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A pile of classified redacted documents

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The U.S. classifies far too many secrets, obstructing democracy.

Excessive government secrecy takes many forms, from agencies needlessly claiming documents are classified to ignoring information requests and destroying records — even when the documents show government fraud or illegal conduct. This hinders a free press, effective oversight, and the public’s ability to self govern.

We need to fight for systemic improvements, and we need the press to vigorously question the government every time it says something is classified.

Tell Congress to support the Presidential Records Act

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Edit this message so that it is unique to you: Dear [Senator/Representative], As your constituent, I am writing to urge you to ISSUE A STATEMENT explicitly reaffirming that the Presidential Records Act is constitutional and that any claims to the contrary are not lawful and threaten our democracy. This is necessary in response to the Department of Justice’s recent memo claiming the PRA is unconstitutional, arguing that a president’s records are private property. This is wrong and flips 50 years of transparency on its head. The law has required every president since Ronald Reagan to turn their records over to the government at the end of their term. This ensures that the “American story” belongs to the public, not just those who inhabit the White House. This transparency provided vital insights into Democratic and Republican administrations alike, on topics ranging from the Obama administration’s Iran nuclear deal and the George W. Bush administration’s response to Hurricane Katrina. If this DOJ memo stands, every future president, Democrat or Republican, will operate in total darkness. This is a bipartisan emergency. I am asking you to PLEASE SPEAK OUT and use your influence to safeguard the PRA. Your efforts to ensure our government remains transparent will have major implications for the public’s faith in our democracy. Thank you. URLs are not allowed in this message.

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Join me in urging Congress to defend the Presidential Records Act, thus ensuring that the American story belongs to the public — not whoever is in the White House.

Featured Items

California AG refuses to rule out legal action against public records journalists, in new statements
Arrests/Prosecutions•Article
'It's either the case that the Attorney General of California is ... suggesting he can [prosecute] just to intimidate those journalists—or that he doesn't know what California law says. I don't find either option very comforting.'

Published March 5, 2019 Parker Higgins Camille Fassett
How Trump’s government shutdown ground transparency to a halt
FOIA•Article
During Trump’s 35 day partial government shutdown—the longest in history—FOIA requests and FOIA litigation ground to a halt.

Published Jan. 29, 2019 Camille Fassett
New documents reveal details of the FBI’s dangerous practice of impersonating journalists
Surveillance•Article
Every time a government agent impersonates a journalist to conduct its own investigation, they are putting countless real journalists at risk. The FBI has engaged in the practice for years while keeping its policies a secret, but thanks to documents released as part of a FOIA lawsuit by Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, we now know a little more.

Published Oct. 11, 2018 Camille Fassett
California transparency legislation could improve access to police records for journalists and the public
FOIA•Article
If SB 1421 and AB 748 become law in California, journalists and the public would be able to more easily access police records like misconduct history and body camera footage, like when officers kill or seriously injure a citizen.

Published Sept. 25, 2018 Camille Fassett
Revealed: The Justice Dept's secret rules for targeting journalists with FISA court orders
Surveillance•Article
The Justice Dept has kept these FISA court rules for targeting journalists secret for years.

Published Sept. 17, 2018 Trevor Timm
Prisons are censoring publications that challenge state power
Prior Restraint•Article
Many civil liberties violations and instances of state abuse that incarcerated people experience are rendered invisible from the rest of the country. Prisons are cracking down on incarcerated people’s rights to access information, learn, and read the news—a huge threat to the First and Fourth Amendments.

Published Aug. 28, 2018 Camille Fassett
Whistleblower Reality Winner sentenced to longest prison term in the history of federal leak cases
Whistleblowers•Article
For alerting the public about hacking attempts on election infrastructure, Reality was given five years in jail.

Published Aug. 23, 2018
How corporations suppress disclosure of public records about themselves
FOIA•Article
Powerful corporations are increasingly deploying a diversity of tactics to subvert public records laws and prevent the disclosure of newsworthy documents about themselves.

Published Feb. 27, 2018 Camille Fassett
Beyond the blockade
Whistleblowers•Article
Since 2012, Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) has accepted donations on behalf of WikiLeaks readers after Visa, Mastercard and PayPal instituted an extra-legal financial blockade of WikiLeaks in 2011 and 2012. When WikiLeaks started publishing classified State Department cables in conjunction with the New York Times and other …

Published Dec. 20, 2017
FOIA The Dead, the transparency site public figures are dying to get into
FOIA•Article
FOIA The Dead, a transparency project that automates public records requests of notable deceased individuals and publishes the results, is relaunching today as a special project of Freedom of the Press Foundation.

Published Dec. 8, 2017 Parker Higgins