Stop the Pentagon’s secrecy grab

Dear Friend of Press Freedom:

Investigative journalist Catherine Herridge has, by our count, paid at least $15,000 in fines for refusing to reveal a confidential source. Plus, the Pentagon tries to hide millions of records from the American public, and a win in Puerto Rico for the press.

Congress must reject terrible Pentagon records policy

Pete Hegseth’s Defense Department is pushing a proposal that would exempt “controlled unclassified information” (CUI) from the Freedom of Information Act. Given the rampant abuse of CUI markings across the department — and the fact that FOIA already shields both properly classified material and sensitive unclassified data — this is just the latest move by the Pentagon to escape accountability.

That’s why Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) led a broad coalition of transparency organizations, press freedom advocates, and watchdog groups in urging four Congressional committees to reject the proposal, which FPF Daniel Ellsberg Chair on Government Secrecy Lauren Harper wrote about for MS NOW.

Ruling protects Puerto Rican journalists

Some good news: On Tuesday, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a ruling preventing the enforcement of the so-called Fake News Law in Puerto Rico, which would have criminalized spreading false information about public emergencies. Two journalists who had challenged the law argued that it would dissuade journalists from reporting developing news for fear of being prosecuted if the facts shifted. FPF, along with the University of Georgia’s First Amendment Clinic, Free Press, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, and PEN American Center filed a legal brief in support of the journalists.

“The First Circuit got this exactly right,” FPF Chief of Advocacy Seth Stern said. “Recent U.S. history clearly demonstrates that ambiguous and overbroad statutes restricting speech will inevitably be abused to crack down on dissent and journalism. It’s a question of when, not if.”

Fauci hubbub obscures Trump recordkeeping failures

Much has been made about Dr. Anthony Fauci’s refusal to answer questions during a contentious congressional hearing last week about the COVID-19 pandemic. But Fauci’s work can only be scrutinized because he preserved over a thousand pages of records on government servers — the kind of recordkeeping the Trump administration seems to have forcefully abandoned.

In an op-ed in MS NOW, FPF’s Harper describes the government-wide assault on record preservation and accountability that contrasts sharply with the Fauci records dump.

The US Virgin Islands need transparency

There’s been a lot of posturing about transparency by legislators in the U.S. Virgin Islands, journalist Shirley L. Smith, a native of the islands, wrote for FPF. But these same officials have neglected to strengthen the territory’s archaic and ineffective public records laws, despite scrutiny over some of their relationships with Jeffrey Epstein, who owned two islands there.

Smith writes that it’s past time to change the public records laws to hold officials personally liable for illegally withholding public records, impose stringent penalties on violators, implement effective enforcement, and require agencies to produce records by a specific deadline.

It’s getting dark in the Sunshine State

Florida was once celebrated for having some of the nation’s strongest public records and open meetings laws. But a disturbing pattern of official stonewalling, secrecy, and retaliation against critics indicates that the state has abandoned its commitment to free expression and open government. Most disturbing: A new law that gives state officials the power to designate organizations as domestic or foreign terrorist groups and penalizes “promoting” them, which some reporters fear could be used to punish writing about banned groups.

Bobby Block, executive director of Florida’s First Amendment Foundation, wrote for FPF about what’s happening in the “Free State of Florida.”

Come to our webinar on how to fix FOIA

The FOIA Advisory Committee just wrapped up its latest term, and it’s got ideas for how to strengthen this vital but imperiled federal records law. We’ll hear from three committee members on the proposals and how they could help journalists’ investigations. Join us next Tuesday, Aug. 11, at 2 p.m. ET to learn more.