The hottest Pentagon FOIA requests in town


By SB Anderson

After learning from Cause of Action that the Pentagon now pulls out FOIA requests deemed “significant” (juicy enough to generate media attention, basically) and needing Big Cheese approval, Jason Leopold of The Public Record took the logical next step — asked to see the list.

Here’s what Cause of Action said was the policy:

A “significant” request is defined by the policy document as one where, in the judgment of a FOIA office, “the subject matter of the released documents may generate media interest and/or may be of interest or potential interest to DoD senior leadership.” This can include requests regarding “the current administration (including request for information on Senator Obama) previous administrations, and current or previous DoD leadership.”

Below, the list of “95 undated FOIA requests filed with the Army, Navy, Air Force, NSA, Defense Logistics Agency, Secretary of Defense, United States Southern Command, National Guard Bureau and other offices that had “Department Level Interest,” as Leopold put it.