July 22, 2010 12:31PM # DHS FOIbles By [David Rittgers](https://www.cato.org/people/david-rittgers) --- SHARE The Associated Press is [reporting](http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iz_vYVn2EGBVVmj9Pg6AllECgh9wD9H3O8OO2) that persons filing requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) with the Department of Homeland Security during the last year faced scrutiny beyond what the law requires. > Career employees were ordered to provide Secretary Janet Napolitano’s political staff with information about the people who asked for records — such as where they lived, whether they were private citizens or reporters — and about the organizations where they worked. > > > If a member of Congress sought such documents, employees were told to specify Democrat or Republican. > > > This, despite President Barack Obama’s statement that federal workers should “act promptly and in a spirit of cooperation” under FOIA, and Attorney General Eric Holder’s assertion: “Unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles have no place in the new era of open government.” The White House separately reviewed FOIA requests to see documents about spending under the $862 billion stimulus law. [Read the whole thing](http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iz_vYVn2EGBVVmj9Pg6AllECgh9wD9H3O8OO2). ##### Related Tags [Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).