Fox makes headway in FOIA suit against Treasury

A federal judge on Friday ordered the Treasury Department to respond to a Freedom of Information Act request from Fox News for documents related to the financial bailout.

Fox News had sued Treasury for details of the contracts related to the bailout after the government did not respond to its FOIA request. Judge Richard Holwell in New York ordered the Treasury to respond in the next 30 days.

Treasury may respond by releasing the documents but it also may withhold records under exemptions to the law, which Fox could later challenge.

The Associated Press reported: “Treasury spokesman Andrew Williams said the department has posted all financial stability contracts on the Internet so taxpayers can see how the money is being spent. He said the department already has given Fox more than 1,200 pages of requested documents and ‘will continue to do so on a rolling basis.’”

Bloomberg News has a similar FOIA suit against the Federal Reserve for bailout-related documents and information about the collateral banks are posting for loans. The Web site GovernmentAttic.org has posted correspondence related to Bloomberg’s FOIA request.