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ByTedBridis The Associated Press WASHINGTON TheObama administration in its final year in office spent a record $36.2 million on legal costs defending its refusal to turn over federal records under the Freedom of Information Act, according to an Asso- ciated Press analysis of new U.S. data that also showed poor performance in other categories measuring trans- parency in government. For a second consecu- tive year, the Obama ad- ministration set a record for times federal employ- ees told citizens, journal- ists and others that despite searching they couldn't find a single page of files that were requested. And it set records for outright denial of access to files, refusing to quickly consider requests described as especially newsworthy, and forcing people to pay for records who had asked the government to waive search and copy fees. Thegovernmentacknowl- edged when challenged that it had been wrong to ini- tially refuse to turn over all or parts of records in more than one-third of such cases, the highest rate in at least six years. In courtrooms, the num- ber of lawsuits filed by news organizations under the Freedom of Information Act surged during the past four years, led by the New York Times, Center for Public In- tegrity and The Associated Press, according to a liti- gation study by the Trans- actional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University. The AP on Mon- day settled its 2015 lawsuit against the State Depart- ment for files about Hillary Clinton's time as secretary of state, at AP's request, and received $150,546 from the department to cover part of its legal fees. The AP has pending law- suits against the FBI for re- cords about its decision to impersonate an AP jour- nalist during a criminal in- vestigation and about who helped the FBI hack into a mass shooting suspect's iPhone and how much the government paid to do it. Of the $36.2 million in legal costs fighting such lawsuits last year, the Jus- tice Department accounted for $12 million, the Home- land Security Department for $6.3 million and the Pentagon for $4.8 million. The three departments ac- counted for more than half the government's total re- cords requests last year. The figures reflect the fi- nal struggles of the Obama administration during the 2016 election to meet Presi- dent Barack Obama's pledge that it was "the most trans- parent administration in history," despite wide recog- nition of serious problems coping with requests under the information law. It re- ceived a record 788,769 re- quests for files last year and spent a record $478 million answering them and em- ployed 4,263 full-time FOIA employees across more than 100 federal departments and agencies. That was higher by 142 such employ- ees the previous year. A spokesman for former President Obama did not immediately respond to an email request for comment late Monday. The White House under Obama rou- tinely defended its efforts under the information law in recent years and said fed- eral employees worked dili- gently on such requests for records. It remains unclear how President Donald Trump's administration will per- form under the Freedom of Information Act or other measures of government transparency. Trump has not spoken extensively about transparency. In his private business and his presidential campaign, Trump required employees and advisers to sign non- disclosure agreements that barred them from discuss- ing their work. His admin- istration has barred some mainstream news organiza- tions from campaign rallies and one White House press briefing. And Trump broke with tradition by refusing to disclose his tax returns. Trump's secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, is traveling to Asia this week on a small plane without a contingent of journal- ists or a designated pool reporter who would send reports to the broader dip- lomatic press corps, de- parting from 50 years of practice. Overall, in the final year of Obama's adminis- tration, people who asked for records last year under the law received censored files or nothing in 77 per- cent of requests, about the same as the previous year. In the first full year after Obama's election, that fig- ure was only 65 percent of cases. The government re- leased the new figures in the days ahead of Sun- shine Week, which ends Sunday, when news orga- nizations promote open government and freedom of information. SUNSHINE WEEK Obama'sfinalyear:USspent $36 million in records lawsuits CHARLESDHARAPAK—THEASSOCIATEDPRESSFILE The State Department sign used as a backdrop at the State Department in Washington. By Jonathan Lemire The Associated Press NEW YORK The White House and its allies are stepping up their attacks on a foe typically associ- ated with fragile democ- racies, military coups and spy thrillers. The "deep state," an al- leged shadowy network of powerful entrenched fed- eral and military interests, has increasingly become the focus of Republicans who accuse such forces of trying to undermine the new president. Though senior White House staff members don't use the exact label, the no- tion behind it has taken hold. President Donald Trump claims his prede- cessor tapped his phone and America's intelligence agencies have conspired to leak harmful informa- tion to embarrass him. His chief strategist has vowed to dismantle the perma- nent Washington "ad- ministrative state." White House spokesman Sean Spicer says "people that burrowed into govern- ment" are trying to sabo- tage the president. To Trump's critics, these assertions come off as par- anoid fear of a non-exis- tent shadow government and an effort to create a scapegoat for the White House's struggles. But to Trump's supporters, this represents an overdue challenge to an elite rul- ing class concerned only with maintaining its own grasp on power. "Of course, the deep state exists. There's a per- manent state of massive bureaucracies that do whatever they want and set up deliberate leaks to attack the president," said Newt Gingrich, a Trump confidant. "This is what the deep state does: They create a lie, spread a lie, fail to check the lie and then deny that they were behind the lie." Historians believe the concept of the "deep state" comes from Turkey, where the term "derin devlet" meant a clandestine net- work, including intelli- gence and military officers, which protected the ruling class in the 1920s. Similar ideas have taken hold in Egypt, where the military has allied itself with pow- erful business interests, and Pakistan, with its ro- bust intelligence service. In its current use, the concept has been twisted and broadened, encom- passing a resistant bureau- cracy and a regulatory re- gime rather than foreshad- owing some sort of military intervention. Chief Trump strategist Steve Bannon has offered the loudest warnings about the oppo- sition the president is fac- ing from the deep state. In his only public speech since the election, Bannon told a conservative group that the White House's goal was the "deconstruc- tion of the administrative state," a reflection of his be- lief that the massive federal government, with its bur- densome regulations, does more to hinder than up- lift citizens. It also echoes Bannon's oft-stated world- view, frequently on display at his former news site Bre- itbart, that a global power structure — including gov- ernment institutions — has rigged the economy. Gingrich, who says he has discussed the deep state with Bannon, likens its dangers to the plotline of the new season of "Home- land," in which a conspiracy that includes career intelli- gence officers tries to sub- vert a president-elect. "Theyarefighting tokeep hold of their power," said the former House speaker, who asked a reporter not to spoil the two Homeland ep- isodes of the season he has yet to see. The sprawling federal government, including its intelligence agencies, has thousands of employ- ees who predate Trump, a mix of career staffers and those appointed by Presi- dent Barack Obama whose replacements have yet to be named. Some have offered leaks, including sensitive documents, to reporters that provide a critical take on the president. Trump has insinuated that those holdovers are working against him — even suggesting that leaks from intelligences agencies were reminiscent of smear tactics utilized by Nazi Ger- many. SHADOWY NETWORK Trump White House sees 'deep state' behind leaks J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., joined by, from le , Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., and Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, speaks with reporters at the Capitol, on Tuesday, By Alan Fram The Associated Press WASHINGTON Undaunted by fellow Republicans' de- fiance, GOP leaders and the White House redou- bled their efforts Tuesday to muscle legislation over- hauling America's health care system through Con- gress following a sobering report about millions be- ing shoved off insurance coverage. President Donald Trump, whose strong Elec- tion Day showing in GOP regions makes him the party's ultimate congres- sional vote wrangler, was meeting with Congress' two top Republicans. With a crucial House commit- tee voted slated for Thurs- day, Trump's spokesman acknowledged they were open to making changes to win support. "This has never been a take it or leave it," said PressSecretarySeanSpicer. The GOP bill is the par- ty's response to seven years of promising to re- peal President Barack Obama's 2010 health care overhaul. It would undo that law's individual man- date, which requires most people to have coverage, by ending the tax penalty on those who don't. It would also pro- vide age-based tax cred- its instead of the subsi- dies geared to income in Obama's statute, end that law's expansion of Med- icaid and curb its future spending, and let insurers boost rates for seniors. On Monday, the Con- gressional Budget Office said the Republican leg- islation would reduce the ranks of the insured by 24 million in a decade, largely by cutting Medicaid recip- ients and people buying individual policies. That would be more than the 20 million who've gained coverage under Obama's overhaul — and attach a big number to a problem haunting GOP governors and members of Congress whose states have bene- fited from "Obamacare." "I plan to vote NO" on the GOP bill, Rep. Il- eana Ros-Lehtinen, R- Fla., tweeted Tuesday. "As written the plan leaves too many from my #SoFla dis- trict uninsured." The budget office re- port also said the measure would reduce federal defi- cits by $337 billion over the next decade, largely by cut- ting Medicaid, the health insurance program for the poor, and eliminating Obama's subsidies for low- and middle-income peo- ple. The report said that the bill's changes would result in federal subsidies that would fall to half their current size in a decade and that older, lower-earn- ing people would be hit es- pecially hard. Those findings further energized Democrats, who already were unani- mously opposing the GOP repeal effort and showing no sign of relenting. "Of course you can have savings if you cut off mil- lions of people from access to health care," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pe- losi of California. She said the measure's shift of bil- lions of dollars from lower- to higher-earning families actually would effectively transfer money from GOP to Democratic regions, and, seemingly taunting Repub- licans, she added, "Explain that to your constituents." Vice President Mike Pence and health secre- tary Tom Price discussed the legislation over lunch with GOP senators at the Capitol. Participants said senators suggested target- ing the bill's new tax cred- its more at lower-earning people, improving benefits for seniors and protecting the expansion of Medicaid, the federal-state program that helps lower-income people afford care. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., all but acknowledged the widespread assumption that the measure will be reshaped, saying, "It will be open to amendment in the Senate." Emerging from the senators' lunch — which included two House committee chairmen as well as Pence and Price — Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., said, "All four of them are open to suggestions and change." Even so, criticism cas- caded from both ends of the GOP political contin- uum, suggesting leaders face a festering problem. Freshman Rep. John Faso, R-N.Y., from a closely divided district in the Catskill Mountains, said he was concerned the bill would hurt hospitals and was undecided about sup- porting it. He's a member of the House Budget Com- mittee, where Thursday's vote could be close. Citing the bill's pro- jected increase in unin- sured people, Rep. Leon- ard Lance, R-N.J., from another close district, said he opposed the bill. Rep. Mark Amodei, R- Nev., said he was leaning no because of people losing coverage, saying of CBO's projections, "If the num- bers are in the ballpark, it sounds like we've gone back to where we started after seven years." Defiant conservatives still fighting health bill CONGRESS 25yearsprofessional experience. 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