The Navy suffered from a major whoopsie daisy today when it sent a D.C. investigative reporter their plan to dodge and deter his FOIA request.

NBC4 reporter Scott MacFarlane tweeted out a portion of an email sent by Robin Patterson, the Navy’s public liaison, detailing how part of his request should be described as a “fishing expedition.” From Politico:

According to copies of the FOIA request mentioned in the memo, MacFarlane was looking for information relating to the Navy Yard shooting in September. In mid-December MacFarlane filed the FOIAs seeking memos authored by various Naval Sea Systems Command officials in September, October and November 2013, e-mails sent by those same officials between 8:00 and 9:30 a.m. on the day of the shooting, and photos of Building 197, where the shooting occurred, that were not part of the investigation.

The Navy apologized via Twitter this afternoon, saying “The US Navy remains committed to transparency and responding to FOIA requests in a timely and professional manner. [We] regret the content of an internal email sent to NBC Washington, and support the Freedom of Information Act and its vital role in providing transparency to the American public.” MacFarlane said on Twitter the Navy has also apologized to him.

Filed Under: foia, nbc4, us navy, whoops,