A Dallas woman whose investigation and exposure of unknown Secret Service scandals cost her more than $100,000 in legal fees is off the hook for the bill.

Malia Litman, a self-described stay-at-home Dallas mom, filed an astounding 89 Freedom of Information Act requests. She eventually sued the government for Secret Service records.

After a multiyear legal battle, she received 3,914 pages, much of it investigation documents.

Going through them, she discovered previously unreported incidents of agents' excessive drinking, hiring of prostitutes and forms of sexual harassment.

The Watchdog profiled her perseverance and toughness.

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But many readers were disturbed that a federal judge ruled she had to pay more than $100,000 in legal fees out of her own pocket. The government delayed the case, running up her tab, yet she was forced to pay even though she essentially won.

In a disturbing ruling, Senior U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings ruled that her pursuit of public records was not of a "legitimate public benefit" to justify the government's payment of her legal tab.

Whaaat?

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The Watchdog says those records should never be kept secret. The Secret Service is our nation's elite protective force. Agents must not put themselves in situations where they can be compromised by their own misdeeds.

That judge didn't change his mind. The government agreed to settle Litman's lawsuit and pay her legal fees. Litman received the money this week, which is why I can report this.

"They realized I wasn't going away," Litman told The Watchdog.

The solution here is to strengthen the federal open records law so the government doesn't play these legal games of deny and delay.

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Watchdog Dave Lieber of The Dallas Morning News is leader of Watchdog Nation, which shows Americans how to stand up for themselves and become super consumers.