As a
result, Kerrigan says, information began to dry up.
Requests were ignored. And the data he did get came
with so much information censored out that they were
barely usable. The fees Kerrigan paid for a request,
which once topped out at $300, jumped to as much as
$6,500. "I can't afford that," he
says. "This administration's policy is to
withhold information as much as possible."
Inauguration Day
(1/20/01) Administration freezes Clinton-era
regulations, without allowing for public comment.
10/12/01 Attorney General John Ashcroft,
reversing Clinton policy, encourages agencies to
deny Freedom of Information Act requests if a
"sound legal basis" exists.
10/26/01 President Bush signs U.S.A. Patriot
Act, expanding law enforcement powers and government
surveillance.
2/22/02 Congress's
General Accounting Office sues Vice President Dick
Cheney for refusing to disclose records of his
energy task force; the GAO eventually loses its
case. A separate private case is pending.
3/19/02 White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card
directs federal agencies to protect sensitive
security information.
11/25/02 Bush signs
Homeland Security Act. Its provisions restrict
public access to information filed by companies
about "critical infrastructure," among
other matters.
01/3/03 Administration asks,
in papers filed before the Supreme Court, for
significant narrowing of the Freedom of Information
Act.
3/25/03 Bush issues standards on
classified material, favoring secrecy and reversing
provisions on openness.
"Veil of Secrecy," a 
