Obama in 2009: Government Shouldn't Keep Secrets 'Because Public Officials Might Be embarrassed by Disclosure'

In 2009, President Obama said in a statement on the Freedom of Information Act that "The Government should not keep information confidential merely because public officials might be embarrassed by disclosure, because errors and failures might be revealed, or because of speculative or abstract fears."

Obama and administration officials also pledged to run the "most transparent administration in history."

This statement seems particularly timely today since President Obama is invoking executive privilege in deciding not to release Attorney General Eric Holder's Fast and Furious documents.

Fox News reports:

President Obama has granted an 11th-hour request by Attorney General Eric Holder to exert executive privilege over Fast and Furious documents, a last-minute maneuver that appears unlikely to head off a contempt vote against Holder by Republicans in the House.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is expected to forge ahead Wednesday morning with its meeting on the contempt resolution anyway. 

If the vote proceeds, Republicans have more than enough votes on committee to pass the resolution. However, Holder would not be considered held in contempt of Congress unless and until the full House approves the measure. 

One wonders whether today's announcement signals that the president has changed his mind on government secrecy and transparency.