lizhempowicz.bsky.social - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

Never in my decade of filing FOIA requests have I gotten a response like this. Customs and Border Protection denies my request, saying "Due to law enforcement sensitivities we can neither confirm nor deny the existence of records." No exemption cited, no name of who wrote this.

submitted 3 days ago • 309 comments

1) DOGE firing an entire FOIA office doesn't negate an agency's statutory requirements to process FOIAs. Even if the agency is taken down to bare bones. They are still required to process FOIAs. 2) There will be no way to rebuild what DOGE breaks if there are are no records to use as a roadmap.

submitted 4 days ago • 1 comment

“It shouldn’t matter who is overseeing this case or any others. What matters is whether or not there is a violation of the law.” americanoversight.org/court-orders...

submitted 9 days ago • 2 comments

Today, the court ordered officials to preserve Signal messages sent between March 11 and 15. “We know that it’s a first step,” said AO’s Chioma Chukwu. “There’s a lot more work to be done here.” Support our work and join the fight for our democracy: americanoversight.org/contribute/

submitted 9 days ago • 1 comment

“We’re going to have to keep going, because you can’t believe what the administration says. You have to watch what it does.” www.nytimes.com/2025/03/27/u...

submitted 9 days ago • 2 comments

NEW: A federal court just ordered the Trump administration to preserve Signal messages from March 11–15. The ruling comes in our lawsuit against top officials for violations of federal records laws. americanoversight.org/court-orders...

submitted 9 days ago • 5 comments

And because Signal violated the PRA's preservation requirements, it would be Marco Rubio's job as acting archivist to refer the unlawful records destruction issue to the DOJ. Too bad Rubio was also on the Signal chat.

submitted 11 days ago • 1 comment

NEW: We’re suing several top Trump administration officials who discussed high-level national security deliberations over Signal for violations of the Federal Records Act and Administrative Procedure Act. americanoversight.org/litigation/a...

submitted 11 days ago • 14 comments

ICYMI, @propublica.org uncovered Project 2025 training videos last summer. And here’s where they discuss how to evade FOIA & hide their agenda from the public. The “Houthi PC small group” didn’t arise from ignorance of the law or incompetence. They just got caught.

submitted 12 days ago • 115 comments

JUST IN: American Oversight is suing Hegseth, Gabbard, Ratcliffe et al, saying their messaging via Signal is a violation of the Federal Records Act. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

submitted 11 days ago • 1071 comments

I guess it's not surprising, but the daughter of the CEO of this ICE contractor was one of the 2020 "fake electors."

submitted 17 days ago • 0 comments

News outlets everywhere should follow @wired.com's lead in dropping paywalls for primarily FOIA-based reporting. freedom.press/issues/wired...

submitted 19 days ago • 4 comments

Totally agree with this. Flying a person to a third country that they may never have been to, directly into a prison where they are going to be forced to do hard labor, is not a deportation; it's something else entirely.

submitted 19 days ago • 432 comments

Amazing way to celebrate Sunshine Week during an otherwise preeeeeeetty dark time for government transparency. Love this from @freedom.press.

submitted 19 days ago • 0 comments

A judge recently ruled DOGE is likely subject to FOIA. But it’s still possible DOGE will continue operating with unchecked secrecy. Here are the five questions whose answers will shed light on DOGE’s FOIA future.

submitted 20 days ago • 5 comments

Once you establish that people can be punished because the administration doesn't like their speech, expanding the bounds of who can be treated that way becomes inevitable.

submitted 20 days ago • 919 comments

Redacted calendars. Communications on non-official accounts. Claims of “no information” in response to our requests. Why our investigation of Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks’ tenure as Texas border czar revealed more questions than answers: americanoversight.org/where-are-tr...

submitted 25 days ago • 0 comments

NEW LAWSUIT: Following reports that USAID staff were directed to shred and burn classified and personnel documents, we’re suing the Trump administration for violations of the Federal Records Act, the Administrative Procedure Act, and FOIA. americanoversight.org/american-ove...

submitted 25 days ago • 2 comments

Making government shittier for senior citizens so billionaires can get more tax breaks. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

submitted 25 days ago • 1 comment

Last Week Tonight discussed conditions in ICE detention facilities — including our recent report with ACLU and Physicians for Human Rights that found that 95% of deaths in detention could likely have been prevented with adequate medical care. youtu.be/5Hpgu7wSUQQ?...

submitted 25 days ago • 1 comment

It would be easier to achieve "maximum transparency" if DOGE's tech geniuses didn't need three years to release eight weeks worth of records in response to a FOIA request.

submitted 26 days ago • 8 comments

"We get the tweets from Elon Musk saying what he thinks DOGE is doing, but we have no way to see the actual records that verify those claims," @laurenleharper.bsky.social tells @news.dw.com Secrecy is becoming a defining trait for DOGE, leaving the public in the dark about its influence.

submitted 32 days ago • 5 comments

NEW: We amended our lawsuit against the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, adding six additional requests that DOGE has failed to provide a timely response to, in violation of FOIA. americanoversight.org/american-ove...

submitted 31 days ago • 1 comment

Could not be more ironic. He just said the days of "rule by unelected bureaucrats are over." Except...that is THE definition of Elon Musk. @Public_Citizen He also just returned to the drain the swamp trope...even more ironic in his govn. of BILLIONAIRES

submitted 32 days ago • 0 comments

Going to need to know if the same people who were responsible for quality control on the DOGE savings numbers fact checked this address.

submitted 32 days ago • 0 comments

As a democracy policy expert, a lobbyist, a lawyer, a guy with a master’s in public administration, and a polisci major, I promise you the distinction between “State of the Union” and “Address to a Joint Session of Congress” is not worth understanding or thinking about ever again

submitted 32 days ago • 0 comments

Reuters: USG "workers with top security clearances fired in mass layoffs overseen by Elon Musk ... were not given standard exit briefings and advised on what to do if approached by foreign adversaries" CNN: "US intel shows Russia and China are attempting to recruit disgruntled federal employees"

submitted 32 days ago • 48 comments

A former senior CFPB official has warned that there is “imminent risk that twelve years’ of critical CFPB records, which belong to the public, will be irretrievably lost and cost serious and sweeping damage.” americanoversight.org/featureddocu...

submitted 33 days ago • 6 comments

This is why Trump, Musk, and so-called DOGE are fighting basic pre-existing transparency requirements for the office's work. Their goal isn’t a more efficient or accountable government, it’s controlling the narrative to cover for sloppy cuts and self-enrichment. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/03/u...

submitted 33 days ago • 0 comments

The rule of law isn’t a political trading card. We filed a bar complaint against acting Deputy AG Emil Bove, who oversaw and directed the corrupt dismissal of NYC Mayor Eric Adams’ criminal charges. americanoversight.org/american-ove...

submitted 37 days ago • 2 comments

how many anti-trans columns will this focus on "personal liberties" lead to do you think

submitted 39 days ago • 0 comments

We’re suing DOGE over FOIA requests for Elon Musk’s communications around the Trump administration’s purges of the federal workforce. The lawsuit will likely serve as the first test of whether DOGE is subject to FOIA. americanoversight.org/new-lawsuit-...

submitted 40 days ago • 2 comments

Such transparency. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/25/u...

submitted 39 days ago • 0 comments

Huh, turns out you can't have private UNIDENTIFIED security assault and kidnap people because you don't like what they say at city hall Weird.

submitted 40 days ago • 709 comments

One month ago, Trump fired more than a dozen inspectors general in a late-night purge of officials tasked with rooting out waste, fraud and abuse. The firings were a clear legal violation — and an attack on the offices that hold our government accountable. americanoversight.org/american-ove...

submitted 39 days ago • 0 comments

Last week, the Texas Supreme Court heard arguments in our lawsuit against Gov. Abbott and AG Paxton for records we requested years ago. “At stake is who has the authority to compel the highest executives in the state to produce public documents.” www.dallasnews.com/opinion/edit...

submitted 39 days ago • 0 comments

Sounds logical but the government has duties businesses do not and this method does not improve or save money more than it indiscriminately destroys www.politico.com/news/magazin...

submitted 48 days ago • 128 comments

Read @bijansabet.com: “Public service is not a “lower productivity” endeavor. It is the foundation of our democracy, and its value is incalculable.” bijansabet.com/2025/02/06/p...

submitted 59 days ago • 38 comments

This is a hostile takeover of the federal government by a private citizen of unlimited means with no restrictions and no transparency. Welcome to the Deep State www.reuters.com/world/us/mus...

submitted 64 days ago • 1808 comments

Russ Vought, a Project 2025 architect and Trump’s pick for OMB director, said during his confirmation hearing that the president can withhold spending authorized by Congress. Read more about the public records we’ve previously obtained related to Vought. americanoversight.org/a-look-at-re...

submitted 68 days ago • 0 comments

Last night, Trump fired at least a dozen independent inspectors general without proper notice to Congress. This represent a clear violation of the law and a direct attack on the independence of the offices tasked with holding our government accountable. americanoversight.org/statement-am...

submitted 71 days ago • 6 comments