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.
Demand an end to secret law
On Sept. 2, the Trump administration blew up a vessel in the Caribbean and slaughtered everyone aboard. It alleged, without evidence, that the boat was carrying 11 members of the Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua, and “massive” quantities of drugs that posed an imminent threat to the United States.
The administration has not yet offered a legal rationale for the blatantly illegal act, which begs the question — was there even an attempt to concoct one for the strike?
To find out, FPF has filed Freedom of Information Act requests for all communications about the strike between the Pentagon, which carried out the attack, and the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, which is supposed to issue legally binding interpretations of law for the executive branch.
The Justice Department has long taken the position that OLC opinions should be secret, even though there should be no such thing as secret law in the United States. If there is an OLC opinion about the targeting of the Venezuelan boat, the public and Congress should be able to read it and debate it right now.
Read more, including what you can do to help pressure the administration to disclose more information about the attack, on our website.
FPF’s most pressing FOIAs
The legal rationale behind the Sept. 2 strike isn’t the only thing I’ve FOIA’d lately. Here are some other time-sensitive requests:
- I asked the Pentagon’s Office of General Counsel for all legislative proposals about changing the name of the Department of Defense to the “Department of War.”
- I filed a request with the State Department for the cable that was signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, instructing diplomats to refuse most visas for Palestinian passport holders.
- I requested records from the Navy about its decision to allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection to use the naval station near Chicago as a base in advance of more immigration raids.
I’ll keep you updated on our fight for these and other records.
What I'm Reading
US agencies say they have “no records” of tourist flagged for JD Vance meme
ICE and CBP are making the implausible claim they have “no records” responsive to a FOIA request for information about the detainment of Norwegian tourist Mads Mikkelsen for having a JD Vance meme on his phone. Mikkelsen was detained for 18 hours at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey and was reportedly denied repeated requests to contact the Norwegian consulate. His attorney is appealing.
Trump’s DOJ wants access to Missouri voting equipment used in 2020 election
A public records request filed by the Missouri Independent shows that attorneys from the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division are seeking access to voting equipment used in the 2020 election. The Justice Department’s Andrew McCoy “Mac” Warner, who has spread conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, asked at least two Missouri county clerks for access; both refused.
The battle for public notices
Public notices are supposed to appear in local “newspapers of record” — but what happens if the local newspaper of record disappears, and why does it matter if public notices appear on a government website, as opposed to a newspaper of record? Lucy Schiller’s answer to these questions is that government transparency is a three-legged stool. “The stool’s legs are: open meetings, the Freedom of Information Act, and public notices. Take one away, and the stool falls over.”
Alaska vowed to resolve murders of Indigenous people. Now it refuses to provide their names
A nonprofit researching the disappearances and murders of Indigenous people in Alaska filed two public records requests with local law enforcement about homicide rates in order to understand the magnitude of the problem facing the Indigenous community. Officials denied the requests because, among other dubious reasons, fulfilling them would take “several hours” to complete.
Transparently yours,
Lauren Harper
Daniel Ellsberg Chair on Government Secrecy
Freedom of the Press Foundation
