Congress is immune to the Freedom of Information Act. So here's how BuzzFeed News pried loose six closely guarded permits, along with several intelligence assessments, from the Capitol Police 🧵buzzfeednews.com/article/jasonl…
The Capitol Police initially declined our request for the permits. So we sued, citing the “common law right of access” to public records, which says the public has a right to review records exempt from the Freedom of Information Act.
The Capitol Police didn't fight the case, and in doing so gave a concrete example of a type of document for which Congress recognized it can’t defend secrecy in court, our lawyer said.
The victory may have altered the contours of the work we do: We now have a concrete example of a type of document for which Congress recognized it can’t defend secrecy in court, attorney Jeffrey Light says.
BuzzFeed News is in ongoing discussions over the release of other records from the Capitol Police and its Office of Inspector General and continues to press its case in federal court.

And this is all done with vital help from our members.
If you'd like to join our push for government transparency, consider becoming a BuzzFeed News member at support.buzzfeednews.com and help bring stories like this to light.

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More from @BuzzFeedNews

9 Sep
School boards are voting to implement mask mandates amid the rising number of child COVID cases. However, they’re allowing droves of students to simply opt out of them — often without a medical reason. buzzfeednews.com/article/tasnee…
The exemption policies vary by school district: some require medical exemptions to be approved by a doctor and others only need a parent or guardian’s signature. Several districts let parents simply opt out without a reason.
Parents looking to skirt mask requirements have been receiving assistance from conservative groups on how to fight mandates. In some districts, school leaders themselves are giving parents tips on how to get exemptions.
Read 6 tweets
9 Sep
The chief of the Capitol Police and its top intelligence officer approved permits for six Jan. 6 demonstrations.

The OK came despite signs one used a fake name and five were a proxy for a group staging violent protests across the US. buzzfeednews.com/article/jasonl…
BuzzFeed News got the six closely guarded permits, along with several intelligence assessments, by pursuing an unusual legal strategy.

The documents are a rare window into a secretive organization and its most consequential day.
Police noticed that organizers had ties to Ali Alexander, a right-wing activist behind Stop the Steal. But their assessment said there were no plans for people to enter buildings.

"Acts of civil disobedience/arrests” on Jan. 6 were deemed "Highly Improbable.”
Read 5 tweets
30 Aug
UN peacekeepers were sent to Haiti to help a country in crisis. But some of them exploited local women and fathered children they would go on to abandon.

Years later, the families they left behind are desperate for support. buzzfeednews.com/article/karlaz…
Peacekeepers were deployed to Haiti in 2004 following a coup attempt. Their numbers grew after the 2010 earthquake.

But as aftershocks traumatized the nation, some peacekeepers began trading food for sex in the tent cities housing displaced families.
For years, these abandoned mothers have struggled to receive any financial support: From the fathers, Haiti’s government, or the UN. One woman says she can’t remember the last time a UN victims’ rights officer picked up her calls. buzzfeednews.com/article/karlaz…
Read 9 tweets
18 Aug
NEW: Federal officials are recommending that people get COVID booster shots eight months after being fully vaccinated over concerns about whether immunity is waning as the Delta variant surges in the US.

buzzfeednews.com/article/petera…
Currently, the boosters are only for people who gotPfizer or Moderna vaccines. Third shots for nursing home residents, health care workers, and other seniors will begin on September 20.
Officials also said people who received the Johnson & Johnson one-dose vaccine will likely need a booster, but are waiting on additional data in the next few weeks.
Read 5 tweets
17 Aug
Some people waited months after the COVID-19 vaccine became widely accessible to the public before getting it. Here’s what they told us: buzzfeednews.com/article/claris…
Ashley A. from California got the vaccine after a close friend was hospitalized with COVID-19 and died. “I don’t want to lose someone like that again, I can’t go through that.” she said.
Becky Rooney felt awkward and singled out at work one day when her employer announced that vaccinated staff did not need to wear their masks, following the CDC’s guidance. Everyone around her “ripped their mask off” and cheered.
Read 6 tweets
13 Aug
The co-founder of Snopes, one of the internet's biggest fact checkers, wrote dozens of plagiarized posts for the site — sometimes under a fake name. buzzfeednews.com/article/deanst…
After inquiries from BuzzFeed News, a Snopes internal review found that co-founder David Mikkelson wrote and published 54 articles with plagiarized material. Snopes says it plans to retract all the offending stories.
Emails and Slack messages suggest that quickly copying text from a news outlet's story was routine for Mikkelson, who saw the practice as an SEO hack to boost traffic.
Read 6 tweets

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