Report: Agency Concealing Documents About Judge Watching Porn on the Clock
- October 19, 2022
Charles Kim, Newsmax
A federal agency appears to be hiding documentation that an administrative law judge was watching porn while he was working there, the Washington Examiner reported Wednesday.
Ethics watchdog group Protect the Public’s Trust director Michael Chamberlain told the Examiner that while government organizations can use this type of denial, the practice could be “abused.”
“If agencies are allowed to interpret certain exemptions to FOIA, specifically those related to personnel matters, too broadly they could effectively prevent the public from holding any officials accountable for misconduct,” Chamberlain said in the report.
After the AAF appealed the decision and response, the three agency commissioners recused themselves from hearing the appeal, citing a law that states if a commissioner may be a “subject” of a FOIA request, they can recuse themselves from deciding the matter, the report said.