Fighting the Feds

Joanna Slater of The Toronto Globe and Mail writes Monday about the lawsuit that Bloomberg has filed against the Federal Reserve to disclose the aid it gave banks during the financial crisis.

Slater writes, “The decision from the appeals court could come any day between now and April, the lawyers involved said. Other similar cases against the Fed will also hang in the balance, including one filed by Fox News and one by The New York Times. There’s a fair chance that whoever loses would appeal, setting up a potential showdown in the Supreme Court.

“At Bloomberg, editors said the case has always been about a bigger principle – ‘People have a right to know what’s being done with their money,’ said Mr. Winkler – and not simply the particular information it requested, which is now nearly two years old.

“Not so for Mr. Pittman. Like a true reporter, he just ‘wanted to know this stuff,’ Ms. Bennett says, rather than prove a broader point.”

Read more here.