11 Years Later, Government Responds to 9/11 Records Request

Two government agencies took eleven years to respond to a Freedom of Information Act request, and in the end deferred the decision to another agency for further review.

The request from the non-partisan Judicial Watch organization was submitted to the Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency in 2002 as part of a broad investigation into the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Judicial Watch promotes transparency and accountability in government and politics.

Judicial Watch said it received a letter on Tuesday saying the two agencies had no jurisdiction over release of the requested information and had forwarded the request to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) to consider.

The NCIS told Judicial Watch, “Your request has been placed in our complex queue. At this time we are unable to provide you an approximate completion date.” The agency apologized for the delay.

Judicial Watch often makes FOIA requests, and in some cases has been forced to file lawsuits to get information usually considered within the public records.

“It’s not uncommon to get the run-around during the FOIA process and lawsuits are par for the course, but this shatters all records,” the organization said on its website. “Perhaps this one should be framed.”