NEW/THREAD: A forthcoming analysis from @TRACReports says @BuzzFeedNews has filed more #FOIA lawsuits--58-- than any other media organization in the US during Trump's presidency.

Here's a look back at the secrets my colleagues & I pried loose in 2020

1/

We started off 2020 publishing some of the most important and highly sought-after documents from former special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation: summaries of FBI interviews with key White House officials.
https://t.co/dfQI0LOa1I

2/
In February 2020, @BuzzFeedNews secured more than 1K pages of emails from NOAA related to Trump’s "doctored" map of Hurricane Dorian — dubbed #SharpieGate — and the panic, outrage, and internal revolt it triggered among top officials at those agencies.
https://t.co/G7tTRV9aqR

3/
That month, we also filed a #FOIA lawsuit against DOJ for docs related to Barr's intervention in the Flynn & Stone cases. Emails we obtained brought to light the behind-the-scenes drama between the lead prosecutor in the Stone case & his supervisor
 https://t.co/BdNFGpQiBf
4/
The federal response to #FOIA requests, which was already shitty, got worse during last year’s coronavirus outbreak. Some agencies used the pandemic to justify cutting off responses altogether and to abruptly halt the processing of FOIA requests.

But we fought back. We sued.

5/
In June 2020, we obtained documents that show the FDA authorized two malaria drugs boosted by Trump to treat COVID-19 was based on threadbare evidence.
https://t.co/q30B3ZZdDi
6/
We continued to chip away at the secrecy behind the government's response to #COVID19, and in May we received docs that reveal how deeply involved FEMA was in the govt's bungled response to the pandemic, despite the agency's denials.
https://t.co/ArgDyQcjYa
7/
When the country erupted in protest after a Minneapolis police officer killed George Floyd, the federal govt scrambled to respond, dispatching federal agents in a sweeping effort to police the demonstrations. @BuzzFeedNews swiftly filed FOIA requests and then sued the govt

8/
Last August, DHS turned over hundreds of pages of documents to @BuzzFeedNews that show how federal agents monitored #BlackLivesMatter protesters’ social media for intelligence and then braced for battle.
https://t.co/kuJtNxfh5t

9/
One of the Trump administration's most enduring controversies has been its immigration policies, which have resulted in dozens of deaths in detention facilities. To better understand what happened, BuzzFeed News sued DHS & ICE

10/
In Oct we published our findings, which included that a woman w/AIDS died after she was not given life-saving antiretroviral drugs & 3 detainees killed themselves even though they were supposed to have been under observation for mental health concerns
https://t.co/jg0UPvka9y
11/
Also last year, we used documents obtained through #FOIA lawsuits against the Treasury and Justice Departments to inform our groundbreaking #FinCENFiles investigation, published in September.
https://t.co/ETKey5nPDr

12/
Our #FOIA litigation rankled HSBC. A secret report we sought about failures in HSBC’s anti–money laundering efforts led the bank to take the unusual step of intervening in our lawsuit. It asked DOJ not to release it to us
https://t.co/usOchKPbx7

13/
The Mueller report, Russia’s election interference, and Ukrainian dealings that led to impeachment dominated much of Trump’s term in office; they also were targets of @BuzzFeedNews legal efforts

14/
Our #FOIA work generated headlines in March when Judge Reggie Walton, who was handling our/@EPICprivacy's lawsuit to unredact Mueller's report, issued a scathing opinion that questioned whether Barr intended to “create a one-sided narrative” about it
https://t.co/bVbWcQUnVW

15/
In June, DOJ was forced to remove vast swaths of black ink from the Mueller report in response to #FOIA lawsuits by @BuzzFeedNews and @EPICprivacy

The new details were revelatory

https://t.co/cwb10hOljS

16/
September brought another historic victory in Judge Walton’s court. He ordered the government to release, on the day before Election Day, even more redacted passages from the Mueller report, ruling that DOJ violated federal law 

17/
When those sections of the Mueller report were disclosed, it showed Mueller investigated Assange, WikiLeaks, and Stone related to the hacking of Democratic National Committee servers as well as for possible campaign finance violations.

https://t.co/x2e3tiJJTl

18/
The last set of docs we obtained in 2020 arrived in Dec. We had been fighting for its release for a year. It included 1 of the key historical docs of Trump’s presidency: the criminal referral sent to FBI & DOJ accusing Trump himself of breaking the law
https://t.co/6zSqSVrdx4
19/
Our battle against recalcitrant public officials required not only the work of our own lawyer, Chris Hickman (co author of our 2020 #FOIA wrap up) but also enlisting outside counsel, including attys @_LightLaw @mvtopic & @jloevy and @katie_rcfp & @Jen_A_Nelson

THANK YOU!

20/
And thank you to @ackocher and his team at @TRACReports for the data analysis!

More from Politics

So let's see a show of hands: how many of you even knew Huber was digging into the Clinton Foundation? While he was assisting Horowitz in his digging into the FISC/Steele Dossier/Fusion GPS/Perkins Coie/DNC/Hillary campaign stuff?


I'm sure Huber is coming to DC *only* to discuss Clinton Foundation things with Meadows and his committee.

He for certain, like, won't be huddling with Horowitz or that new guy, Whitaker while he's in town. That would NEVER HAPPEN. [wink wink wink!] 😉

I just spent a year and a half telling you they will SHOW YOU what they are REALLY DOING when they are READY.

Not before.

No matter how much whining is done about it.

I'm exhausted but it's worth it.

Now you know why they're f**king TERRIFIED of Whitaker, the closer tapped by Trump to come in late for the hysterical fireworks that will ensue soon.

Look who's suddenly fund raising for his legal defen- er, I mean, ha ha - his reelection campaign!
This is partly what makes it impossible to have a constructive conversation nowadays. The stubborn refusal to accept that opposition to Trumpism and GOP nationalism is about more than simply holding different beliefs about things in and of itself. 👇


It's fine for people to hold different beliefs. But that doesn't mean all beliefs deserve equal treatment or tolerance and it doesn't mean intolerance of some beliefs makes a person intolerant of every belief which they don't share.

So if I said I don't think Trumpism deserves to be tolerated because it's just a fresh 21st century coat of cheap paint on a failed, dangerous 20th century ideology (fascism) that doesn't mean I'm intolerant of all beliefs with which I disagree. You'd think this would be obvious.

Another important facet. People who support fascist movements tend to give what they think are valid reasons for supporting them. That doesn't mean anyone is obliged to tolerate fascism or accept their proffered excuse.


Say you joined a neighborhood group that sets up community gardens and does roadside beautification projects. All good, right? Say one day you're having a meeting and you notice the President and exec board of this group are saying some bizarre things about certain neighbors.

You May Also Like

#ஆதித்தியஹ்ருதயம் ஸ்தோத்திரம்
இது சூரிய குலத்தில் உதித்த இராமபிரானுக்கு தமிழ் முனிவர் அகத்தியர் உபதேசித்ததாக வால்மீகி இராமாயணத்தில் வருகிறது. ஆதித்ய ஹ்ருதயத்தைத் தினமும் ஓதினால் பெரும் பயன் பெறலாம் என மகான்களும் ஞானிகளும் காலம் காலமாகக் கூறி வருகின்றனர். ராம-ராவண யுத்தத்தை


தேவர்களுடன் சேர்ந்து பார்க்க வந்திருந்த அகத்தியர், அப்போது போரினால் களைத்து, கவலையுடன் காணப்பட்ட ராமபிரானை அணுகி, மனிதர்களிலேயே சிறந்தவனான ராமா போரில் எந்த மந்திரத்தைப் பாராயணம் செய்தால் எல்லா பகைவர்களையும் வெல்ல முடியுமோ அந்த ரகசிய மந்திரத்தை, வேதத்தில் சொல்லப்பட்டுள்ளதை உனக்கு

நான் உபதேசிக்கிறேன், கேள் என்று கூறி உபதேசித்தார். முதல் இரு சுலோகங்கள் சூழ்நிலையை விவரிக்கின்றன. மூன்றாவது சுலோகம் அகத்தியர் இராமபிரானை விளித்துக் கூறுவதாக அமைந்திருக்கிறது. நான்காவது சுலோகம் முதல் முப்பதாம் சுலோகம் வரை ஆதித்ய ஹ்ருதயம் என்னும் நூல். முப்பத்தி ஒன்றாம் சுலோகம்

இந்தத் துதியால் மகிழ்ந்த சூரியன் இராமனை வாழ்த்துவதைக் கூறுவதாக அமைந்திருக்கிறது.
ஐந்தாவது ஸ்லோகம்:
ஸர்வ மங்கள் மாங்கல்யம் ஸர்வ பாப ப்ரநாசனம்
சிந்தா சோக ப்ரசமனம் ஆயுர் வர்த்தனம் உத்தமம்
பொருள்: இந்த அதித்ய ஹ்ருதயம் என்ற துதி மங்களங்களில் சிறந்தது, பாவங்களையும் கவலைகளையும்


குழப்பங்களையும் நீக்குவது, வாழ்நாளை நீட்டிப்பது, மிகவும் சிறந்தது. இதயத்தில் வசிக்கும் பகவானுடைய அனுக்ரகத்தை அளிப்பதாகும்.
முழு ஸ்லோக லிங்க் பொருளுடன் இங்கே உள்ளது
https://t.co/Q3qm1TfPmk
சூரியன் உலக இயக்கத்திற்கு மிக முக்கியமானவர். சூரிய சக்தியால்தான் ஜீவராசிகள், பயிர்கள்