October 10, 2005 (click on title link at top of page)
An Atheist civil rights group announced today that it has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to force the release of any documents and other records released by White House senior advisor Karl Rove to James Dobson and other evangelical leaders in an effort to boost support for Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers.
Last week, Dobson – head of the “Focus on the Family” group – boasted that he was “privy” to “confidential” information that led him to support the Miers nomination, and that the insider information originated with administration operative Karl Rove. Rove is already the subject of a federal grand jury probe in another matter for his alleged leaking of the identity of a CIA agent.
Attorney Edwin Kagin filed the FOIA request on behalf of American Atheists. Kagin noted that ordinarily the president and the White House staff are exempt from FOIA actions. “By providing ‘confidential’ information to someone like Dobson, the White House has surrendered its executive privilege, and cannot hide behind a FOIA exemption to conceal this information from Congress and the American people,” said Kagin.
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http://www.atheists.org/