BRB, LOL FOIA

The Competitive Enterprise Institute isn’t happy with the answer it got from EPA to a Freedom of Information Act request for air chief Gina McCarthy’s text messages from 18 dates between 2009 and 2012 when she was testifying before Congress. “EPA conducted a search for records responsive to CEI's May 1, 2013 FOIA request, consistent with the agency’s obligations under [FOIA], and found no records responsive to the request,” EPA spokeswoman Alisha Johnson said Monday. “EPA remains committed to adhering to the appropriate regulations and laws for both federal records management and releasing documents under FOIA.”

Unconvinced, CEI attorney Chris Horner filed two more FOIA requests in response. In one filed Friday, (http://politico.pro/132tcGi) he asked for copies of all EPA-related text messages sent from McCarthy’s personal phone. In another request filed Sunday (http://politico.pro/18OAjs2) Horner asked for copies of all invoices or bills associated with mobile phones or PDAs provided to McCarthy from July 1, 2009, to June 30, 2012. “Given that we are reliably informed that Ms. McCarthy was a frequent user of text messaging, it is a reasonable conclusion that EPA is not in fact maintaining and preserving these records as required by law and regulation,” or that she is sending work-related texts on private devices, Horner charged.