Dear Friend of Press Freedom,
I’m Lauren Harper, the first Daniel Ellsberg chair on government secrecy at Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF), and welcome to “The Classifieds.” Read on to learn why the latest intelligence leak should prompt declassification — not outrage with leakers or the media — and more of this week’s top secrecy news.
A disclosure would reveal if the Trump administration is lying about intelligence — again
President Donald Trump said a CNN reporter who wrote about a leaked, “low-confidence” Defense Intelligence Agency assessment should be thrown out “like a dog.” Why? Because the leaked report suggested that the U.S. attack on Iranian nuclear facilities had not been as successful as the administration had portrayed.
That’s not all. Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth railed against the leaker for having a political agenda. Fox News’ Charlie Hurt made the unhinged suggestion that the White House should seek the “death penalty” for the leaker. And the administration cited the leak as an excuse to limit intelligence sharing with Congress.
An FPF Freedom of Information Act request for a copy of another leaked intelligence report earlier this year showed the Trump administration was lying about its rationale for deporting Venezuelans to El Salvador. The FOIA release also undercut Trump’s claims that the reports about the leak intelligence assessment were wrong and damaging to national security.
That’s why FPF submitted a FOIA request for this leaked Defense Intelligence Agency assessment as soon as it was reported.
The public should know if it’s being lied to — again.
Trump administration continues to undermine FOIA
The Trump administration, which has repeatedly and insultingly claimed it is the most transparent in history, continued demonstrating its unwillingness to actually promote transparency this week by failing to send a Justice Department representative to the FOIA federal advisory committee meeting. The committee, which develops recommendations to improve FOIA (and on which I previously served), is chaired by the director of the National Archives and Records Administration’s Office of Government Information Services. Its bylaws clearly state that a representative of the Justice Department’s Office of Information Policy should attend.
Allan Blutsein of FOIA Advisor notes this could be easily remedied if the Justice Department were interested in participating, and that the archivist of the United States could even fill OIP’s vacancy with someone from another agency. This appears unlikely, however, as the committee has lost four of its 10 government members since the beginning of its term, and none have been replaced.
Did ICE quietly walk back illegal guidance curtailing congressional visits?
Last week, the Department of Homeland Security issued guidance that illegally attempted to curtail congressional visits to Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities.
In a thinly veiled attempt to obstruct oversight, ICE said members of Congress must provide 72 hours’ notice before visiting facilities, even though the law specifically allows members to visit immigration facilities unannounced. ICE further instructed members to submit their requests to [email protected]. (Naturally, FPF filed FOIA requests for these emails.)
But now ICE’s week-old guidance is nowhere to be found.
Read more about why this matters, on our website.
What I’m reading
‘They’re not breathing’: Inside the chaos of ICE detention center 911 calls (Wired). FOIA-released audio of nearly 400 calls to 911 made from ICE’s 10 largest immigration detention centers shows that the facilities are incapable of handling their swelling population’s medical emergencies. And while the number of emergency calls is alarming, outside experts warn that many serious incidents go unreported. (The FOIA release is also a good reminder that you can file FOIA requests for audio and video records.)
Flock removes states from national lookup tool after ICE and abortion searches revealed (404 Media). A public records request to the Danville Police Department in Illinois revealed that ICE officials were asking local authorities to perform searches on its behalf in Flock Safety’s nationwide network of automated license plate reader cameras — even though ICE does not have a contract with the security-tech firm. The resulting coverage revealed that law enforcement agencies across the country were unlawfully sharing data with outside agencies. As a result, Flock “has stopped agencies across the country from searching cameras inside Illinois, California, and Virginia,” which have explicit rules against sharing data outside of their respective state lines.
Staffing cuts slow IRS FOIA processing (Tax Notes). FOIA requests show that the IRS is among the agencies whose disclosure offices have been gutted by firings and deferred resignations. This will not only slow the IRS’ FOIA response times but may also make it easier for the Department of Government Efficiency to access the agency’s information.
Transparently yours,
Lauren Harper
Daniel Ellsberg Chair on Government Secrecy
Freedom of the Press Foundation
