When the Washington Post reported that the FDIC maintains a list of politically connected banks that get special treatment, the FDIC denied it. However, when Pajamas Media filed a Freedom of Information Act request for any related documents, the FDIC changed its tune, and refused to say whether any such documents exist:
In response to those denials, along with the fact that the Washington Post reporter who broke the original story was sticking to his guns, PJM sent a Freedom of Information Act Request to FDIC.
That request asked for:
[Documents] pertaining to all internal reports, memos, listings and communications concerning the identification of banks that might cause press or public relations problems.
This includes all documents in which FDIC personnel identified conflicts of interests between elected or appointed federal officials with bank ownership or management.
FDIC has since replied to PJM in record time.
In the two-page response, the FDIC does not claim they do not maintain such a list or engage in the practice of flagging banks which have important contacts. Instead, they essentially say they do not have to provide such information to PJM because the request was simply too broad . . .
(Emphasis mine.) (Via Instapundit.)
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