted NARA’s request for dismissal on March 1, 2013. CoA will be filing an appeal to this decision.

 

 

About Cause of Action:

Cause of Action is a nonprofit, nonpartisan government accountability organization that investigates, exposes, and fights job-killing federal government regulations, waste, fraud, and cronyism. Cause of Action, uses investigative, legal, and communications tools to educate the public on how transparency and accountability protects taxpayer interests and economic opportunity. For more information, visit www.causeofaction.org.

 

To schedule an interview with Cause of Action’s Executive Director Dan Epstein, contact Mary Beth Hutchins, mary.beth@causeofaction.org or Jamie Morris, Jamie.morris@causeofaction.org.

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02/15/2013

Innovative Investigations — How a Watchdog Group Uses the FOIA Process to Push the Limits of Transparency

NOTE: This post, written by our own Mary Beth Hutchins, was first published on Sunlight Foundation’s Blog. We look forward to working with them again.

 

The need for government transparency has never been greater than it is right now and at Cause of Action, we’re working to make sure it happens.

As a nonprofit government accountability organization, Cause of Action works to expose cronyism, waste, fraud and mismanagement in the federal government through a combination of investigations, education and litigation.

With our staff of investigators, lawyers and communications professionals committed to government transparency, Cause of Action frequently uses Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to shed light on otherwise opaque facets of the Federal Government.

By law, Americans have the right to access a broad array of information from the federal government through FOIA requests. However, roadblocks do arise when federal agencies put up obstacles and this is where Cause of Action’s combination of litigation with investigation can really sink teeth into the transparency debate.

One of our recent investigations took us through one such roadblock put up by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). NARA is in possession of the documents that contributed to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission’s (FCIC) report on the 2008 financial crisis and therefore, we argue, is subject to FOIA. In October 2011, Cause of Action submitted a FOIA request to NARA for “all documents, including email communications, memoranda, draft reports and other relevant information and/or data contained in the records transfer of Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission documents stored at NARA.”

NARA denied our request one month later on the grounds that FCIC records are not “agency records.” Their claim is that since the FCIC was a commission created by Congress, FCIC records are congressional records, which are not subject to FOIA. However, Congress and the FCIC turned over these records to NARA and for Congress to access them, they themselves must consult NARA. It raises a question of control: Does NARA’s control of these documents subject them to FOIA? We believe it does and we believe the law will back us up. So, after our appeal was denied, Cause of Action made the decision to pursue legal action and subsequently filed a lawsuit against NARA for the release of FCIC documents. It is our firm belief that American taxpayers deserve to know what information contributed to the FCIC’s findings on the financial crisis.

While on the surface this lawsuit may look fairly simple (we want records and NARA is refusing to give them), if we dig a bit deeper into the issues at hand, the real implications are astounding. If NARA wins, an avenue for obfuscation and withholding of documents emerges. One needn’t look further than a 2009 memo from President Obama that states, “All agencies should adopt a presumption in favor of disclosure, in order to renew their commitment to the principles embodied in FOIA and to usher in a new era of open Government,” to see guidance that is going ignored, in this case by NARA.

Though the NARA case highlights some of the opacity within the federal government, it is only the tip of the iceberg. Luckily, Cause of Action, just like the Sunlight Foundation, remains committed to bringing transparency and accountability to all aspects of the federal government.

To learn more about Cause of Action, visit us on the web at www.causeofaction.org, or connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.

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