After a while it gets difficult to decide what Obama’s biggest lie is. Transparency is right up there:
Obama says his is ‘most transparent administration’ ever
President Obama on Thursday hailed his administration for its transparency.
“This is the most transparent administration in history,” Obama said during a Google Plus “Fireside” Hangout.
“I can document that this is the case,” he continued. “Every visitor that comes into the White House is now part of the public record. Every law we pass and every rule we implement we put online for everyone to see.”
(That one was dead before he even said it)
The ironically named Josh Earnest doubled down on that a couple of weeks ago
The White House on Sunday stood by President Obama’s position that he continues to be the most transparent president in U.S. history, despite widespread complaints from journalists and other Americans about a lack of information or apparent misinformation.
“I have a responsibility in this job to try to help the president live up to his commitment to be the most transparent president in history,” new White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said on CNN’s “Reliable Sources.”
Earnest said he “absolutely, absolutely” sticks by Obama’s line about having the most transparent administration, after continued criticism about apparent attempts to not make full disclosures.
Among the criticisms are that the president and his administration misled Americans by telling them they could keep their existing health insurance plans under ObamaCare, intentionally tried to conceal what sparked the 2012 terror attacks in Benghazi, Libya in which four Americans were killed and prosecuted federal employees who should have been protected under the whistleblower protection act.
Shirley Sherrod was in the process of suing Andrew Breitbart over a video Breitbart released in 2011 when Bretibart passed away in 2012. Subsequent to Breitbart’s passing, Sherrod then moved to substitute Breitbart’s widow Susie Bean Breitbart as defendant in the lawsuit.
As part of the litigation, Breitbart’s lawyers were seeking email between the White House and Sherrod. Administration lawyers have resisted handing over the requested emails (sound familiar?) and have already been blasted by a judge:
A federal judge delivered a severe tongue-lashing to a Justice Department lawyer Thursday, slamming the Obama Administration for its handling of demands for government records in the libel lawsuit fired Agriculture Department employee Shirley Sherrod filed against conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart.
During a 40-minute hearing, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon repeatedly ripped into the government and DOJ trial counsel David Glass for resisting requests from both sides in the case for government files and e-mails that might be of use in the litigation. At one point, the judge snapped at Glass, ordering him to “sit right down.”
The most transparent administration in history is still concealing the emails:
The Obama administration is fighting to keep secret hundreds of pages of emails detailing White House involvement in the 2010 firing and attempted rehiring of Agriculture Department employee Shirley Sherrod after the late conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart published a blog post and video clips suggesting Sherrod was a racist.
Lawyers for Breitbart’s business partner, Larry O’Connor, filed the White House and USDA documents in federal court in Washington in May in connection with a libel suit Sherrod filed over the blog post, which appeared on Breitbart’s BigGovernment.com website. However, last week, Justice Department lawyers urged U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon to keep the documents from the public by maintaing them under seal.
Court filings are normally public, but the Justice Department said the emails from the accounts of nine White House staffers and an additional number of Agriculture Department officials should be kept under wraps in part because the public already has enough information through official statements about Sherrod’s forced resignation and the ensuing events.
“The parties to this case have no need for ‘public access to the documents at issue’ because they can litigate under seal any issue to which those documents are relevant. Neither does the public at large have any need for access to those documents. As the United States has acknowledged in this case, plaintiff’s resignation from USDA ‘implicate[d] sensitive issues and significant public interest,” DOJ lawyers Charles Glass and Arthur Goldberg wrote. “Those matters have already been addressed, however, by the statements about plaintiff made by Secretary of Agriculture Thomas J. Vilsack and by then-White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs at or about the time of plaintiff’s resignation. Those matters have also been addressed by the thousands of pages of documents dealing with plaintiff that USDA has produced to the public pursuant to [the Freedom of Information Act].”
In the July 13 motion (posted here), the Justice Department lawyers also invoke a deference to “Presidential confidentiality” as a basis for keeping the contents of the emails secret.
“The Office of the President occupies a ‘unique position in the constitutional scheme’ and ‘the public interest requires that a coequal branch of Government afford Presidential confidentiality the greatest protection consistent with the fair administration of justice,'” Glass and Goldberg wrote, quoting the 2004 Supreme Court case granting such deference to Vice President Dick Cheney in connection with records relating to the Energy Task Force he headed.
Christian Adams wondered who’s paying the freight for Kirkland and Ellis:
Given Kirkland’s exceedingly high hourly rates, one can safely assume that Sherrod’s lawsuit is probably being bankrolled by a third party, or by Kirkland & Ellis itself.
Sherrod should disclose who is paying for the high-dollar litigation against a conservative news outlet. If it is Sherrod, she should say so. Or, is it other clients of Kirkland & Ellis, such as Starwood Hotels, Walgreens or Avis/Budget Car Rentals, through their fees in other matters subsidizing Kirkland lawyers working for Sherrod pro bono? Perhaps it is an unseen third party? Either way, if it isn’t Sherrod paying the bills, she ought to disclose to the media who is paying them.
Obama’s being re-elected might ultimately be the most fitting punishment for him and those who elected him. Had he not been returned to the White House he would have escaped the ignominy he is going to deservedly gather. He just might be President long enough for the house of lies he keeps building to collapse upon him.
As ye sow, you know….
DrJohn has been a health care professional for more than 30 years. In addition to clinical practice he has done extensive research and has published widely with over 70 original articles and abstracts in the peer-reviewed literature. DrJohn is well known in his field and has lectured on every continent except for Antarctica. He has been married to the same wonderful lady for over 30 years and has three kids- two sons, both of whom are attorneys and one daughter on her way into the field of education.
DrJohn was brought up with the concept that one can do well if one is prepared to work hard but nothing in life is guaranteed.
Except for liberals being foolish.