Washington, March 20 (RHC)-- The Barack Obama administration has set a new record for concealing information from the U.S. public. According to an Associated Press analysis, of the more than 700,000 requests for information last year, the U.S. government censored or denied access to information in more than 250,000 cases. In more than 215,000 others, it said it could not find the records.

The AP report says that when the U.S. government was challenged over its withholding of information, in nearly one in three cases, it acknowledged the decision was improper. As the number of records requests increased, the administration slashed the number of full-time employees paid to look for records by 375, to its lowest number in five years.