We believe that transparency is the first step to accountability.
So every week, we submit public records requests to local, state, and federal agencies.
Here’s a roundup of requests we’ve recently filed. #FOIA
Records request to Missouri Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman seeking communications with anti-choice external entities and individuals. americanoversight.org/document/recor…
Records request to the Florida House of Representatives for the Speaker’s communications with transphobic pressure groups, like Alliance Defending Freedom, Family Research Council, and Family Research Council Action. americanoversight.org/document/recor…
Records request to the Arizona Senate seeking records regarding changes to the legislature’s public records retention policy. americanoversight.org/document/recor…
Records request to the Arizona House of Representatives seeking communications regarding changes to the legislature’s public records retention policy. americanoversight.org/document/recor…
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NEW: Today, the Georgia State Election Board withdrew rules it approved in a recent illegal meeting, which was held without proper notice of a quorum. We’d sued the Board for violating the state’s Open Meetings Act. americanoversight.org/georgia-electi…
We’re pleased that our lawsuit, along with pressure from partner organizations on the ground in Georgia, has prompted the Board to withdraw the illegally approved rules from its sham July 12 meeting.
The board also announced plans to reconsider the rules at its Aug. 6 meeting. We remain deeply concerned by the Board’s decision to promptly revisit these problematic measures that serve to intimidate election workers and grant partisan advantage to preferred candidates.
NEW: We sued the Georgia State Election Board for violating the state’s Open Meetings Act after it held a meeting on July 12 — in which it pushed forward controversial new election rules — without legally required public notice or a quorum. americanoversight.org/american-overs…
Georgia’s Open Meetings Act and others like it are vital to a functioning democracy by helping ensure official actions are conducted in full view of the public. Attempts to maneuver around it to advance changes to Georgia’s election rules are a clear violation of this law.
Any proposals voted upon during this meeting are null and void, and we ask the court to prevent them from moving ahead with the proposed rules and to declare their actions at last week’s meeting invalid.
On Oct. 28, 2020 — less than a week before the election — Ginni Thomas sent more than a dozen links to a Google Group called “20024.” “[Redacted] asked me for links we have all been sharing about the coming insurrection, chaos, and violence,” she wrote.
“It is not random. It appears very organized if you have the eyes to see and read and hear,” she continued. Thomas asked recipients to add more links and to organize the articles.
An individual (name redacted) created a Google document that organized the various links.
The “constitutional sheriffs” movement is a fringe theory that holds that sheriffs have more law enforcement power in their home counties than any other government body or individual. The movement has brought its work to the election denial space. theguardian.com/us-news/2024/a…
“Nothing is more dangerous to our democracy than a movement based on election lies promoted by radical law enforcement officials who falsely believe they are the ultimate authority, including on matters of election administration,” our Chioma Chukwu told the Guardian.
We’ve been investigating “constitutional sheriffs,” obtaining the schedule and list of participating fellows at the Claremont Institute’s Sheriffs Fellowship — a November 2022 gathering of some of the most controversial sheriffs in the country. americanoversight.org/investigation/…
It’s #SunshineWeek, a week that celebrates & promotes access to information and open government nationwide.
Today, we’re highlighting the power of #FOIA with a thread about its past, present, and future.
President Lyndon B. Johnson signed FOIA into law on July 4, 1966. Records show LBJ personally removed strong language supporting open government from the press statement. He only agreed to sign it after DOJ suggested he include a signing statement. nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/…
In his signing statement, LBJ praised the importance of openness for democracy and said the legislation affirmed American principles. But he also wrote that he felt some documents shouldn’t be available to the public. nsarchive2.gwu.edu//nsa/foia/FOIA…
Yesterday, D.C. Circuit heard oral arguments on presidential immunity in Trump’s election interference case.
Judges questioned both sides about our amicus brief arguing the D.C. Circuit lacks jurisdiction to hear Trump’s appeal on his immunity claims. Here’s what that’s about:
In Trump’s federal election interference case, U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan ruled that Trump is not entitled to immunity from criminal prosecution. Trump appealed the ruling, hoping to delay the trial set for March.
Late last month, we filed an amicus brief that argues that the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit lacks jurisdiction to hear Trump’s immunity appeal until after he is tried by a jury, convicted, and sentenced. americanoversight.org/american-overs…