Yet another update on the seemingly never ending saga of my FOIA request to the Department of Energy to determine exactly how much Fermilab spends on EEO litigation each year (documents I have found on the web indicate that it is way, waayyyy more than the national average per EEO-1 employee). If you recall, back in January I drafted an appeal the Director of the DoE Office of Hearings and Appeals because the DoE had denied of my FOIA request that I had made 8 months before. Not only had the DoE taken 8 long months to deny my FOIA request (despite the fact that the law states unequivocally that they are supposed to respond within 20 days), but they also denied it on the premise that the data I was asking for did not even exist, even though those data are extensively documented in GAO report GAO-04-148R.
The DoE Office of Hearings and Appeals got back to me in a timely fashion and told me that the denial of my FOIA request was a mixup, and that the Department of Energy would be contacting me in the near future with the information I had requested.
That was back in January.
I never heard from the Department of Energy with the promised information.
But then a couple of days ago out of the blue a message was left on my answering machine by someone from the Department of Energy Office of General Counsel. She wanted me to call her back to discuss my FOIA request.
My first response was "What the hell???"...it's been four months since the Office of Hearings and Appeals told me I would get the information I requested. If the Department of Energy is just going to ignore the freaking laws of the land, why don't they go all the way and simply ignore them completely instead of this bull crap of taking months and months and months to reply to even the most simple FOIA requests. It would save everyone a whole lot of time if they were just honest about their dishonesty.
Anyway, back to the phone call...I have this advice for FOIA newbies: never, ever let a government entity discuss your FOIA request with you on the phone. By law, they are supposed to respond to your request in writing. Talking about your request on the phone ensures that pesky incriminating paper trails are avoided, which is just what the DoE is trying to do right now.
So yesterday I phoned the Office of General Counsel and told them that if they have anything to say to me about my FOIA request, they need to put it in writing and send it to me in a letter. And I would respond to them in writing. Because that is how FOIA requests are properly handled.
You would think an entire office filled with freaking lawyers would know that. Actually, I know they know that. They simple couldn't give a damn about actually complying with the laws of the land....because what are people going to do about it? Sue them? They have infinitely deep litigation pockets, and are more than happy to use them. Which, of course, is the reason behind my original FOIA request.
I'll let you all know if the DoE ever writes me a letter. I wouldn't hold your breath though.
