FOX Files FOIA Suit to Get Treasury Info About $700B Bailout
FOX Business Network has sued the U.S. Treasury in federal court in New York, saying that the agency has stonewalled Freedom of Information Act requests for information concerning its expenditures under the $700 billion federal bailout bill.
“The television network, a unit of News Corp., said in a release that Treasury has not responded to two Freedom of Information Act requests, one on Nov. 25 and one on Dec. 1, regarding the use of funds for Citigroup Inc., American International Group Inc. and Bank of New York Mellon,” reports the Dow Jones Newswires in an article in the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.).
The financial rescue plan approved by Congress earlier this year has been controversial, especially after news that at least some of the taxpayer dollars funneled to banks may have then been paid out in bonuses to executives responsible for the current financial crisis. However, information about exactly what has been paid to financial institutions, and under what terms, hasn’t been made public.
The Treasury Department didn’t immediately comment on the lawsuit, Dow Jones reports.
