PETALUMA, Calif.,Jan. 11, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- TheSan Francisco 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the American SmallBusiness League's (ASBL) Freedom Of Information Act Request (FOIA) caseagainst the Pentagon on 01/06/2017. The Pentagon appealed the case after theylost in the Federal district court of San Franciscofollowing the ruling that Sikorsky Aviation Corporation disclose their mostrecent subcontracting plan submitted to the Pentagon's ComprehensiveSubcontracting Plan Test Program (CSPTP).

The ASBL estimates that over $5 trilliondollars in undisclosed federal contracts have been administered throughthe CSPTP since its inception in 1989. By seeking disclosure of SikorskyAviation Corporations participation in the CSPTP, the ASBL sought to revealevidence that the program allowed the Pentagon's largest prime contractors tocircumvent small business subcontracting goals without penalty, costing smallbusinesses trillions of dollars.

In his ruling, Judge Alsup described the ASBL as being an underdog in a David and Goliathbattle against the "big company" and against the "biggovernment." He also accused the Pentagon of "covering it up" in reference tothe information the ASBL requested. In a subsequent hearing, Judge Alsupaccused the Pentagon and Sikorsky of trying to "suppress the evidence."

Professor Charles Tiefer,a leading expert on federal contracting law, has written a legal opinion corroborating theASBL's case, calling the CSPTP a "sham" and "seriously harmful" to small businesses.

During the District Court case, Judge Alsup instructed thePentagon and Sikorsky on two separate occasions to "highlight the parts that are supposedlyconfidential" or that they believed were proprietary and explain whythey believed the information should be exempt. The Pentagon declined to complywith Judge Alsup's request.

Despite the 9^th Circuit Courthaving never seen the documents on which Judge Alsup based his verdict, theCourt of Appeals overruled Judge Alsup in favor of Sikorsky, rendering Sikorskyexempt from having to provide proof of compliance with federal contracting lawwhile participating in the CSPTP.

"This is a landmark decision," said ASBL President Lloyd Chapman. " The Pentagon cannotaccount for $6.5 trillion in expenditures and thisruling facilitates more of this astounding abuse. We don't know how trillionsof our tax dollars have been spent for the last 27 years and we may continue tonot know for the next 27 years. The ASBL is already working on appealing thiscase."

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