White House Consults Congress to Punch Back on Healthcare.

[tombogan03884]

http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_08_02-2009_08_08.shtml#1249770644

I am clueless about FOIA and related law, but would be interested in
   knowledgeable responses to the following question. Is there a
   mechanism by which an individual can find out, or require the
   government to disclose, whether he or she has been named (or some web
   posting, statement, or other form of speech of the person named) to
   the [1]White House email address for submitting "fishy"
   "disinformation" on the health care debate?

   White House Press Secretary Gibbs [2]denied that the White House is
   "collecting names," but it is hard for me to see how, if it is seeking
   to counteract what it regards as "disinformation" or "fishy" stuff, it
   can do so without keeping track of that which it wants to respond to
   and that which it doesn't. In any event, is there a way that a citizen
   can force the government to disclose if he or she has been flagged to
   the White House?

   I have also been trying to figure out what, if anything, the ACLU has
   said officially on the subject. I served for several years on the Free
   Speech Policy Committee of the ACLU way back when, and I can't imagine
   that back then it would not have taken a strong position on such a
   move by any White House, regardless of party. On the other hand, as
   [3]Wendy Kaminer has shown, it's not that ACLU anymore, so I'm not so
   sure.

   I've been on the ACLU official website and don't seem to find
   anything, but maybe I'm just not navigating it expertly. One reason I
   think there must be something there that I'm not finding is that
   [4]FoxNews reports that in response to an inquiry, the ACLU responded:

     The ACLU said in a statement to FOXNews.com that the White House
     blog is a "bad idea that could send a troublesome message."

     But the organization added, "While it is unclear at this point what
     the government is doing with the information it is collecting,
     critics of the administration's health care proposal should not
     fear that their names will end up in some government database that
     could be used to chill their right to free speech."

   I imagine that if the ACLU issued a statement like that, it should
   appear somewhere on its website, so if someone could point me to it,
   or anything else the ACLU has said on the matter, I'd appreciate it.

   If it is an accurate statement of the ACLU's position, I do not
   exactly understand the following. How does it get (quite apart from
   how this position is consistent with the ACLU's traditional
   protectiveness of speech against the government) from "unclear at this
   point what the government is doing with the information" to the
   reassuring (on what basis, one wonders) conclusion that "critics ...
   should not fear that their names will end up in some government
   database" and that, moreover, they should not fear that they could end
   up in some database that "could be used to chill their right to free
   speech."

   How could the ACLU possibly know this? How could it possibly know this
   given its own statement that it is "unclear" what the government is
   doing with the information. Did the ACLU obtain some court order
   ensuring this that I don't know about? Did it have a conversation with
   the Obama administration, to which it grants credence it has not
   traditionally granted any government administration? And in any case,
   how does it get from "unclear" to "should not fear"? It is a statement
   far enough from traditional ACLU views that I wonder whether it is
   actually accurate, and I would welcome anyone pointing me in the right
   direction at the official ACLU website to clear up its official
   position.

   I realize this is a pretty incendiary topic, on which I certainly have
   opinions, but in this case I'm really looking for knowledgeable views
   on the freedom of information questions, as well as the official ACLU
   view, if any.

References

   1. http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Facts-Are-Stubborn-Things/
   2. http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/08/nobody-is-collecting-names-white-house-responds-to-charge-its-monitoring-speech-of-health-care-refor.html
   3.
http://www.amazon.com/Worst-Instincts-Cowardice-Conformity-ACLU/dp/080704430X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1249778972&sr=8-1
   4. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/08/07/white-house-collect-fishy-info-health-reform-illegal-critics-say/