We obtained emails showing that HUD officials circumvented standard FOIA practices to deal with politically-sensitive requests related to Jared Kushner and complained about inquiries from members of Congress: americanoversight.org/emails-show-po…
This isn't the first time at HUD tried to thwart transparency. We sued HUD in October 2017 for records related to how the agency processes FOIA requests to find out more: americanoversight.org/new-lawsuit-se…
One email asked officials to route any requests regarding “agency officials, transition, Ben Carson, Trump, etc. and media” through HUD headquarters instead of the regional offices to which the FOIA requests were sent: documentcloud.org/documents/4310… 
HUD officials' emails also mentioned that they had received FOIAs related to Jared Kushner's properties, including requests from the @BaltimoreSun: documentcloud.org/documents/4310…
There are also signs of White House interference in FOIA. Michael Roman, a former opposition researcher who worked in the White House counsel’s office, emailed HUD Region 3 administrator Joseph DeFelice, asking him to send a copy of “the FOIA request." documentcloud.org/documents/4310…
It's clear Roman attempted to insert himself into the agency’s process for releasing records about housing properties tied to the president’s family: documentcloud.org/documents/4310…
HUD employees also showed opposition to congressional inquiries, going as far as to describe a Congressman Donald McEachin as a "freshmen Congressman" for inquiring about HUD properties: documentcloud.org/documents/4310…
Despite political interference with FOIA at HUD, the Sun continued its reporting on Kushner's properties and we're going to continue our investigation into Ben Carson's leadership at HUD: americanoversight.org/investigation/…
