FOIA News: Advisers used Greek letters to avoid Michigan FOIAs

Democrat governor's consultant used email coded with Greek to thwart public records searches: lawsuit

Email to top Whitmer adviser expressed 'some major red flags'

 By Kyle Morris, Fox News, Aug. 31, 2023

A coded email sent by a consultant to a policy adviser for Democrat Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was used to "conceal" certain information related to the state's handling of a local water crisis from becoming public knowledge, according to a lawsuit filed by residents of Benton Harbor.

Andrew Leavitt, who once served as a consultant to Michigan’s energy department, used letters from the Greek alphabet to send the September 2021 email to Kara Cook, Whitmer's senior energy adviser, the class action lawsuit alleges.

Read more here.

FOIA News: FOIA logs reveal Democratic opposition research strategies

The DNC Goes Fishing – What Will it Catch?

By John A Jenkins, Law Street Media, Aug. 30, 2023

FOIAengine Examines Political Opposition Research

A few weeks ago, Politico’s Florida Playbook ran a story revealing what “hundreds of people, groups, and journalists” in the state were asking for:  “texts, emails, calendars, letters, and receipts” to or from Florida’s governor, presidential candidate Ron DeSantis. 

In Politico’s telling, many of the requesters were affiliated with the Democratic Party,  making demands under the state’s open-records law to get “damning material against political enemies.”  And, in DeSantis’ case, Florida’s public records certainly marked the best starting point to look for muck.  The list that Politico received of requesters targeting DeSantis in his home state was 222 pages long.

“Unsurprisingly, mostly Democratic-aligned groups asked for dirt on DeSantis and his inner circle,” Politico wrote.  “Oddly, no one tied to Trump – or other 2024 candidates – asked for such records, though it’s possible that GOP campaigns used an untraceable proxy to avoid angering a future Republican president.”

Why didn’t the Trump campaign file such requests?  Steven Cheung, a Trump campaign spokesperson, bluntly told Politico:  “We have information that no opposition researcher can ever find.”

Read more here.

FOIA News: USTR finalizes FOIA revision

On July 25, 2023, the U.S. Trade Representative issued an interim amendment to its expedited FOIA processing regulations. Today, the agency adopted that amendment as final after having received no public comments within the 30-day comment period.

FOIA News: FAA grounds FOIA request for VIP flight data

FAA accused of stonewalling demand for Buttigieg private flight data

By Josh Christenson, NY Post, Aug. 30, 2023  

The Department of Transportation is refusing to hand over private flight records for Secretary Pete Buttigieg, according to a conservative watchdog group suing for the files.

Americans for Public Trust (APT) said Wednesday that the Federal Aviation Administration has repeatedly missed deadlines to share Buttigieg’s flight logs and passenger records since the group first sought them this past November.

Fox News first reported the FAA’s foot-dragging.

APT also sent follow-up requests in January for the names of members of Congress and the White House or other Biden administration officials who flew on FAA planes and for a list of the agency’s jets, The Post has confirmed.

Read more here.

FOIA News: Media requesters tracked in the United Kingdom

UK Ministry of Justice found tracking journalists who make information requests

By Samara Baboolal, Jurist, Aug. 28, 2023

A Times investigation revealed on Saturday that the Ministry of Justice has been tracking journalists who make information requests. In the UK, the right to request and access recorded information held by public authorities is protected under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act. By law, UK public authorities must respond to any requests for information. According to the Times’ report, a Times reporter made a subject access request and discovered the documents of background profiles on journalists that make freedom of information requests, which was compiled by Ministry of Justice officials.

Read more here.

[Note: The application of extra scrutiny to certain FOIA requests is not uncommon in the United States. See notable examples here.]

FOIA News: NARA to use artificial intelligence for FOIA requests

National Archives discloses planned AI uses for record management

The records agency wants to use AI systems for auto filling metadata and responding to FOIAs, according to an inventory of the technology.

By Madison Alder & Rebecca Heilweil, FedScoop, Aug. 25, 2023

The National Archives and Records Administration revealed that it plans to use several forms of AI to help manage its massive trove of records in an inventory published earlier this month.

In its 2023 AI use case inventory, the agency charged with managing U.S. government documents disclosed it wants to use an AI-based system to autofill metadata for its archival documents. Similar to some other agencies, the National Archives also disclosed its interest in using the technology to help respond to FOIA requests.

While NARA shared these planned applications, it did not include any current, operational use cases of AI.

Read more here.

FOIA News: OIP issues guidance on SOPs

On the last Friday of August, the Department of Justice’s Office of Information Privacy issued guidance on “Standard Operating Procedures for FOIA Offices.”

Move over best-selling beach books.

FOIA News: Army Athletics denies being a federal agency, but agrees to fulfill FOIA request following lawsuit

ARMY ATHLETICS TURNS OVER FINANCIAL RECORDS FOLLOWING FOIA SUIT

By Daniel Limit & Eben Novy-Williams, Sportico, Aug. 24, 2023

Army West Point Athletic Association, the legal entity that administers the military academy’s Division I sports programs, has begun turning over the first batch of what could eventually be thousands of pages of financial and contractual records that it has previously refused to make public.

The academy’s intercollegiate sports arm had long snubbed Freedom of Information Act requests, claiming it is not subject to federal disclosure laws.

Army’s change in position follows a Sportico reporter’s FOIA lawsuit in February against West Point and the AWPAA, after the entities denied requests for numerous categories of athletic department records including NCAA revenue and expense reports, employee contracts and the athletic association’s agreements with third parties like Learfield and Nike.

Read more here.

FOIA News: ASAP workshop in Minneapolis

The American Society for Access Professionals will host a FOIA/Privacy Act workshop in Minneapolis from September 6 to September 8, 2023. Program and registration information is available here. The registration deadline is August 31, 2023.

FOIA News: Federal FOIA Advisory Committee to meet September 7th

The federal Freedom of Information Act Advisory Committee will meet remotely for the sixth time in its 2022-2024 term on September 7, 2023, from 10am to 1pm, as announced in a notice in today’s Federal Register. The purpose of the meeting will be “to hear about efforts at the State Department to use machine learning for document searches and reviews, and to hear reports from each of the three subcommittees: Implementation, Modernization, and Resources.”

Watch the meeting on the National Archives YouTube channel or register to attend via Webex. Meeting material will be posted here.