New: We expanded our investigation into the president’s list of potential Supreme Court nominees and filed a suite of public records requests for documents that could shed light on the backgrounds and legal ideologies of prospective nominees.
We just filed over a dozen new requests for communications, calendars, memos, resumes, and ethics documents related to Amy Coney Barrett, Britt Grant, Barbara Lagoa, and Deputy White House Counsel Kate Todd. Here are the specifics:
To investigate Barbara Lagoa, we asked the Florida Governor’s Office for Gov. DeSantis’s communications with people outside the government about his appointment of Lagoa to the state supreme court. americanoversight.org/document/recor…
We also asked the Florida Third District Court of Appeal—where Lagoa previously served—and the Florida Supreme Court for Lagoa’s emails and calendars. americanoversight.org/document/recor…
We filed public records requests with the Georgia Dept. of Law and Georgia State Records Center for former Solicitor General Britt Grant’s email communications with other state AG and external parties.
We had previously submitted records requests to shed light on the influences, connections, and past communications of Barrett, Lagoa, Amul Thapar, Noel Francisco, Tom Cotton, Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, and more. americanoversight.org/investigating-…
We anticipate to file more records requests regarding President Trump’s potential nominee picks in the days to come. Stay tuned.
We sued the DOJ and the FBI for any records of interviews with Donald Trump in connection with the government’s investigation of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell. americanoversight.org/american-overs…
The FBI previously refused to confirm whether records of interviews with Trump exist. We filed suit amid continued revelations about Trump’s connections to Epstein — including reports that the president’s name appeared repeatedly in internal government reviews of related records.
“The American people deserve to know whether the president of the United States was questioned by federal investigators about his ties to one of the nation’s most notorious sexual predators,” our Executive Director Chioma Chukwu said.
The DeSantis administration has turned an airfield in the Everglades into a detention center cruelly dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.”
We filed a suite of public records requests to investigate.
Trump wants to deport 1 million people annually.
But with limited immigration detention capacity, the administration is scrambling to find more places to detain people.
So the administration has turned to local and state governments, private industry, and the use of military bases to attempt to fulfill its anti-immigrant ambitions. But the lack of oversight at these facilities opens the door for mistreatment and worsening conditions.
The Trump admin. has taken aim at public education. But the far-right incursion into public schools has been happening at the state level for years — especially in Florida.
Here’s what we’ve uncovered about the harmful effects of Gov. DeSantis’ education policies.
In 2022, Florida adopted a slew of laws upending public education by mandating reviews of books for prohibited content, allowing parents greater ability to challenge classroom lessons, and barring instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity for certain grade levels.
These laws have left educators and others uncertain and confused, unleashing a chilling effect that has made teachers’ jobs harder and limited what children can learn.
The public’s right to know is under unprecedented threat. For years, we’ve remained steadfast in our commitment to exposing the truth and protecting public access to information so that the people can hold government accountable. americanoversight.org/celebrating-am…
Since last year’s Sunshine Week, we have had several victories for transparency at both the national and state level.
In May, an appeals court ruled in our favor in a years-old case regarding the release of records about 2017 efforts to weaken the ACA. americanoversight.org/democracy-forw…
The ruling made clear that agencies couldn’t use what is known as the “consultant corollary” to evade public disclosure of records when supposed “consultants” (in this case, Congress) have their own interests at stake when it comes to agency decision-making.
We’re pleased that our lawsuit for records from the federal investigation of Matt Gaetz was a key part of the public pressure that led to his decision to withdraw from attorney general consideration. americanoversight.org/statement-from…
Gaetz’s withdrawal is a clear indication that public demand for information and a transparent process will remain a powerful force for holding leaders accountable. Through our litigation, we will continue to demand answers about the alleged conduct of Mr. Gaetz.
Earlier this week, we filed a motion for preliminary injunction in our ongoing lawsuit for the release of interview records, known as “302s,” from the FBI’s investigation of Gaetz for serious criminal allegations, including sex trafficking of a minor. documentcloud.org/documents/2534…
We recently launched an investigation into efforts to undermine direct democracy and sabotage abortion access ballot measures, which will be considered by voters in ten states this November. #FoiaFriday americanoversight.org/investigation/…
Since 2022, 7 states have protected abortion rights through ballot initiatives.
In November, 10 states will have initiatives related to abortion rights on their ballots: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, and South Dakota.
In addition to a litany of lawsuits from conservative activists challenging the qualifying status of abortion-related ballot measures, legislators in many states have proposed laws that would change the requirements for ballot initiatives to make passage more difficult.