Pustay manages the DOJ's responsibilities related to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which include developing policy guidance and ensuring compliance with the FOIA, responding to initial information requests made to the senior leadership offices, adjudicating all appeals from denials by any DOJ component under the FOIA, and handling FOIA litigation matters.
"Melanie brings more than two decades of highly relevant experience and a record of both accomplishment and leadership to this position," said Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales. "OIP and the Department of Justice will continue to benefit from her insight, expertise and dedication to public service. I'm pleased she has agreed to serve in this critical role."
During her tenure as Acting Director, OIP updated and completed the Department's March 2007 FOIA Guide, compiled the DOJ's report on compliance with Executive Order 13,392, and issued guidance for other agencies on proper reporting.
Before becoming Acting Director, Pustay served for eight years as Deputy Director of OIP. In that capacity, she oversaw the handling of responses to initial requests made under the FOIA for records of the senior leadership offices of the DOJ. Additionally, beginning in 2003 and continuing today, she has worked with government officials in China, Argentina, Chile and other countries to assist in implementing guidance for openness-in-government initiatives.
Pustay has extensive FOIA litigation experience and has argued cases before the District Court for the District of Columbia and the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, including handling a case in 1998 involving access to former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover's official and confidential files. In 1992, she was responsible for the DOJ's senior leadership compliance with the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act, which required the federal government to make records of President Kennedy's assassination publicly available.
