Obama administration rejects FOIA requests from NYT, ACLU for "targeted killing" papers.
AP) WASHINGTON - The Obama administration has rejected requests from The New York Times and the American Civil Liberties Union seeking information about its "targeted killing" program against suspected terrorists, saying the release of the requested documents would harm national security.
Under the Freedom of Information Act, the Times and the ACLU sought records regarding the legal justifications for the alleged U.S. government killing of U.S. citizens and others associated with al Qaeda and other terrorist groups.
In a court document filed late Wednesday in New York in response to an ACLU lawsuit, the Justice Department said that "even to describe the numbers and details of most of these documents would reveal information that could damage the government's counterterrorism efforts."
The administration said the information requested is "highly classified," even though details of such operations have been leaked to the media.
