Jackson Jambalaya

 Former Gov. Phil Bryant once declared, “Transparency in government is critical to its integrity.” He should tell that to his buddy in the White House. The Trump administration has embarked on a widespread crusade to hide, disguise, and deny access to public data.

Even Republican leaders have criticized some aspects of this systematic effort to obscure government information, alter official records, and reduce public access across multiple agencies. Researchers estimate that well over 3,000 data sets have been removed from public access.

Here are examples among the many identified in news reports: 

The Pentagon drew scrutiny for deleting and then obscuring data on service members wounded or killed in the Iran conflict. It drew both public and congressional attention for withholding limitations and costs on the hurried retrofit for the President’s new luxury Air Force One. And it continues to severely restrict media access inside the Pentagon itself.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) removed public health datasets on chronic conditions and virus monitoring. The Department of Justice deleted the National Law Enforcement Accountability Database and took down public databases tracking January 6 Capitol attack prosecutions. The Census Bureau restricted public access to data. The Department of Agriculture eliminated farm reports on climate change and household food security.

The Department of Homeland Security withheld deportation and detention data until forced to release such by federal courts. The agency has also spent millions on private detention facilities at more than four times their assessed market value without full disclosure. ICE has hidden internal health logs detailing detainee hunger strikes and involuntary medical procedures.

The IRS, the Department of Education, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration no longer allow researchers to apply to access and study their data.

More ominously, institutional oversight of government has been diminished through structural changes. Numerous Inspectors General have been fired, reducing independent audits of federal agencies. White House staffers no longer preserve text messages and other communications unless they are the "sole record of official decision-making." New leadership installed at the National Archives has altered historical record preservation. Deep budget cuts across agency statistical divisions have hindered timely access to economic and educational data. And search functions on official portals have been restricted.

Then there is the White House ballroom project. Criticism erupted when internal documents were uncovered revealing costs had escalated to $600 million, including over $300 million in public funds, despite initial claims that it would be entirely privately funded. And key corporate donors were omitted from public lists.

Per Gov. Bryant’s declaration, we have a major integrity problem in Washington. 

“The integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them” – Proverbs 11:3.

Crawford is an author and syndicated columnist from Jackson.