Censoring Nazi-Hunting History

Trying to hide our history by protecting elected or appointed government officials, and possibly even citizens, is not what a representative democracy should be. Doing so leads to being that which we condemn others for! History repeats if not learned and the rhetoric here lately, by certain groups, sounds like that from this same destructive time past!

Justice Department Censors Nazi-Hunting History

Archive FOIA request and lawsuit opens 45 redacted pages;
Breakdown of FOI system sparks leak of full 600-page report

Name of office head blanked out from text, also all "personal opinion" expressed;
Justice Department violates own Attorney General's directive on open government

National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 331

Posted - November 13, 2010

November 13, 2010 - The Department of Justice censored dozens of pages of a candid history of Nazi-hunting (and Nazi-protecting) by the U.S. government to such a self-defeating extent that former officials leaked the entire document to the New York Times this week, instead of fulfilling the Freedom of Information request and lawsuit filed by the National Security Archive and its counsel David Sobel.

"Now that we can compare the redacted document with the complete text of the original report, it is clear that the Justice Department is withholding information without legal justification," said David Sobel. "For an administration -- and an Attorney General -- supposedly committed to an 'unprecedented' level of transparency, this case provides a troubling example of how far the reality is from the rhetoric."

snip

"Embarrassment suffered by public officials is the price they pay for public power," remarked Tom Blanton, director of the National Security Archive. "It goes with the territory, but here, their coverup is not nearly as bad as the crime, which was to shelter Nazi war criminals in the name of national security. This the public needs to know and has a right to know." {read rest with docs and backlinks}