Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

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Security Clearance Records, FOIA, and Privacy: What Went Wrong for Abigail Spanberger

How did an unredacted copy of a security clearance application for a former CIA officer-turned Democratic candidate land in the hands of a GOP super PAC?

Condolence Payments for Civilian Casualties: Lessons for Applying the New NDAA

The new National Defense Authorization Act can help improve the way the U.S. responds to civilian casualties. FOIA requests and interviews with DoD officials, U.S. soldiers, judge…
Trump addresses a joint session of the U.S. Congress as Vice President Mike Pence and House Speaker Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) sit behind him on February 28, 2017 in the House chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC.

Trump Administration’s Terrorism Claims Omit Crucial Available Data

More information is needed to better understand how the federal government prosecutes terrorism. That’s why the Brennan Center – along with UNC Professor Charles Kurzman –…
Department of Justice sign on the face of building.

The Office of Legal Counsel and Secret Law

In theory, it’s the province of the judiciary to say what the law is, but in practice this task often falls to the Office of Legal Counsel.  This is because many important questions…
A gavel rests on a sign reading, “Freedom of Information Act.”

Fight It with FOIA: How Congress Can Respond to White House Attempts to Block Congressional Oversight

The Trump White House took another step last week to weaken the checks and balances at the center of our constitutional system.  According to Politico, President Donald Trump’s…
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Today’s Important Deadline in the ACLU’s Targeted-Killing Transparency Case

Today, more than three years after President Obama announced that he had issued a classified “Presidential Policy Guidance,” commonly known as the PPG, meant to govern the…
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Medical Complicity in CIA Torture, Then and Now

The US government released a series of documents about the CIA torture program on June 14 and 15, in response to Freedom of Information Act lawsuits by the ACLU and Vice News.…
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A Less-Secret Drone Campaign

Stephen Whisler, Predators and Reapers 2012, pastel on paper This post is the latest installment of our “Monday Reflections” feature, in which a different Just Security editor…
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Why Federal Agencies Must Still Preserve (and Should Finally Read) the SSCI Torture Report

This week’s news that the CIA’s Office of Inspector General destroyed two copies of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Report (SSCI Report) on the CIA’s Detention…
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The National Security Council as FOIA “Agency”

Two weeks ago, Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.) introduced a bill that would define the National Security Council (NSC) as an “agency” for purposes of the Freedom of Information…
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FOIA Litigation Has Its Own Rules, But We Deserve Better

When will federal judges start acting more like State Department flacks? It’s a question worth thinking about during Sunshine Week. For those of us who regularly litigate national…
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More Transparent Than Thou

At the dawn of his second term, President Obama declared, “This is the most transparent administration in history, and I can document how that is the case.” But three years…
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