AP Reporter Calls out State Dept for Lack of Transparency on Keystone

LEE: “Yesterday was the deadline for the agencies to submit their Keystone evaluations. Can you tell us what’s going on with that, what’s the next step? Is there a deadline, a timeline now that’s been restarted?”
PSAKI: “Well, as you noted, yesterday the Department of State notified just a couple of weeks ago, January 16th, that the eight agencies would have until February 2nd to provide their views with regard to the Keystone pipeline permit application. That, of course, was yesterday. We will treat the agencies’ replies as part of an internal interagency process. They’re not mandated by the executive order to provide their views on the national interest regarding the proposed project, but we were required to request their views. There’s not a deadline or a timeline. Of course, their views will be factored into the consideration process.”
LEE: “Did all eight actually submit by the deadline?”
PSAKI: “We’re not going to confirm. We treat them as internal recommendations.”
LEE: “Well, I’m not asking what they say; however the EPA has already put theirs out, so –“
PSAKI: “I understand that.”
LEE: “(Laughter) Well, then it’s pointless for you guys to keep them secret, right?”
MS. PSAKI: “Well, we treat them as –“
LEE: “I’m just wondering –“
PSAKI: -- internal recommendations.
LEE: “Well, that’s fair enough. But I just want to know if all –“
PSAKI: “I don’t see that as pointless, but go ahead.”
LEE: “-- if all – well, it’s – I don’t understand why you can’t say if all eight submitted them or not. How does it –“
PSAKI: “Because they’re internal recommendations, and I’m not going to confirm whether or not we’ve received them. They’re not mandated. The ones we receive will be factored into the consideration process.”
LEE: “That makes it sound like they didn’t all.”
NN MALE REPORTER: “Do you feel that we have a balanced representation?”
PSAKI: “As I mentioned, we treat them as internal. I’m not going to confirm. I understand –“
LEE: “What happened to this transparency idea? I don’t get – I’m not asking what’s in the report. If an agency – what’s in the – if an agency wants to put their own report out, not – and make it public, that’s fine. That’s up to them, but –“
PSAKI: “Well, just to be clear, the EPA didn’t put their recommendations out publicly. They put out their views on the final SEIS. It’s something different, but that’s an important distinction. Go ahead, Roz.”
NN FEMALE REPORTER I: “Well, even though these reports weren’t mandated, does this building feel that it got a balanced representation from the agencies that were requested to submit their views?”
PSAKI: “Well, I’m not going to provide analysis on internal reports and internal input that we requested, as you ask. This is an internal process we’ll proceed through as the executive order mandates. There isn’t a deadline or a timeline. Obviously, we’ll factor in all of the input from agencies from these reports and other input they offer in other ways.”
NN FEMALE REPORTER I: “How do you confirm to people –“
NN FEMALE REPORTER II: “[indeciperable] determination from this – sorry, Roz.”
NN FEMALE REPORTER I: “Yeah.”
NN FEMALE REPORTER II: “ “Is – does the administration intend to make a determination one way or the other –“
PSAKI: “Yes.”
NN FEMALE REPORTER II: “-- before the end of its tenure? Before –“
PSAKI: “I don’t think we’ve said anything otherwise.”
NN FEMALE REPORTER II: “So there will be a determination before January 2017?”
PSAKI: “I’m not putting a new deadline on it, but we are going to make a determination.”
LEE: “When you say 'internal process,' OK, that really means secret and nontransparent, correct?”
PSAKI: “I don’t agree with that. A great deal of information here is public, Matt. Just because we’re not making public internal input that we received –“
LEE: “I’m not asking for – but see, that’s not the – I’m just asking if all eight agencies submitted a report. I’m not yet –“
PSAKI: “I will let you know if that’s something we’re going to confirm. At this point we’re not.”
LEE: “Okay, well I just – because the whole question of this administration’s transparency would seem to be – I mean, I don’t understand why you won’t even say if you got eight reports or you got five.”
PSAKI: “OK.”
LEE: “I mean, I don’t see how that compromises anything.”
PSAKI: “I’ve registered your question. I will let you know if we're going to confirm it.”