Thread by @weareoversight

Using #FOIA requests—and when necessary, litigation—we’ve uncovered misconduct, corruption, and abuse of power among key administration figures.

Here’s what we’ve found so far—and what we’re still trying to figure out.
americanoversight.org/open-questions…

First, Attorney General William Barr. We’ve uncovered key information about how Barr has served the president’s political interests over those of the American people.

Our FOIA litigation revealed that Barr met frequently with federal prosecutor John Durham, who was tasked with looking into the origins of the Russia investigation — 18 times in the 7 months after the Mueller investigation ended.
americanoversight.org/investigation/…

Other documents we obtained showed that Barr personally met with Rudy Giuliani and former Rep. Trey Gowdy in the summer and fall of 2019, apparently regarding a Venezuelan client, just a month before the impeachment inquiry was announced.
cnn.com/2020/07/16/pol…

Visitor logs from 2019 and 2020 obtained by American Oversight indicate Barr also met with Fox News host Laura Ingraham, conservative judicial adviser Leonard Leo, and White House official Kash Patel, among others.

https://twitter.com/weareoversight/status/1308439234789937154

Here’s what we still want to know:
-Is Barr spreading info that undermines faith in voting by mail?
-What role did Barr play in the federal government’s aggressive response to nationwide racial justice protests?
-What do internal whistleblowers say about Barr’s conduct?

Next, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Pompeo is one of the longest-serving and most influential figures in the Trump administration — and his personal and political actions during his tenure raise many questions.

We know from our previous investigations that his unusual request for military housing as sec. of state set off legal alarm bells & that a whistleblower had filed a complaint alleging that top officials at State turned a blind eye to Pompeo’s misconduct.
americanoversight.org/whistleblower-…

Responses to our record requests also showed Pompeo had direct communication with Rudy Giuliani in March 2019, when Giuliani was orchestrating activities that figured prominently in the president’s impeachment.
nytimes.com/2019/11/23/us/…

We’re still investigating:
-Did Pompeo urge President Trump to fire the State IG because of an investigation into Pompeo or his close aides?
-What role is Pompeo's wife, Susan Pompeo, playing at State?
-Did Pompeo use taxpayer resources to arrange his political convention speech?

This week, we’re reviewing the misconduct, corruption, and abuse of power we’ve uncovered among key administration figures and highlighting what we’re still trying to figure out.

Next up, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump.
americanoversight.org/open-questions…

As a result of emails uncovered in response to our FOIAs and lawsuits, the White House conducted an audit of private email use and found that Ivanka Trump was the most pervasive user of personal email to conduct official business.
washingtonpost.com/politics/ivank…

We have also kept an eye on Jared Kushner’s role in the mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. Records we uncovered show Jared forwarding an email calling masks the “silver bullet” against Covid-19 back in May.

https://twitter.com/weareoversight/status/1314201367188307969

We still want to know:
-Are Kushner and Ivanka Trump complying with records preservation laws while using personal email and messaging services?
-How has Kushner shaped US foreign policy?
-What’s the full extent of Kushner’s role in the Covid-19 pandemic response?

Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao’s apparent use of her office for the political benefit of her husband, Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, raises a number of questions, some of which we helped answer.
americanoversight.org/investigation/…

As Politico reported, we uncovered emails and calendars showing that Chao set up a special track within her office for requests coming from her home state of Kentucky, including from the office of her husband.
politico.com/news/2019/10/0…

Shortly after the NY Times published an extensive investigation into Chao’s relationship with her family’s shipping company, we published official calendars showing a private photo session at DOT where Chao and her father posed for photos with employees of the family company.

Here’s what we’re still investigating:
-Did Chao intervene to steer DOT funds to specific KY projects?
-Why did the administration dismiss the DOT Inspector General this spring?

White House aide Stephen Miller is an architect and advocate of some of the administration’s harshest anti-immigrant policies. We have filed more than 70 FOIA requests related to Miller’s influence and still are waiting to hear from dozens of them.

Miller reportedly often relies on phone calls rather than emails, which often leave a more substantial paper trail, to push his agenda. However, we’ve put together a timeline that helps trace his extensive reach within the administration.
americanoversight.org/investigation/…

Our requests have also uncovered documents that detail how Miller operates. For example, emails with officials at DOJ and ICE show how he uses internal agency allies to promote his agenda, sometimes sidestepping the agency’s leadership.
americanoversight.org/in-the-documen…

We still want to know:
-What was Miller’s role in asylum restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic?
-Was Miller involved in efforts by allies to push for an end to birthright citizenship?
-Did Miller push anti-immigrant policies at the Department of Education?