New York: Sorry, Our Video Parodying Secrecy Is Secret

Isn't government secrecy funny? Andrew Cuomo thought so, so the New York governor—who campaigned on a promise of transparency—shot a video with his aides last year poking fun at the reputation for secrecy he's earned since. It was played during the Albany press corps' gala last year to thunderous laughter. But the real joke landed today, when the New York Times revealed that it had filed a Freedom of Information Law request for the video—and that Cuomo turned it down.

The Times does provide a description for the video: Cuomo's communications director tries to shoot a behind the scenes video on the administration, only to find that Cuomo is missing. At one point, the communications director is caught feeding documents into a paper shredder. Officials say they won't release the video because it uses copyrighted music (namely the themes from Top Gun and the Pink Panther), but the state's Committee on Open Government says that "Copyright itself is not a bar to disclosure."