PETALUMA, CA--(Marketwired - May 13,2014) - According to the American Small Business League, Small BusinessAdministration (SBA) Press Office Director Terry Sutherland is refusing torelease the phone records of SBA Press Office Deputy Director Carol Wilkerson.

On April 11 of this year the AmericanSmall Business League (ASBL) requested under the Freedom of Information Actall of Carol Wilkerson's outbound phone records dating from March 1 throughApril 1, 2014. The purpose of the request was to test the SBA Press Office'sresponse for Freedom of Information Act requests for phone records. CarolWilkerson is listed as Deputy Director/Team Leader of the SBA Office of Communicationsand Public Liaison.

In his May 8, 2014 response to theASBL, Terry Sutherland claimed no phone records exist for Wilkerson and stated,"The records show no longdistance calls during that time period. Only outgoing long distance calls arerecorded and maintained in a file, local calls are not."

The ASBL requested Wilkerson's phonerecords to investigate possible illegal, unsanctioned or prohibited activitiesby the SBA Press Office.

In 2010, the SBA refused to release the phone records ofthen SBA Press Office Director Mike Stamler. The SBA fought the release of Stamler's phone recordsin U.S. District Court in San Francisco and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The ASBL appealed the case to the U.S.Supreme Court. The SBA was preparing to fight to keep Stamler's phone recordshidden when the Supreme Court declined to hearthe case and Stamler's phone records remainedsecret.

The ASBL believes the extreme lengthsthe SBA has pursued to keep their Press Office phone records secret are a clearindication that they are engaging in unlawful activities and may be workingclosely with the Pentagon to kill stories on billions of dollars in federalsmall business contract awards to some of the nation's largest defense contractors.

The ASBL believes the appointment of Terry Sutherland, former Director of CorporateCommunications at the Pentagon Force Protection Agency,to head the SBA Press Officesignals the strong affiliation between the SBA and the Pentagon. 

A series of federal investigations and media reports have all found hundreds ofbillions of dollars in federal small business contracts that have been divertedfrom small businesses to Fortune 500 firms.

The ASBL plans to appeal the SBA'srefusal to release Wilkerson's phone records and will continue its Freedom ofInformation Act campaign in the courts to uncover phone records and emails fromthe SBA Press Office.