#FOIA SCOOP: US Fish & Wildlife Service turned over more than 1K pages of emails, pics & other docs abt the aftermath of the SpaceX rocket that exploded shortly after takeoff in April. Incredible look behind the scenes

By Dana Hull, Loren Grush and me
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2023-08-25/elon-musk-s-spacex-explosion-left-major-debris-after-starship-rocket-launch?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTY5Mjk4ODgwMSwiZXhwIjoxNjkzNTkzNjAxLCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJSWllNRkREV0xVNjgwMSIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiIyQjE3NzFFOTlEODc0QzRDOTY1Njg1RTZBQkJGM0QwRCJ9.t2WGKXNlI-iiHtQiG4r0UzCu8DwKykNmhVUxt9nUhRc

ODD: I filed a #FOIA request w/FBI for its file on James Lewis, a suspect in the 1982 Tylenol murders who died in July. FBI responded to my request by stating the docs are located in an investigative file & can't be released b/c it would interfere with enforcement proceedings

Here's the backstory about how I figured out the threat a lawyer representing Trump Entertainment Resorts investors reported receiving back in 2009 and how I ultimately obtained a police report describing the threats after the FBI redacted it from docs.

Whenever I talk about #FOIA I use these documents as an example of how you can still sleuth out information from redacted documents.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jasonleopold/how-i-got-the-facts-the-fbi-really-didnt-want-me-to-have#.nu5958lV

FLASHBACK to this exclusive I reported back in 2017 based on FBI docs and a police report from the 80s and 90s I obtained via #FOIA w/@_rshapiro

"If You Keep Fucking With Mr. Trump, We Know Where You Live”

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jasonleopold/if-you-keep-fucking-with-mr-trump-we-know-where-you-live

The amazing Bloomberg News Quicktake team produced this very cool mini doc on my #FOIA work and why I aggressively use as a way of informing the public and holding power to account.

Check it out!

So grateful for the support of my editors and colleagues and honored to be doing this work at Bloomberg News now.

https://youtu.be/0LiYaMLhIjU

Staffers at #Wisconsin 's "Office of Open #Government" don't sign their emails from a nameless agency account. #FOIA #transparency

Transparency, investigative journalism & the #FOIA are paramount to learning what the USG is doing & how it can improve: NEWS ROUNDUP: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FOIA. Important: the public has a right to know what our govt is doing. Pres Lyndon Johnson signed FOIA into law on July 4, 1966. In his signing statement, Johnson praised the importance of openness for democracy & said the legislation affirmed American principles. But -felt some docs shouldn’t be available to the public-. https://www.americanoversight.org/happy-birthday-foia-7-7

FDIC mistakenly released this document to @business & me in response to my #FOIA request that reveals SVB's top 10 depositors & shows that big VC & tech companies got a backstop for billions in uninsured deposits

The FDIC asked that @business destroy & not share the depositor list, saying the agency intended to “partially” withhold some details from the document “because it included confidential commercial or financial information”

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-06-23/fdic-insured-billions-in-deposits-for-sequoia-other-top-svb-customers?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTY4NzUxODU2MywiZXhwIjoxNjg4MTIzMzYzLCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJSV0tUV1NEV1JHRzAwMSIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiIyQjE3NzFFOTlEODc0QzRDOTY1Njg1RTZBQkJGM0QwRCJ9.CbMuCK41NauZpJ7CIKEjXPOOCXf0TMB5uxnX96aTCCU

NEW: @business & I filed a #FOIA lawsuit against govt agencies for a wide range of docs about discussions referencing the underlying damage to natsec after classified records were found at MAL

1 agency we sued was ODNI, which forwarded 11 pages to DIA for review

DIA withheld it all saying its highly classified and also related to enforcement proceedings.

This new info came from a #FOIA request @weareoversight made--in 2019.

The Pentagon produced the documents in May 2023.

Yep, that's--

📅 more than two years after Trump left the White House

📅 3.5 years after American Oversight's request

3/

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23837285-defense-department-spending-at-trump-properties-2017-2019

Lol #FOIA

https://fism.tv/religious-freedom-group-aclj-sues-biden-administration-for-denying-records-requests/

NEW: A handwritten letter by Donald Trump from 1978 to INS requesting approval of Ivana Trump's visa

"Please understand that Ivana Trump is my wife and as such will be supported by me. My income is substantial ..."

Via my #FOIA lawsuit against FBI for Ivana's file

Remembering Mal Leary, a tireless #FOIA advocate: https://mailchi.mp/8fd7367ce4f8/nfoic-july-2021-newsletter-13548276?e=d80e81002c

#ElonMusk's #shenanigans are nothing new. His disregard for procedures and protocols is a threat to the Illuminati's plans and must be addressed swiftly. #SecrecyMatters #Illuminati #SpaceX #FOIA https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/7kx8wa/emails-show-spacex-bungled-elon-musks-private-jet-privacy

NEW: FBI just released docs in response to my #FOIA on Queen Elizabeth II related to her visit to the US back in the late & potential threats by IRA & its sympathizers

But FBI also says some docs were destroyed & bureau can't find others
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23820571-leopold-fbi-foia-queen-elizabeth

"Death to Kenneth Starr"

In response to my #FOIA request and others, the FBI just released 314 pages of documents on the former Independent Counsel, much of which pertains to death threats he received in the 90s.

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23796765-leopold-fbi-foia-ken-starr?s=09

Oh you're not getting off the hook that easy, Department off the Treasury.

I haven't worked at BuzzFeed News for nearly a year. And I file all of my #FOIA requests in my individual capacity as a reporter.

These agencies are just waiting for me to die.

A pile of FBI files on Nancy Reagan were just released.

Here is what is available thus far. The FBI told me there is more to come: https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/fbi-files-on-nancy-reagan/

#FOIA

Happy 5 year and 2 month anniversary to this interview FBI agents working for Mueller did with Steve Bannon

Via my #FOIA

Tucked within the National Archives’ Friday night #FOIA dump on Trump Mar-a-Lago records is this fun fact:

The FOIA backlog for Obama White House records is already 20 years.