Are you aware of anybody else whos operating in such a manner?
Texas Insider Report: WASHINGTON DC This is about the publics information that was generated by people who work for the government and
information that was generated by their tax dollars. I believe there should be a presumption that the information that is held by the U.S. government
should be open and accessible to the public said U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) earlier today pressing the State Department about compliance with the Freedom of Information Act specifically with regards
to former Secretary of State Hillary Clintons email.
- You can watch the exchange from the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing here and excerpts are below.
Sen. John Cornyn: Theres this idea out there that the Freedom of Information Act is something we do for the press. That is a fundamentally flawed way to look at it from my perspective.
The 37 out of 100 that the State Department has gotten on your score card for FOIA is an embarrassing failure of the agency and I dont know how we could call it anything different.
But what really bothers me is when people plan in a premeditated and deliberate sort of way to avoid the Freedom of Information Act and federal government requirements that require them to make public
information available to the public and of course we are all familiar the news accounts of what happened with former Secretary Clinton.
Ms. Barr did either you or Undersecretary for Management Patrick Kennedy know that Secretary Clinton was operating exclusively on a personal and private email server?"
Hon. Joyce Barr (Assistant Sec. of State for Administration): I have no information on that sir I was not aware of that."
Cornyn: Are you aware of anybody else in the United States Government who is operating on a private personal email server in a way that defeats the very purpose of our freedom of information laws? Are you aware of anybody else whos operating in such a manner?"
Barr: I am not personally aware of that sir."
Cornyn: I understand that but Im asking about her emails on her personal email server. How would you access that in response to a Freedom of Information request?"
Barr: Well we have them now sir."
Cornyn: Do you have all of them?"
Barr: We have the emails that she has released to us all of the official ones thats what…"
Cornyn: Do you know what percentage that represents of all the emails she has on her server?"
Barr: No I do not."
Cornyn: So you dont have any way of verifying that you have all of the official emails that she processed on her personal email account?"
Barr: We have been told that she has provided those to us."
Cornyn: Who told you that?"
Barr: The Secretary."
Cornyn: So you are taking her word for it? Barr nods Im sorry?"
Barr: Yes sir."
Senator John Cornyn a Republican from Texas is a member of the Senate Judiciary and Finance Committees.
