Wow! This was a wonderful interview. Thank you both for the work you are doing for the public. I am amazed by people who want to help the public willingly. Appreciate ya.
As a former counsel to quite a few local government agencies i can tell you that the usual sentiment of staff is not of cooperation but suspicion- who is this, what do they want, why do they want it? And delay, delay... Obstruct, obstruct! Why? They have no idea except that they believe there is some proprietary right to the information and its "their business". And they usually have very little training on how to respond, overbroadly interpret what is exempt and look for ways to limit responses. Its crazy. This is why, whenever possible, appear personally and ask to speak to the designated FOIA or FOIL officer. Hand them your request and ask for a receipted copy of your request. Be nice. Really nice. Then mark your calendar and follow up promptly. Let them gently know youre on it.
Dear Steve -- I'm a longtime reporter working on a public records request story for The Boston Globe and am dying for someone with your perspective -- could you possibly contact me at careyg@comcast.net? I filed a local request in the MA town of Brookline nearly 18 months ago and just paid over $900 for about 300 emails (!) Carey Goldberg
FOIA is a joke. Every piece of paper or information our govt produces is property of the citizens. The fact we even have to file FOIA requests is laughable considering these dolts all work for us. The overuse of classified is well documented too but FOIA needs to go the way of the Dodo and every 3/4 letter agency needs to understand we own the information they produce when it’s written on said letterhead.
FOIA is nearly a placebo. The federal government or the state government or even the school system doesn’t release any information it doesn’t want release. You think you’re receiving a full file but you’re not. There’s a significant difference in getting a FOIA response and then filing a legal complaint in the court system and then getting a legal subpoena response. The whole foia system is a scheme of propaganda. Government bureaucrats will not release anything They don’t wanna release., and there’s no downside for them because they can hide behind your immunity shield.
I worked at NIH for six years. Every agency is a fiefdom. The bureaucrats protect their turf. The magic word is "national security" that can be contrived to fit any situation. I'm sure anything deemed trivial will become more transparent. My experience is these bureaucrats serve their masters, which are NOT the public; they feel part of an exclusive, protected club.
True transparency would require accountability, which the federal government desperately needs. Hopefully there will be changes, but attitudes will have to change.
Matt, you ROCK! Thanks for getting people involved in this battle. I was able to stop millions of dollars of illegal aviation operation run by the Santa Cruz County Sheriff department by filing very specific California Public Document Act requests. These operations were deliberately targeting citizens through continuous low flyovers of properties, violations of airspace, service ceilings, and personal harassment using drones and stunt planes. The programs were shut down as I had specific details of locations and times of several events, including coordinates and descriptions of the planes involved, which included military planes flown out of Monterey. I got heavily targeted; the gmail corporate email address I used to file the requests was somehow shut down. Having this email address was required to access the files. Somehow I got put in jail through a false arrest and a claim that I ran from the police. For two years I was unable to access the files. When President Trump took office the representative at the Sheriff's office handling requests resigned or was transferred and a new rep handled the case. He refused to allow me access to the original CPDA response and instead created a new response, which broadly avoided any significant disclosures. Talk about Santa Cruz County corruption... I later discovered the rabbit hole goes much deeper. Nevertheless the program was SHUT DOWN and the ENTIRE County of Santa Cruz has enjoyed respite since. Please mention that state-level and local document act requests often are necessary. God bless you, Matt, and team. I'll be praying for you all.
Interestingly, Mr. Blutstein begins by talking about judicial opinions. We don't need FOIA for that --- or do we?
When a Fed Dist crt judge issues an oral opinion on Saturday night, we do need a way to keep track of things. FOIA is not going to solve that problem. Because when this judge holds DOJ in contempt, and Dems warm up Impeachment 3.0, FOIA won't help much. If confronted, they will just argue it does not apply to them.
BUT --- FOIA warfare could be the next front. All these federal bureaucrats who cannot be downsized ---- can they be compelled to open the books? Judge? People want to know.
The state of affairs seems to be better than I thought it was, but obviously the problem is all of the secrecy in the first place.
Perhaps once a class of information at an agency becomes subject to a FOIA releases, the whole thing should just be opened to the public. Successful FOIA requests are proof of too much secrecy.
The rule of law is being erasure d as you speak/write dear author. F the FOIA. We need to stop this regime here in the states and over in Isreal NOW. Any babble shot of that is misdirected.
Nice how to. Thanks for helping citizen journalists. Democracy dies in the darkness!
It certainly dies via the Washington Post!
Congratulations, Greg. I'm really pleased with the direction you and Matt are taking. Keep up the great work!
Wow! This was a wonderful interview. Thank you both for the work you are doing for the public. I am amazed by people who want to help the public willingly. Appreciate ya.
So much to thank you for in this article Matt. Great information. Let’s hope DOGE takes it easy in those FOIA employees.
As a former counsel to quite a few local government agencies i can tell you that the usual sentiment of staff is not of cooperation but suspicion- who is this, what do they want, why do they want it? And delay, delay... Obstruct, obstruct! Why? They have no idea except that they believe there is some proprietary right to the information and its "their business". And they usually have very little training on how to respond, overbroadly interpret what is exempt and look for ways to limit responses. Its crazy. This is why, whenever possible, appear personally and ask to speak to the designated FOIA or FOIL officer. Hand them your request and ask for a receipted copy of your request. Be nice. Really nice. Then mark your calendar and follow up promptly. Let them gently know youre on it.
Dear Steve -- I'm a longtime reporter working on a public records request story for The Boston Globe and am dying for someone with your perspective -- could you possibly contact me at careyg@comcast.net? I filed a local request in the MA town of Brookline nearly 18 months ago and just paid over $900 for about 300 emails (!) Carey Goldberg
FOIA is a joke. Every piece of paper or information our govt produces is property of the citizens. The fact we even have to file FOIA requests is laughable considering these dolts all work for us. The overuse of classified is well documented too but FOIA needs to go the way of the Dodo and every 3/4 letter agency needs to understand we own the information they produce when it’s written on said letterhead.
Yes, but each request demonstrates oversight.
FOIA is nearly a placebo. The federal government or the state government or even the school system doesn’t release any information it doesn’t want release. You think you’re receiving a full file but you’re not. There’s a significant difference in getting a FOIA response and then filing a legal complaint in the court system and then getting a legal subpoena response. The whole foia system is a scheme of propaganda. Government bureaucrats will not release anything They don’t wanna release., and there’s no downside for them because they can hide behind your immunity shield.
Agree. Anything important seems to return heavily (even totally) redacted "information".
The Covid politics around FOIA are probably standard "work-arounds" for government bureaucrats. The only ones who have any accountability are middling to bottom employees (some quasi-whistleblowers). They are the cannonfodder of our top (unelected) bureaucrats' wars: nypost.com/2024/09/30/us-news/nih-foia-lady-who-taught-fauci-adviser-how-to-make-emails-disappear-will-plead-the-fifth-to-house-covid-subpoena/
But this can change. If the admin wants to be more transparent it can be.
I worked at NIH for six years. Every agency is a fiefdom. The bureaucrats protect their turf. The magic word is "national security" that can be contrived to fit any situation. I'm sure anything deemed trivial will become more transparent. My experience is these bureaucrats serve their masters, which are NOT the public; they feel part of an exclusive, protected club.
True transparency would require accountability, which the federal government desperately needs. Hopefully there will be changes, but attitudes will have to change.
Matt, you ROCK! Thanks for getting people involved in this battle. I was able to stop millions of dollars of illegal aviation operation run by the Santa Cruz County Sheriff department by filing very specific California Public Document Act requests. These operations were deliberately targeting citizens through continuous low flyovers of properties, violations of airspace, service ceilings, and personal harassment using drones and stunt planes. The programs were shut down as I had specific details of locations and times of several events, including coordinates and descriptions of the planes involved, which included military planes flown out of Monterey. I got heavily targeted; the gmail corporate email address I used to file the requests was somehow shut down. Having this email address was required to access the files. Somehow I got put in jail through a false arrest and a claim that I ran from the police. For two years I was unable to access the files. When President Trump took office the representative at the Sheriff's office handling requests resigned or was transferred and a new rep handled the case. He refused to allow me access to the original CPDA response and instead created a new response, which broadly avoided any significant disclosures. Talk about Santa Cruz County corruption... I later discovered the rabbit hole goes much deeper. Nevertheless the program was SHUT DOWN and the ENTIRE County of Santa Cruz has enjoyed respite since. Please mention that state-level and local document act requests often are necessary. God bless you, Matt, and team. I'll be praying for you all.
Let's all go in for reciprocal justice.
Use it on us.
We use it on you.
Great information, thank you so much Matt and Greg and Allan!
Interestingly, Mr. Blutstein begins by talking about judicial opinions. We don't need FOIA for that --- or do we?
When a Fed Dist crt judge issues an oral opinion on Saturday night, we do need a way to keep track of things. FOIA is not going to solve that problem. Because when this judge holds DOJ in contempt, and Dems warm up Impeachment 3.0, FOIA won't help much. If confronted, they will just argue it does not apply to them.
BUT --- FOIA warfare could be the next front. All these federal bureaucrats who cannot be downsized ---- can they be compelled to open the books? Judge? People want to know.
With the DOGE cuts, are FOIAs even getting answered?
The state of affairs seems to be better than I thought it was, but obviously the problem is all of the secrecy in the first place.
Perhaps once a class of information at an agency becomes subject to a FOIA releases, the whole thing should just be opened to the public. Successful FOIA requests are proof of too much secrecy.
love this! thank you!
1st step needed to charge for destruction of evidence is to ask to see said evidence.
The rule of law is being erasure d as you speak/write dear author. F the FOIA. We need to stop this regime here in the states and over in Isreal NOW. Any babble shot of that is misdirected.
Refuse Fascism
Oppose Oppression
People
Planet
Peace
dear comrades
What have you done to correct these terrible injustices you speak of ?