RCFP: Fox loses FOIA suit against Federal Reserve

NEWS MEDIA UPDATE New York · July 31, 2009 · Freedom of information

Fox loses FOIA suit against Federal Reserve

A federal judge ruled against Fox News Thursday in a key Freedom of Information Act case involving bailout-related documents held by the Federal Reserve Board.

Share:
· Facebook
· LinkedIn
· Email
Print
Link

Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan ruled that the Federal Reserve Board in Washington had properly withheld more than 6,000 pages of documents from Fox because the records fell under the FOIA exemption protecting trade secrets and confidential information.

Fox sought information about the Federal Reserve’s emergency lending program, known as the discount window.

Hellerstein also ruled that the 12 regional Federal Reserve banks are not government agencies. Therefore, he held, the Board in Washington was not obligated to search the records of the regional banks in response to Fox’s FOIA request.

“It may be, as Fox argues, that no [Federal Reserve bank] has a FOIA office to which FOIA requests may be submitted, that the only FOIA office for the Federal Reserve System is in the Board, and if Fox cannot obtain documents from the Board, it will be deprived of obtaining any meaningful documents enabling a public accounting of the Board’s Discount Window loan program," Hellerstein wrote. "Whether or not this is so, it does not alter the fact that Fox served its requests only upon the Board and that the definition of a Board record is limited by statute."

According to a Reuters report, Fox released a statement saying, ‘We respect the judge's decision, but we will probably appeal.”

Hellerstein's ruling marks the first time a court has so clearly and expansively dealt with the question of whether the regional banks are subject to FOIA as government agencies. However, prior court rulings in other cases had indicated the banks were not government agencies subject to FOIA and the banks had also long maintained this.

Bloomberg News also has a FOIA suit similar to Fox’s pending in the same court. Judge Loretta A. Preska in that case ordered additional briefing on the question of whether the regional Federal Reserve banks are government agencies, but has not yet ruled on the matter.

Fox is also pursuing another FOIA suit against the Treasury Department for other bailout records. There has been no decision in that case yet, either.

Finally, The New York Times has a pending FOIA suit against both the Federal Reserve Board and Treasury Department for similar documents. That suit, filed much later, is still in its early stages. The Fed agreed only to process the newspaper's requests, which it had not yet done when the statutory deadline for processing the requests had passed.

— Hannah Bergman, 12:07 pm

Comments: (6)

Comment by Joe S, Mon, Aug 10, 2009, 12:08pm

Thank you for covering this topic, as information is difficult to find.

The fact that a FOIA on a non-government group (the Fed is a private bank with cartel powers) does not surprise me.

Comment by Tom, Wed, Aug 12, 2009, 5:01pm

It does not surprise me either. Courts have ruled consistently, and for many years, that the Fed is not a genuine government agency but, rather, a private banking cartel that maintains its exclusive franchise backed up by the force of the federal government. The Fed will continue to use every device available to thwart disclosure of its affairs and dealings with the wealth of U.S. citizens.

Comment by Gary H, Thu, Aug 13, 2009, 10:32am

Very predictable, the only way the biggest hiest in the history of the human race could be pulled off is with the protection of the governing body.

Comment by Joe B., Wed, Aug 19, 2009, 2:07am

The American sheeple deserve this.
Google congressman Brad Sherman's speech in Congress testifying that Henry Paulson and the Fed had threatened them to enforce martial law in the country in Sep. 08, if the legislators didn't sign the Bailout Bill., and of course the sheep signed at gun-point. We deserve this "my fellow lamb", a quote from Mr. Moyer, the well known PBS reporter.

Comment by JanColdwater, Thu, Sep 24, 2009, 6:49am

We DESERVE THIS? I understand the sentiment but it is really furthest from the truth. Congress should have smacked them down regardless of their threat. Congress has the power to RID us of The Fed. If anyone deserves Martial Law it is Congress! We need to PHYSICALLY REMOVE THEM IF THEY ARE TOO SCARED TO DO THEIR JOBS! We need our troops to JUST COME HOME and fight the enemy within.

Comment by oxymoron, Tue, Oct 20, 2009, 10:37pm

for seuth, we cannot withstand a civil war. we must find a way to bring down the house when noone is in. pillars crumble, a bloodless scheme. maoists hope for blood.

Submit a comment