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As FBI reverses itself on Orlando shooting transcript, government censorship is more pervasive
Sharyl Attkisson
by sattkisson
6/20/2016
Excerpt:
The following is a news analysis
The FBI has reversed its decision to withhold information from the released transcript of the 911 calls made by the Islamic extremist terrorist attacker in the Orlando shooting.
In explaining its reversal today, the FBI issued the following statement:
The public owns information collected by the federal government, with few exceptions. Under Freedom of Information law, as well as a directive issued by President Obama when he was first elected, federal agencies are to err on the side of disclosure and only withhold in limited instances when there are extremely compelling reasons to do so as delineated by law. Unfortunately, multiple studies and investigations indicate misuse of this discretion is becoming more widespread.
“Sensitivity of victims” has been a more frequently-cited justification for withholding publicly-owned information in recent years. I encountered this phenomenon when I recently investigated a story for my program, Full Measure, about the tens of thousands of illegal immigrants imprisoned for committing crimes in the U.S., but who were released and went on to commit additional violent crimes in the U.S., including rape and murder. Families of victims told me that government officials sometimes seemed bent on protecting the interests of the accused illegal immigrants or officials whose policies had allowed the crimes, rather than the interests of the victims and the American public. They said this often involved officials withholding public information about the suspects and their immigration status, even after their conviction.
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View the complete article, including images, at:
https://sharylattkisson.com/as-fbi-r...ore-pervasive/
Sharyl Attkisson
by sattkisson
6/20/2016
Excerpt:
The following is a news analysis
The FBI has reversed its decision to withhold information from the released transcript of the 911 calls made by the Islamic extremist terrorist attacker in the Orlando shooting.
In explaining its reversal today, the FBI issued the following statement:
“The purpose of releasing the partial transcript of the shooter’s interaction with 911 operators was to provide transparency, while remaining sensitive to the interests of the surviving victims, their families, and the integrity of the ongoing investigation. We also did not want to provide the killer or terrorist organizations with a publicity platform for hateful propaganda. Unfortunately, the unreleased portions of the transcript that named the terrorist organizations and leaders have caused an unnecessary distraction from the hard work that the FBI and our law enforcement partners have been doing to investigate this heinous crime. As much of this information had been previously reported, we have re-issued the complete transcript to include these references in order to provide the highest level of transparency possible under the circumstances.”
The public owns information collected by the federal government, with few exceptions. Under Freedom of Information law, as well as a directive issued by President Obama when he was first elected, federal agencies are to err on the side of disclosure and only withhold in limited instances when there are extremely compelling reasons to do so as delineated by law. Unfortunately, multiple studies and investigations indicate misuse of this discretion is becoming more widespread.
“Sensitivity of victims” has been a more frequently-cited justification for withholding publicly-owned information in recent years. I encountered this phenomenon when I recently investigated a story for my program, Full Measure, about the tens of thousands of illegal immigrants imprisoned for committing crimes in the U.S., but who were released and went on to commit additional violent crimes in the U.S., including rape and murder. Families of victims told me that government officials sometimes seemed bent on protecting the interests of the accused illegal immigrants or officials whose policies had allowed the crimes, rather than the interests of the victims and the American public. They said this often involved officials withholding public information about the suspects and their immigration status, even after their conviction.
.................................................. .....
View the complete article, including images, at:
https://sharylattkisson.com/as-fbi-r...ore-pervasive/