FOIA as Weapon
by Radar Lock
FOIA - the Freedom of Information Act - is a citizen's most powerful tool in the fight against government corruption.
This federal law, and its state level counterparts, are (in the right hands) a battering ram for breaking down government secrecy and shining a spotlight into places bureaucrats do not want anyone to look. I spent four years as a newspaper reporter and, much like a hacker, I was always looking for new exploits in the way the law could be applied for investigations. Eventually I grew tired of the dog-eat-dog world of journalism, learned how to code, and jumped ship for the tech industry. But I learned a few tricks along the way (and developed a few of my own) that might be worth sharing.
Tip One - Everything They Have is Fair Game
Most FOIA users ask for conventional items: letters, emails, documents.
Don't limit yourself to these, because the interesting stuff lies elsewhere. If, for example, you have reason to think that the county prosecutor is up to shenanigans, ask for his entire web browsing history. His complete phone records can usually be found on his phone bill. Asking for all his emails would be considered excessive, but asking for the metadata for an extended period - subject, recipient, timestamp - is not and may point you in the right direction. And if our prosecutor is unlucky enough to be the user of a government-issued cell phone, or is receiving a government stipend for his personal cell phone, every record therein contained is yours for the taking, up to and including the official's voicemails and Spotify playlists.
Tip Two - Format Your Request as a Question
Government officials are rarely under any obligation to answer your questions, and they do not have to create new records in response to your FOIA requests.
However, if you word your FOIA request as a question, it can force them to provide the answer through documentation. For example, if the municipal dog pound is not releasing data on how many animals it euthanizes, you might word a request thusly: "I request such records as would demonstrate how many animals were euthanized in the third quarter."
Tip Three - File a FOIA on Your Own FOIA
This is called a Meta-FOIA.
It lets you know how the government processed your FOIA request - who was talked to, where they looked, and often times exactly what they think of you.
Tip Four - Blackmail Their Lawyers
A lawyer values nothing more than they value their law license.
This is an Achilles' heel that can be used in your favor, and it is my favorite trick.
Always try to get a governmental body to handle FOIA requests through their lawyer. When they deny your request for some invalid reason, you can leverage the "Rules of Professional Conduct" (which most states have adopted as their code of ethics for lawyers) to force them into fulfilling your request.
For example, I was once on deadline for a major story, and an agency's lawyer denied my request for critical documents.
I was faced with months of delays if I challenged this the conventional way when the story was needed immediately. Luckily, this lawyer had broken a state FOIA law, which I pointed out was a violation of the "misconduct" section of the ethics code. The ethics code also has a rule called "Respect for Rights of Third Persons," which states that "a lawyer shall not use means that have no substantial purpose other than to embarrass, delay, or burden a third person...." Finally, I contacted the managing partner of the firm where this lawyer was employed, explained the violations, and pointed out that a managing partner is just as responsible for the violation under the code of ethics as their subordinate.
All I had to do once I had laid out the ethics violations was threaten to file a formal complaint against their licenses. They emailed me the documents I wanted the next morning. Learning the rules was boring, but once I knew them I was able to) wield them with great power. If anyone tries this technique on an NSA lawyer, please let me know how it goes.
Final Thoughts
Since so many of 2600's readers bring politics into their submissions, I - a rare "little 1' libertarian reader - cannot resist doing the same. Many seem especially concerned about January 6th, which was an event where a group of people who were largely unarmed trespassed on the Capitol, took some selfies, and stole Nancy Pelosi's dias - mostly while remaining between the guide ropes. And who knows if any of this would have happened if undercover FBI agents hadn't infiltrated these groups and apparently goaded these people on?
The fact that this event looms so large in so many imaginations is a reflection of how media distracts us from real issues. I am watching in real time as Biden's 16 percent inflation rate is destroying the wealth of my older relatives. This is not as sexy as January 6th, but it is an actual systemic problem, rather than a distraction.
Never forget that BLM sucked all the oxygen out of Occupy Wall Street - and that is exactly what our corporate overlords wanted.
Instead of worrying about "systems of oppression," realize the oppression is built on individual instances of injustice.
Go out, find some of those instances (evil is hiding in plain sight, I promise), and use the FOIA toolkit I have provided above to go out and slay some dragons. In my career, I brought down two prosecuting attorneys - one who let a dangerous rapist go despite having a substantial case against him, and the other who indicted a man he knew was innocent. Their scalps are a source of immense pride.
You too will find that rooting out corruption is endlessly more satisfying and effective than marching down the street with a placard addressed to no one in particular.
