Thread by @vdbaranetsky

Today @reveal filed a brief in a case - against the U.S. Dep't of Treasury(FinCEN) - arguing FinCEN wrongly withheld records which disclose names of people that hold property in the United States through LLCs. Let me take you through the case! documentcloud.org/documents/7224…

A trend has emerged where individuals buy residential property through shell companies, like LLCs, so they are unidentifiable & can money launder (e.g. in '91 biz entities owned 3% of US property, today its 16% (quintupling their share) & they own 40% of rental property mkt!)

Money launderers can do this because states require property ownership to be public but don't require LLCs to disclose ownership, so ppl who buy property in all cash through LLCs can easily hide behind mazes of LLCs. gph.is/g/E0O0JY4

As @RepMaloney recently stated, “[LLCs] are being used by money launderers, criminals, and terrorists...We’re the only advanced country in the world that doesn’t already require [universal] disclosure of this information—and frankly, it’s an embarrassment."

But even the average citizen knows that 'who owns property' IS public info. For more 300+yrs, America’s laws have required property ownership to be public to ensure orderly transfers and provide a secure marketplace. (as early as 1639, CT required it!) bit.ly/3dbMswF

As @ksuenamu declaration states, for centuries, public records of beneficial ownership provided certainty in private bargains, facilitated enforcement of rights, prevented market chaos, making U.S's transparent property system a global standard documentcloud.org/documents/7224…

To combat the growing opacity several local, state, and international governments have, in recent years, passed legislation requiring LLCs and other entities to make beneficial ownership public. See Phila. Code § 9-3900 ; N.Y. Tax Law § 1409 (McKinney 2020); D.C. Code § 29-102.01

Also, as @leilanifarha (former UN Special Rapporteur on the right to housing) declared: over 50 countries, across the globe have recently passed laws ensuring beneficial ownership information is legally required to be disclosed. documentcloud.org/documents/7224…

So, @reveal argues, under the 'public domain doctrine' bc places like Philly, NY, DC -and a majority of countries require disclosure- records must be released. ACLU N. Cal. v. DOJ, 880 F.3d 473, 491 (9th Cir. 2018)(material that is “ordinarily exempt” must be disclosed if public)

Additionally, we argue the records are not law enforcement records that will circumvent the law. How can intrinsically public information circumvent the law? If anything disclosure of identities would likely disincentivize criminality.

As the recent @BuzzFeed @ICIJorg story showed: publishing FinCEN records (that disclosed even more intimate information) doesn't lead to circumvention of law enforcement. buzzfeed.com/buzzfeedpress/…

Also, unlike the records in that story, the records @reveal requested are not collected under the Bank Secrecy Act, they are merely emails and a plain spreadsheet the agency has put together (so the records cannot be withheld under FOIA Exemption 3).

Ultimately, by withholding the records, FinCEN denies US citizens important civic and market information that is historically, intrinsically, and actually public.

Many kudos to @Aaron_Glantz our reporter who filed the FOIA request and has been covering this story forever revealnews.org/episodes/homew….

AND our brilliant new first amendment fellow Alexandra Gutierrez who helped with the brief.

“The land and the wealth that began in it still carry the shape of history. . . .The land remembers. But what do we remember of it? Every political contest over claims on the land is, in part, a contest over what will be remembered and what will be forgotten.”- @JedediahSPurdy