The Obama administration spent a record $36.2 million on legal costs in its last year in office in an attempt to keep government records secret.

For a second consecutive year, the administration set a record for the number of times federal employees said they couldn't find a single page of files that were requested under the Freedom of Information Act.

And it set records for the outright denial of access to files, refusing to quickly consider requests described as especially newsworthy, and forcing people to pay for records.

The Obama administration spent a record $36.2 million on legal costs in its last year in office in an attempt to keep government records secret

A scathing 2013 report from the Committee to Protect Journalists attacked the Obama administration for failing in the president's pledge to build a more open government.

The report found: 'Journalists and transparency advocates say the White House curbs routine disclosure of information and deploys its own media to evade scrutiny by the press.

'Aggressive prosecution of leakers of classified information and broad electronic surveillance programs deter government sources from speaking to journalists.'

The Obama administration also received criticism for its attempt to force New York Times reporter James Risen to reveal a confidential source.

In December last year Sean Spicer, now White House press secretary, even claimed the Trump team were more transparent than their predecessors.

Trump's secretary of state, Rex Tillerson (left), is traveling to Asia this week on a small plane without a contingent of journalists or a designated pool reporter

He said: 'The level of transparency has exceeded any modern president.'

It remains unclear, however, how President Donald Trump's administration will perform under the Freedom of Information Act or other measures of government transparency.

WHAT IS 'SUNSHINE WEEK'? The government released these new figures in the days ahead of Sunshine Week, which ends Sunday, when news organizations promote open government and freedom of information. Under the records law, citizens and foreigners can compel the U.S. government to turn over copies of federal records for zero or little cost. Anyone who seeks information through the law is generally supposed to get it unless disclosure would hurt national security, violate personal privacy or expose business secrets or confidential decision-making in certain areas. Advertisement

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 discussing their work.

His administration has barred some mainstream news organizations 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 journalists or a designated pool reporter who would send reports to the broader diplomatic press corps, departing from 50 years of practice.

In courtrooms, the number of lawsuits filed by news organizations under the Freedom of Information Act also surged during the past four years under Obama.

The figures reflect the final struggles of the Obama administration during the 2016 election to meet President Barack Obama's pledge that it was 'the most transparent administration in history,' despite wide recognition of serious problems coping with requests under the information law.

It received a record 788,769 requests for files last year and spent a record $478 million answering them and employed 4,263 full-time FOIA employees across more than 100 federal departments and agencies.

In December last year Sean Spicer, now White House press secretary, even claimed the Trump team were more transparent than their predecessors

That was higher by 142 such employees 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 routinely defended its efforts under the information law in recent years and said federal employees worked diligently on such requests for records.

Overall, in the final year of Obama's administration, 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 figure was only 65 per cent of cases.