Public Records Wreckers - The American Prospect

[justaprogressive]

Ten months ago, Roman Jankowski sent dozens of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), among other agencies. He was one-third of a three-man fishing expedition spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation and the Daily Caller to dig up dirt on civil servants, particularly if they were the type to use phrases like “climate equity” or “voting.” Some of Jankowski’s requests were for emails sent by DHS staffers containing the word “Biden” alongside a range of other key words, including “drugs,” “defecate,” and “poop.” ProPublica quoted a worker as saying, “They’re taking time away from FOIA requesters that have legitimate requests. We have to search people’s accounts for poop. This isn’t a thing.”

Today, Jankowski oversees FOIA compliance for DHS as its chief FOIA officer. His agency receives more public records requests than any other by a wide margin. And instead of gumming up FOIA administration from the outside, Jankowski now works for an administration that is attacking FOIA by firing many of the federal employees who respond to those requests, precisely what his records requests sought to facilitate.

As a key transparency law, the Freedom of Information Act gives the public insight into government activities, allowing Americans to hold the government to account. It’s been used to reveal stories about conflicts of interest and corporate abuse that otherwise may have never seen the light of day.

The New York Times attributed the resignation of Trump 1.0 EPA chief Scott Pruitt to a “steady drumbeat” of news about his misuse of government resources, underpinned by information obtained through FOIA. (Perhaps that’s part of the reason Trump 2.0 has a bone to pick with FOIA this time around.)

https://prospect.org/justice/2025-05-01-public-records-wreckers/

[Celerity]

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