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23 Feb, 10 tweets, 4 min read
Today, a joint Senate hearing is probing the security failures that resulted in rioters ransacking the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

We’ve launched our own investigation. Here’s how we’re using #FOIA and open records requests to demand answers. THREAD
npr.org/2021/02/23/970…
After the Jan. 6 attack, we submitted dozens of open records requests to investigate how security was so easily breached, how the government responded, and whether government officials enabled and/or participated in the attacks. 2/
We’ve filed FOIA requests with multiple agencies to learn more about how the federal government under Donald Trump — including DOD, the White House, and federal law enforcement agencies — responded to the Jan. 6 mob attack. 3/
americanoversight.org/investigation/…
We’ve requested related communications and directives, as well as Jan. 6 call logs, of top officials at multiple agencies, and are also seeking any assessments about the threat of militia violence that were prepared in advance of the attack. 4/
americanoversight.org/investigations…
We also requested the communications of top Defense and Army officials with Trump or Pence from Jan. 6. 5/
americanoversight.org/document/foia-…
We’ve also requested records at the state level. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said he was prepared to deploy the Maryland National Guard as soon as he learned about the invasion, but was forced to wait until he finally received delayed permission from DOD. 6/
We filed a records request to Hogan’s office for email communications with Pentagon officials about National Guard deployment on Jan. 6. 7/
americanoversight.org/document/recor…
The attack was a direct result of Trump's incitement of violence and his refusal to acknowledge the election results. We’re also seeking to shed light on ways federal and state officials abetted his efforts by promoting baseless claims of voter fraud. 8/
americanoversight.org/investigation/…
Additionally, numerous state and local government officials reportedly took part in the Jan. 6 “Stop the Steal” rally. We’re investigating how those government officials participated in or promoted what quickly became a violent insurrection. 9/
americanoversight.org/investigation/…
Learn more about our other related investigations into the Jan. 6 attacks here: END
americanoversight.org/areas_of_inves…

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More from @weareoversight

American Oversight Profile picture
24 Feb
The day before the attack on the Capitol, a political group associated with Republican attorneys general sent robocalls urging people to go to the Jan. 6 “March to Save America.” Emails @TakeBackMO obtained show the Missouri AG’s office was invited to a Jan 5 call with the group.
The call, sent by the Rule of Law Defense Fund, described plans for the crowd to march from a park near the White House to the Capitol to “call on Congress to stop the steal.” That march turned into a mob attack that tried to disrupt the certification of the election.
After the attacks, RAGA and RLDF quickly sought to distance themselves from the violence. In a statement on Jan. 7, then-RAGA Executive Director Piper said that RAGA and RLDF “had no involvement in the planning, sponsoring, or the organization” of the protest.
Read 9 tweets
American Oversight Profile picture
24 Feb
Today, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is testifying before the House Oversight Committee.

We’ve been fighting for records that could shed light on DeJoy’s management of USPS for months, but USPS still won’t release the documents.
pbs.org/newshour/polit…
In July, we filed a FOIA request for DeJoy’s calendars, hoping the records could shed light on his activities as postmaster general. The calendars of public officials are routinely released in response to FOIA requests.
americanoversight.org/document/foia-…
But in August, USPS rejected our FOIA for DeJoy’s calendar, saying the “calendar maintained on a USPS computer” was for DeJoy's personal use and the entries ”are not agency records subject to the FOIA.”
Read 10 tweets
American Oversight Profile picture
24 Feb
A Senate joint hearing held yesterday was the first public opportunity for lawmakers to question key figures who were involved with security of the Capitol when it fell on Jan. 6, including former Capitol Police Chief Sund and MPD Chief Robert Contee III.
americanoversight.org/questions-abou…
At Tuesday’s hearing, Sund and Contee both discussed a conference call they participated in during the attack, in which a top Defense official said he would recommend against National Guard deployment because he was worried about optics.
According to Sund, authorization didn’t come for nearly two more hours. We’ve asked both the Army and the National Guard for the memo from this call.
americanoversight.org/document/foia-…

americanoversight.org/document/foia-…
Read 4 tweets
American Oversight Profile picture
23 Feb
Today, the Senate began a series of hearings investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.

Numerous questions remain about why Capitol security was seemingly so unprepared. Capitol Police’s lack of transparency makes these questions harder to answer.
americanoversight.org/questions-abou…
In the days after the attack, Capitol Police did not provide a public briefing on the incident. This lack of transparency is compounded by the fact that the Capitol Police is part of the legislative branch and thus exempt from FOIA requests.
Despite this challenge, we’ve filed dozens of records requests with other agencies to help the public understand the fatal security failures of Jan. 6. Here are some highlights:
americanoversight.org/questions-abou…
Read 7 tweets
American Oversight Profile picture
19 Feb
Early on in the pandemic, DHS announced that its headquarters would be taking over the processing of all Covid-related FOIA requests. So, if you submitted a request to FEMA for FEMA-specific documents, DHS headquarters would process the request. #FOIAFriday
This change complicated the FOIA process and was not consistent with usual practices. For example, under this policy, DHS still needed to have FEMA FOIA officers conduct the search for responsive records.
Plus, under the policy, one single office was reviewing and managing many more FOIA requests than normal. It's hard to imagine that this didn’t create an even greater FOIA backlog.
Read 6 tweets
American Oversight Profile picture
18 Feb
Just over three years after President Trump's "commission on election integrity" was shut down after it systematically excluded its own Democratic members from participating, the RNC has now launched a nakedly partisan "election integrity committee." thehill.com/homenews/campa…
These commissions have become a recurring tool in the right-wing playbook for perpetuating the myth of widespread voter fraud and justifying new restrictions that make it harder for Americans to vote, so let's talk about them for a minute. (thread)
After 2016, President Trump repeatedly insisted that he had won the popular vote as well as the Electoral College. He had, in fact, lost by nearly 3 million votes, so he began falsely claiming that millions of illegal votes were cast. And he set up a commission to investigate.
Read 12 tweets

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