White House Ordered To Defend FOIA Claim

1 Apr 2008 // A federal judge Monday ordered the White House's Office of Administration to produce information on an assertion that it is no longer subject to the Freedom of Information Act.

In a ruling in a lawsuit filed by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington over the White House's loss of thousands of e-mails, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly asked for documentation of the administration's claim that it is subject to the Presidential Records Act and not FOIA or the Federal Act and therefore need not release records sought by CREW.

The order, which followed a Friday conference call between the parties, requires the White House to state by April 18 when it stopped being subject to FOIA. White House officials could not be reached for comment by presstime.