[Infowarrior] - WH leaving the public in the dark. Is it growing pains – or a plan?

[Richard Forno]

White House is leaving the public in the dark. Is it growing pains – or a plan?
By Anita Kumar

akumar at mcclatchydc.com

WASHINGTON
Is Donald Trump shutting Americans out of his presidency?

The White House comment line is shut down. New signatures aren’t being counted on petitions posted on the White House’s website. Federal agencies are not allowed to respond to requests.

Americans aren’t just failing to get their voices heard. The administration, too, is failing to provide information to them.

Transcripts, executive orders and news releases aren’t being posted online. Social media accounts, including Flickr, Pinterest and Tumblr, are no longer in use. Sending information to the Federal Register, the daily journal of the U.S. government, is delayed.

On Friday, a national research watchdog group condemned the administration for removing thousands of documents relevant to enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act and the Horse Protection Act from the Department of Agriculture’s website. The removed documents included reports on fines, official warnings, inspection reports and annual reports.

“This is clearly a calculated move to protect from public scrutiny criminal entities who regularly break federal laws, endangering human health,” said Michael A. Budkie, the executive director of Stop Animal Exploitation Now, an Ohio-based nonprofit that monitors U.S. research facilities for animal cruelty.

“Even at the height of disagreement this has never happened,” said Maryanne Cottmeyer, 72, a retired federal worker from outside Olympia, Washington, who has called the White House comment line daily since Trump was sworn in, with no success. “They don’t want to hear.”

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http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article130602434.html