The ruling makes it easier for officials to hide records from the public, but orders the Senate to release any administrative, political, and other non-legislative communications it has withheld.
Before the 2020 election, Barr promoted baseless claims about the dangers of absentee voting. Records uncovered by American Oversight also highlight his efforts to codify an accelerated investigation timeline for federal fraud investigations.
American Oversight asked the Maryland attorney general to issue guidance on elected officials’ use of auto-deleting messaging technology, following reports that Gov. Larry Hogan and members of his office had used Wickr to communicate about government business.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton failed to answer American Oversight’s lawsuit seeking records from Jan. 6 and the aftermath of the Uvalde mass shooting.
Our FOIA litigation revealed that the Defense Department and the Army also deleted the text messages of top Trump administration officials from the day of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.
In response to American Oversight’s litigation, the Defense Department and the Army have confirmed in court filings that the phones of certain former senior Trump administration officials had been wiped — and that any text messages from Jan. 6, 2021, were not preserved.
American Oversight letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland requesting an investigation of the Department of Defense's failure to preserve test messages and other communications from Jan. 6, 2021, the day of the attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“Kind of wild/creative” — that’s how a Trump-allied lawyer, in an early December 2020 email, characterized the scheme to submit fake electoral certificates in an attempt to overturn the election results.