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 about this week’s top secrecy news.
Like everyone else, I’m watching the Epstein files developments closely, but here are a few other secrecy stories also worth keeping an eye on.
DHS makes it easier for immigration agents to destroy records
The Department of Homeland Security’s new text preservation policy will reduce the number of records saved and make it harder to hold immigration officials accountable.
DHS recently submitted a court filing as part of a lawsuit brought by the watchdog group American Oversight, stating that it had deactivated its system that automatically preserved text messages. It now requires officials to take screenshots of their text messages, which leaves too much room for human error and doesn’t capture links or attachments. This policy applies across DHS, including operational units who may be too busy terrorizing communities to take screenshots of their texts detailing their misdeeds.
Manual review will ensure that records fall through the cracks, and in the year 2025 we should not have less automation in records management; we should have more of it.
Public records hand Justice Department, FBI two black eyes
The Justice Department’s case against former FBI director James Comey hinges in large part on an assertion that Comey authorized someone “at the FBI” to engage with the media about the bureau’s investigation into Hillary Clinton. Lawfare’s Anna Bower dug through hundreds of Freedom of Information Act records, recently released in response to a 2018 FOIA lawsuit brought by The Daily Caller and posted in the FBI’s online FOIA library, “The Vault,” and discovered evidence that appears to undermine Justice’s case against Comey. The public records show that the person “at the FBI” — Daniel Richman — wasn’t a bureau employee during the communications cited by prosecutors.
Considering the possible implications for the Comey case, my big question is: How long will it take FBI director Kash Patel, who is already allegedly furious that his public flight schedules revealed he was abusing government property to visit his girlfriend and visit a place called “Boondoggle Ranch,” to try and take down politically inconvenient documents from The Vault?
What FPF FOIA’d this week and why
One result of the government reopening is that FOIA processing (however slow) and FOIA litigation, which had been stayed, will resume. With that in mind, I’m again sharing some of the most interesting FOIAs I’ve filed lately in hopes it helps other requesters.
- I asked Customs and Border Protection for all of Gregory Bovino’s body camera footage from Operation Midway Blitz. Bovino, who leads Border Protection, has been wearing a camera since the end of October.
- I asked the Justice Department for all quarterly reports on the progress of its weaponization working group. The executive order establishing the working group mandated these quarterly reports be submitted to the White House, but so far none are public.
- I asked the Labor Department, whose social media campaign makes it seem like only white men want or need jobs, for copies of all AI prompts that were used to generate the images for the agency’s posts to its X account, @USDOL, as well as all internal messages about draft posts.
What I'm Reading
DHS is deploying a powerful surveillance tool at college football games
A public records request shows that DHS has the technology to turn college football games into mass surveillance playgrounds. It’s a frustrating revelation coming on the heels of the agency saying the best it can do to save its own agency records is to take screenshots. In other words, DHS can spy on you and me, but it can’t manage to keep track of itself. The article is free thanks to 404’s commitment to un-paywall FOIA-based reporting.
Mark Zuckerberg opened an illegal school at his Palo Alto compound. His neighbors revolted
Caroline Haskens obtained 1,665 pages of public records from the Palo Alto Department of Planning and Development Services that show how Zuckerberg’s neighbors fought against “Bicken Ben,” an unlicensed private school named after one of the Zuckerberg’s chickens that was being illegally run out of their backyard. The article is free thanks to Wired’s commitment to un-paywall FOIA-based reporting.
Spending bill would pave way for senators to sue over phone searches
The deal to end the government shutdown includes a provision that makes it, with some exceptions, illegal not to notify a senator if the government requests their phone records or other data from service providers. If the government fails to notify a senator, the senator can sue for $500,000. Every American should have the same right, but this bill only closes a surveillance loophole for 100 people. The provision is so unpopular that even the impacted senators (with the exception of Lindsey Graham) want it removed.
Transparently yours,
Lauren Harper
Daniel Ellsberg Chair on Government Secrecy
Freedom of the Press Foundation
