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American Oversight
@weareoversight
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NEW: Calendars we obtained via FOIA litigation show that Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao’s actions on behalf of her family’s shipping company included a private photo session with her father at DOT, as well as a speaking engagement: americanoversight.org/elaine-chao-ca…
Chao and her father posed for photos with employees of her father's company, the Foremost Group, and several Chinese media outlets: americanoversight.org/elaine-chao-ca…
The @NYTimes reported on the extensive contacts between Secretary Chao and the Foremost Group, the business founded by her father and now run by her sister: nytimes.com/2019/06/02/us/…
Chao has no official role with the Foremost Group, but the Times reported that she has used her “celebrity status” in China to promote the interests of the company: nytimes.com/2019/06/02/us/…
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American Oversight
@weareoversight
News Roundup: Supreme Court decisions on the census and the Freedom of Information Act, and a new lawsuit related to Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner's D.C. landlord americanoversight.org/news-roundup-s…
This week the Supreme Court ruled that the government has broad power to withhold “confidential” business information under FOIA's Exemption 4, which covers trade secrets and commercial or financial information: americanoversight.org/news-roundup-s…
The EPA also published new rules that would explicitly give political appointees power to oversee final responses to FOIA requests: eenews.net/eenewspm/2019/…
Read 4 tweets
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American Oversight
@weareoversight
New: Former FEMA administrator Brock Long misused government travel and cost taxpayers $151,000. We uncovered documents showing he only paid back $2,716 — less than 2 percent of the total: politico.com/story/2019/06/…
See the documents - including the check from Long to the government - here: americanoversight.org/document/fema-…
From Tom Price’s private jets, to Scott Pruitt’s first class tickets, to Brock Long’s misuse of government vehicles, the Trump administration has a pattern of using public office as a way to get luxury perks.
Read 3 tweets
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American Oversight
@weareoversight
Acting Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who worked for defense contractor Raytheon for seven years before joining the administration in 2017, brings his own industry baggage to the role of Pentagon chief. americanoversight.org/trump-nominate…
Lobbying disclosure reports indicate that Esper was actively lobbying the Trump administration throughout much of 2017, even as he presumably prepared to become secretary of the Army.
We filed FOIA requests for Esper's calendars and communications, as well as any ethics waivers or recusal determinations: americanoversight.org/document/foia-… americanoversight.org/document/foia-…
Read 3 tweets

Related threads

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Jason Leopold
@JasonLeopold
NEW: #FOIAFriday thread

I just got these docs related to the agency's torture program from CIA after a 5 year #FOIA battle. These are the sole source contracts between CIA & James Mitchell & Bruce Jessen, psychologists credited as being the program's architects

BUT 1/
Included in these documents are also their Statement of Work after they formed their company, Mitchell & Jessen, in 2005. So these are contracts from 2005 onward.

It's the Statement of Work that's interesting.

2/
The 2 psychologists credited as being architects of CIA torture program proposed in 2005 hiring a psychologist to oversee the "weaponization of psychology in the war on terror" through interrogation of detainees to support a CIA project known as "Terrorist Think Tank" or T3

3/
Read 8 tweets
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R. Andrew Free
@ImmCivilRights
It's #FOIA Friday and I'm almost recovered from an upper respiratory infection, so perhaps folks will be interested in seeing these Immigrant Health Services Corps policies and directives we obtained through FOIA litigation, the majority which have never been public. Here goes...
Here's the @documentcloud link , which I'll keep updated as docs come in: documentcloud.org/search/project…

Some highlights, based on recent failures by the agency to comply:
Transgender Detained Immigrants:
documentcloud.org/documents/6025…

"Therapeutic" Solitary: documentcloud.org/documents/6025…
Hunger Strikes: documentcloud.org/documents/6025…
Read 17 tweets
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Jason Leopold
@JasonLeopold
NEW on this #FOIAFriday: For 8 yrs, Ive been receiving docs from FBI via #FOIA on Samir Khan, the US citizen & editor of AQ's official magazine killed in a CIA drone strike w/radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki

Here's the latest, heavily redacted batch

documentcloud.org/documents/5987…
Fascinating disclosures in this new batch of FBI records, which coincides with Samir Khan's travels to Yemen and also includes a number of 302s of people who knew him and al-Awlaki.

Also, how a CIA related movie called Traitor taught some how to share emails without sending it
I've been writing about Samir Khan, based on these FBI documents I've obtained via #FOIA for six years.

news.vice.com/en_us/topic/sa…
Read 3 tweets
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Jason Leopold
@JasonLeopold
Not sure if anyone is aware, but for more than two years, I//@BuzzFeedNews /@_rshapiro have had a #FOIA lawsuit against multiple intel agencies for documents on their assertions that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential campaign/collusion. 1/
The agencies identified thousands of pages of documents and withheld the vast majority on national security grounds. Still, some were released and we are the only ones who have been successful in prying loose some of these records via #FOIA. 2/
So in light on the 4-page Barr memo characterizing the Mueller report (which we still haven't seen) I am reupping some of the stories I wrote from the cache of #FOIA docs on Russia interference in the 2016 campaign. These documents are from DHS, CIA, FBI, ODNI and State Dept. 3/
Read 23 tweets
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Jason Leopold
@JasonLeopold
NEW #FOIAFriday: 17 yrs ago today, a detention facility was opened at #Guantanamo to indefinitely detain "war on terror" captives. Yet, operations remain shrouded in secrecy

So, I sought ALL the recent SOPs in hopes of lifting that veil. Here they are:

documentcloud.org/documents/5682…
Included in this cache of #Guantanamo Standard Operating Procedures I obtained via #FOIA: The latest version (redacted) of the force feeding procedures for hunger strikers (who are called nonreligious fasters).

(I obtained a complete unredacted SOP about five years ago)
I've spent the better part of the past decade trying to pry loose documents out of #Guantanamo via #FOIA. Been a long, hard slog.
Read 3 tweets
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Jason Leopold
@JasonLeopold
Been a pretty shitty year for #FOIA. Govt agencies continue to thwart the release of records. But I was still able to pry loose a few gems.

Here's a thread to highlight all of the news stories I published at @BuzzFeedNews in 2018 based on docs I obtained via #FOIA ICYMI 1/
People Actually Complained That TV Networks Repeated Trump's "Shithole" Comment

After news networks quoted the president talking about "shithole countries," audience members complained to the FCC — and @BuzzFeedNews obtained their complaints. #FOIA 2/

buzzfeednews.com/article/jasonl…
Trump Transition Records, A Source Of Friction With Special Counsel Robert Mueller, Were Almost Destroyed

buzzfeednews.com/article/jasonl…

#FOIA 3/
Read 19 tweets

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