The case arose when two Bloomberg News reporters submitted requests under the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) about actions the Fed took to shore up the financial system in 2007 and early 2008, including an expansion of lending programs and the sale of Bear Stearns Cos to JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N).
After the Fed resisted the request, Bloomberg sued to compel disclosure.
Preska concluded the Fed "improperly withheld agency records in response to a FOIA request by conducting an inadequate search," she wrote.
FOIA obliges federal agencies to make government documents available to the public, subject to various exemptions.
They work for us don't they? They are subject to the "Freedom of Information Act" aren't they? From RCFP.Org...
Fox loses FOIA suit against Federal Reserve...Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan ruled that the Federal Reserve Board in Washington had properly withheld more than 6,000 pages of documents from Fox because the records fell under the FOIA exemption protecting trade secrets and confidential information.
What trade secrets could the Federal Reserve be keeping? There can only be (2) reasons for denying a FOI request, both of them suck. First, if you disclose who the Fed bailed out the market (AKA Goldman Sachs Hitmen) will short them out of existence. This doesn't hold water because without this information I can make a pretty educated guess that Citi and most of the other Money Center Banks are insolvent.
The Second reason, I smell smoke does anybody see fire?, is that they wanted to hide what they did while they had a blank checkbook and unbridled power. Companies were saved and lost on whims and grudges and fortunes made and lost. I am sure it is just coincidence that Goldman and Sachs had there best quarter ever after there former boss operated under a veil of secrecy.
Audit the Fed, Audit it now, and get my pitchfork, torch and best hanging rope.
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