For more than a year and a half, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) unlawfully stalled on my request for Dr. Anthony Fauci’s emails. (The law requires the records to be produced within about 30 days.)
Federal agencies frequently violate Freedom of Information (FOI) law with impunity.
Initially, NIH provided emails to only selected media entities that requested them because the entities filed lawsuits.
When the records were produced to anybody, NIH was required to provide the full records to all. In fact, any argument they may have tried to make for stalling became instantly moot.
However, NIH continued to withhold the records.
Now, finally, NIH has belated posted the records. You can read them yourself at the link under: “Past productions of COVID-19 records.”
Obviously, the usefulness of records for news and information purposes greatly diminishes with an agency’s ability to delay their release for months and years, when we have a right to see them either immediately or at least within about 30 days of the request. However, there is rarely if ever any accountability for the ongoing violations.
