Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) has filed over 100 Freedom of Information Act requests over the past six months to learn how the Trump administration is targeting journalists and stifling dissent.

We know FOIA is an imperfect tool, no matter who is in the White House, and that this administration’s actions threaten to eviscerate it further.

But our past FOIA requests show that the law can still work. And FOIA remains the only tool the public has to compel the government to disclose its secrets. So we’re going to keep using it and force the administration to deal with it.

Here are our Top 10 most urgent FOIA requests:

Threats to the First Amendment

  1. We filed FOIA requests with the departments of Justice and Homeland Security for emails mentioning both “CNN” and “ICEBlock,” an app that allows users to track Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. We filed this request after DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said her office was working with Justice to prosecute CNN for reporting on the app.
  2. We asked the Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard for the documents that she relied on to support her assertion that Washington Post reporter Ellen Nakashima refused to identify herself in the course of her reporting, lied about the fact she worked for the Post, and demanded DNI officials share sensitive information.
  3. We requested copies of all the reports assembled by ICE’s “Tiger Team” of agents established to investigate student protesters. The existence of this squad was disclosed by an ICE official in American Association of University Professors v. Rubio, a case challenging the Trump administration’s policy of ideological deportation.

Escalating surveillance, diminishing privacy

  1. We asked DHS for the memo reportedly requested by the Department of Government Efficiency about the future of a database at the DHS Office of Biometric Identity Management that contains “fingerprint, facial, and iris data used throughout the federal government.”
  2. We requested the records cited in Noem’s June 5 announcement ending the Quiet Skies surveillance program. The press release stated: “DHS and TSA have uncovered documents, correspondence, and timelines that clearly highlight the inconsistent application of Quiet Skies and watch-listing programs, circumventing security policies to benefit politically aligned friends and family at the expense of the American people.”
  3. We filed a FOIA with ICE for all emails sent to or from Marcos Charles, the acting executive associate director for enforcement and removal operations, concerning “Mobile Fortify,” an app the agency is reportedly using that will drastically expand its facial surveillance capabilities.
  4. We asked DHS and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for copies of the July 14 agreement between the two agencies granting ICE access to the personal data of the nation’s 79 million Medicaid enrollees.

Secrecy in immigration proceedings

  1. We asked DHS for certain emails sent or received by James Percival, general counsel, concerning the detained Salvadoran national Kilmar Abrego Garcia. We specifically asked for emails identified by The New York Times stating, “This was an administrative error” and “We are working to fix it so he doesn’t need to be returned to the U.S.”
  2. We filed a FOIA with ICE concerning reports that ICE lawyers are refusing to identify themselves in immigration court proceedings.

Lies and cover-ups

  1. We requested that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence disclose specific emails exchanged between Joe Kent, Gabbard’s chief of staff, and Michael Collins, the acting head of the National Intelligence Council. This request was based on New York Times reporting that Kent pushed Collins to author a new intelligence assessment that would vindicate the Trump administration’s rationale for invoking the Alien Enemies Act in controversial deportations, thus mitigating the leak of an earlier report showing the intelligence community overwhelmingly disagreed with the administration’s findings.

We know fighting for these disclosures will be an uphill battle and have already had to file two FOIA lawsuits.

The first, with our counsel Loevy + Loevy, is against the State Department over its refusal to disclose information about the arrest of Tufts University graduate student Rümeysa Öztürk for exercising her constitutionally protected right to free speech.

The second, with our counsel American Oversight, is against the Justice Department for its refusal to release the memo allowing the Trump administration permission to accept the $400 million jet from Qatar to use as Air Force One.

We will most likely need to litigate more going forward.

If you’d like to help support our FOIA effort, you can donate here or contact our Director of Development John Halpin at [email protected].

Or, if you are a FOIA lawyer who is interested in working with us pro bono or for a reduced fee on FOIA litigation, you can contact us at [email protected].