William New, the guy who runs the excellent IP Watch website has been trying to find out more about the TPP agreement for quite some time. Working with some students from Yale‘s Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic, New filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for TPP-related documents. The USTR waited nearly a year to respond (well beyond the 20 working days required by the law), and then told New that they weren‘t providing the documents, saying that the draft text of the TPP is classified as „national security information.“

Yeah. A draft of a trade agreement that will impact us all, but is being negotiated in secret by the USTR and a small group of corporate lobbyists, is „national security“ information.