(NaturalNews) Monsanto-funded scientists are calling for an end to Freedom of Information Act requests after they were ousted for colluding with the biotech industry to push GMOs and their associated pesticides.

Rather than respect the public's right to greater transparency, industry-bought scientists are demanding total SCIENTIFIC SECRECY, deeming FOIA requests "harassment" and "terrorism."

The collusion was discovered after the non-profit U.S. Right to Know (USRTK) obtained hundreds of documents and emails revealing the PR strategies of Big Ag, which involves bribing university faculty and staff to manipulate the public and policy makers into believing their products are safe when scientific literature proves otherwise.

University of Florida professor Kevin Folta was implicated as being one of the most eager and cooperative taxpayer-funded scientists to comply with biotech giant Monsanto, which dominates the global market for GM crops.

Folta, who repeatedly denied any financial ties to the biotech industry and insisted he was an
"independent researcher," was exposed as having accepted bribes from Monsanto in the form of a $25,000 unrestricted grant and funds to travel the country promoting GMOs.

Due to alleged death threats against Folta, the university has claimed that it will give the money to an on-campus food bank.

Folta, who said nobody tells him what to say or think, wrote to Monsanto: "I'm glad to sign on to whatever you like, or write whatever you like."

Rather than distancing himself from the revelations, Folta went on a Twitter rampage, defending his actions and calling for an end to scientific transparency, complaining of FOIA "abuse" and "harassment."





Total SCIENTIFIC SECRECY would be a dream come true for Big Ag and the university scientists they bribe, concealing the industry's practices, just as they conceal GMOs in food.

Co-Director of USRTK Gary Ruskin shares similar concerns about Monsanto-funded scientists' recent calls to end FOIA transparency.




Folta and other industry-bought scientists seem to think that there's a massive "conspiracy" to look over their shoulder, when the truth is, the public just wants to know what's in their food, a basic human right, as well as if they can trust what they're being told by corporations and scientists.

"It is a taxpayer-funded fishing trip for a 'gotcha', nothing more"

By keeping the public in the dark about the dangers and consequences of GM agriculture, Big Ag can focus on earning profits rather than curbing unsafe practices due to public pressure.

Folta wrote in his blog that "when an activist with a mission sees a public scientist effectively talking about science, and they need to shut up that scientist, the FOIA is an easy way to do it."

There's absolutely no reason hard-working Americans would want to "shut up" a scientist that's "effectively talking about science," unless that scientist was suspected of acting unethically.

Folta also wrote that the FOIA requests are "an expensive fishing trip to harm public science" and "malicious nuisance."

If Folta isn't doing anything wrong, then why is he so annoyed and unnerved by the FOIA requests? If he truly believes his collusion with the biotech industry is ethical, then why is he so concerned with the public gaining access to his communications with them?

The sole purpose of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) law is to provide citizens with a tool they can use to hold the government and government institutions accountable. FOIA requests allow for greater transparency, and without them, tyranny can easily take hold and flourish amidst an uninformed public.

Sources:

NaturalNews.com

NaturalNews.com

NaturalNews.com

NYTimes.com

GMWatch.org