Power of DC FOIA.

In April, 2019, U.S. Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook to publicly stated that "Iran is responsible for the deaths of at least 608 American service members" to justify the assassination of Qasem Soleimani. We didn't know it at the time, but DOD "non-concurred."

The Post won a precedent-setting, Maryland public records lawsuit and appeal that will make it easier for all to get police disciplinary records. 👍👍 Free link: wapo.st/4em0mh8

@foianate.bsky.social featured in the Able Archer segment of S2:E1 of SECRETS DECLASSIFIED WITH DAVID DUCHOVNY.

DOD talking points on the film The Day After. Via FOIA.

It looks like Iran is applying lessons learned during the "rigged" Millennium Challenge war game. @foianate.bsky.social nsarchive.gwu.edu/news/2024-11...

What FOIA requesters are DOJ OIP talking about here? Me?

Took DOD more than 15 years process this FOIA, but got some more Able Archer 83 dox. 👍👍

Speaking at DC Open Government Coalition Event today at 530 at MLK Library at Gallery Place on "Whose Information Is It Anyway?" Be there or be square!

Attorneys for at least 13 agencies and departments have explicitly stated in 26 FOIA lawsuits that the downsizings were the reasons for failures to meet FOIA deadlines, reports @foianate.bsky.social. www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...

For #SunshineWeek, the National Security Archive’s Annual FOIA Audit found that federal agencies’ use of “clarification of scope” letters undermines the rights of FOIA requesters. Read our investigation here: nsarchive.gwu.edu/foia-audit/f... @nsarchive.bsky.social

Happy #sunshineweek! Here are some gems from our investigation into 339 court dockets showing that government lawyers explicitly blamed the Trump staffing cuts for FOIA delays at at least 13 agencies. Free link below.

Turns out government lawyers will reveal #FOIA failings to courts that agencies otherwise try not to publicly mention. Like not being able to process a FOIA for emails because they can't figure out how to use Microsoft Outlook. My latest Revealing Records column. Free link below

@foianate.bsky.social gets Sunshine Week started off right with a blistering FOIA investigation!

Power of FOIA.

A man wrote an email to a government official. DHS told Google to give them his records using an administrative subpoena, bypassing the courts. Free link: wapo.st/4rtfCw8

Is your head coach's girlfriend filing FOIA requests on your school's top comms official a good look? Asking for a friend

SHAFR Executive Director @rimmerma.bsky.social quoted in this piece about the recent disappearance of FRUS records.

Collectors edition looking good!

Getting to the bottom of why the State Department quietly deleted 15 pages of history on the risk of inadvertent nuclear war. Free link below.

😂

According to author @foianate.bsky.social, the State Department told him in July it had deleted the documents after he used the Freedom of Information Act (and then sued the CIA) to obtain a copy of a one key record that had been transcribed but not reproduced in the 2021 FRUS volume.

Nothing to see here (literally!). Just the US State Department secretly deleting 15 pages of declassified official documents published in 2021 in the Foreign Relations of the United States series about a 1983 NATO nuclear weapons exercise that unexpectedly increased the risk of a nuclear war.

My friend @foianate.bsky.social with a must-read story about how the State Dept scrubbed an online historical study (FRUS) of key records about the 1983 Able Archer nuclear scare after he sued the CIA for its records on the near-disaster.

State Department Deletes Key Historic Records on risk of inadvertent nuclear war, Blames FOIA Requester (me😬). Free link below:

🚨 New DC FOIA exemption snuck into draft DC budget!🚨

FOIA delays aren’t always about funding — agencies often spend resources reviewing exemptions they’re not even required to. Watch @washingtonpost.com’s @foianate.bsky.social explain how to get around these hurdles and effectively access public records

I'm selfishly really looking forward to today's FOIA panel! I have tons of questions lined-up for @foianate.bsky.social, @mirandaspivack.bsky.social, and @morisy.bsky.social, and know I'll learn a lot from our conversation. If you haven't already RSVP'd, please join @freedom.press at 1 eastern!

🔔 Join us tomorrow for a conversation about using public records to push back on government secrecy, featuring @foianate.bsky.social, @morisy.bsky.social, @mirandaspivack.bsky.social, and FPF's Lauren Harper. 🕒 1 p.m. EDT/10 a.m. PDT RSVP: freedom.press/fight-gov-se...

🔔 Join us tomorrow for a conversation about using public records to push back on government secrecy, featuring @foianate.bsky.social, @morisy.bsky.social, @mirandaspivack.bsky.social, and FPF's Lauren Harper. 🕒 1 p.m. EDT/10 a.m. PDT RSVP: freedom.press/fight-gov-se...

On Tuesday, June 24, at 1 PM ET, @morisy.bsky.social will be joining @freedom.press’ Lauren Harper as well as @foianate.bsky.social and @mirandaspivack.bsky.social to talk about using public records to fight government secrecy. zoom.us/webinar/regi...

🔔 Join us for a conversation about using public records to push back on government secrecy, featuring @foianate.bsky.social, @morisy.bsky.social, @mirandaspivack.bsky.social, and FPF's Lauren Harper. 🗓️ June 24, 1 p.m. EDT/10 a.m. PDT RSVP: freedom.press/fight-gov-se...

sometimes a headline is all you need to know that @foianate.bsky.social got some docs

Fine, harrowing work by Jessica Contrera, Jenn Abelson, @jdharden.bsky.social, Carolyn Van Houten, @byhayden.bsky.social, @foianate.bsky.social and Lynda Robinson ethicsandjournalism.org/2025/04/11/a...

If only Jeffrey Goldberg read my Revealing Records column!! If he had, maybe he would have provided the classified information to the Information Security Oversight Office, rather than publish it! wapo.st/3FK3jJq

Through FOIA (cc @foianate.bsky.social), I obtained the IRS memo to the Trump transition team that warned the administration this exact thing would happen if it tore up the IRS. And now it is happening. www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

Happy Sunshine Week!!

"Always request records, not 'information.' Describe the record as specifically as possible including date created, title, and custodian of the records." @foianate.bsky.social shares important #FOIA tips in honor of #SunshineWeek. www.pressclubinstitute.org/2025/03/20/f...

The Department of Justice Office of Information Policy which is supposed to ensure that all federal agencies comply with FOIA *itself* takes an average of 650 days to process "complex" FOIa requests, the third longest of any agency. Not great!

🚨🚨I just beat Elden Ring🚨🚨

Radically improved transparency could me realizing that DOJ OIP is the failing FOIA watchdog/beat cop and forcing them to crack the whip so other agencies greatly improve the speed and amount of info released. Not happening. www.poynter.org/reporting-ed...

Not sure AI is quite ready for prime time.

Interesting FOIA stat from the Department of State...

FOIA's Exemption 5 means that the public doesn't have the right to see State's summary what the Trump-Ukraine meeting was about.😃 I'll appeal.

Prediction: 100 percent of the records identified by the JFK Assassination Records Review Board will not be released unredacted within 4 years.

"ISOO" and "Information Security Oversight Office" spotted on A2 of The Post today.