Federal Judge Slams Obama’s ‘Cavalier Attitude,’ Orders Him To Release Sealed Documents

Could this be a sign of things to come? A federal judge has slammed Obama’s “cavalier attitude” towards transparency with his decision making, ordering his administration to release a government-wide foreign aid directive that he wanted hidden from the public. A lawsuit had been filed by Washington, D.C. non-profit Center for Effective Government, which sought the release of the Presidential Policy Directive on Global Development.

The Obama administration had declined to make the document public under the “Presidential communications privilege,” but federal judge Ellen Huvelle declared the Obama administration’s argument of executive privilege was “troubling” and accused them of engaging in “governance by secret law.” The ruling comes on the heels of a report last month by the Committee to Protect Journalists, which concluded that Obama’s administration was the most secretive since the Nixon administration.

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