An announcement from Secretary of State?John Kerry this week was at once startingly cynical and depressingly typical of Washington.

Kerry, reportedly in an attempt to deflect criticism of his agency’s slow, incomplete responses to requests for public records, appointed a “transparency coordinator” to address the problem. Much of it stems from the controversy over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s email messages. The State Department has dragged its feet in revealing contents of her emails.

Newly named to take care of the problem is Janice Jacobs, a career diplomat who is supposed to ensure the State Department does a better job of complying with the Freedom of Information Act. Presumably, one of her first tasks will be to ensure every scrap of information about Clinton is released.

Somewhere in the federal government, there is a veteran official with no conflict of interest in such matters.

But that person is not Janice Jacobs. Last year, she donated $2,700 – the maximum allowed by law – to Clinton’s presidential campaign, according to a published report. Clearly, Jacobs has every reason to avoid releasing any documents that may harm Clinton’s campaign.

Again, that was no problem for Kerry. In fact, he described her as “exactly the right person for this job.”

From Clinton’s perspective, Kerry may be right.