Institute of Museum and Library Services Adopts CoA Institute’s Recommendation for Revised FOIA Regulations

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (“IMLS”) finalized a rule today implementing revised Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) regulations that incorporates an important revision proposed by Cause of Action Institute (“CoA Institute”) in a comment submitted to the agency in January 2019.  The IMLS is a small agency that provides federal support to libraries and museums across the country in coordination with state and local government.

CoA Institute made several recommendations in response to the IMLS’s proposed rulemaking.  Most importantly, we urged the agency to remove outdated “organized and operated” language from its definition of a “representative of the news media.”  That language has been used in the past to deny news media requester status—and favorable fee treatment—to government watchdog organizations, including CoA Institute.

In 2012, we sued the Federal Trade Commission, and took our case all the way to the D.C. Circuit, just to get the agency to acknowledged that its FOIA fee regulations were outdated and that it had improperly denied CoA Institute a fee reduction by relying on the “organized and operated” standard.  In deciding that case, the D.C. Circuit issued a landmark decision in 2015, which clarified the proper fee category definitions and application of fees in FOIA cases.  We cited this case to the IMLS and the agency took heed of the controlling case law, removing the outdated “organized and operated” standard from its final rule.

CoA Institute also asked the IMLS to remove language directing its FOIA officials to read agency regulations “in conjunction with” fee guidelines published by the White House Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) in 1987.  Portions of the OMB guidance, which are the source of the “organized and operated” standard, are no longer authoritative because they conflict with the statutory text, as amended by Congress, and judicial authorities, including Cause of Action v. Federal Trade Commission.

Continued reliance on the OMB guidelines is a source of confusion.  In 2016, the FOIA Advisory Committee and the Archivist of the United States both called on OMB to update its fee guidelines.  CoA Institute also filed a petition for rulemaking on the issue, and is currently litigating the matter in federal court.  Although the IMLS has decided not to alter its reference to the OMB guidelines, the fact remains that no agency can rely on OMB’s superseded directives.

Since the passage of the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016, CoA Institute has commented on twenty-seven separate rulemakings.  Of the twelve interim or proposed rulemakings that have been finalized, CoA Institute has succeeded in convincing nine agencies to abandon the outdated “organized and operated” standard in favor of a proper definition of “representative of the news media,” including the following:

Other agencies, including the National Credit Union Administration and the Federal Reserve, chose to defer CoA Institute’s recommendations and have promised to propose further revisions in the near future to address outstanding fee issues.  A small minority of agencies, which published direct final rules, have failed to acknowledge the continued deficiency in their regulations.

CoA Institute’s successful comment to the IMLS is another small step in our efforts to provide effective and transparent oversight of the administrative state and, more specifically, to ensure agency compliance with the FOIA.

Ryan P. Mulvey is Counsel at Cause of Action Institute

CoA urges release of secret 232 auto report in response to POTUS proclamation

CoA urges release of secret 232 auto report in response to POTUS proclamation

Washington, D.C. (May 17, 2019) – In response to the President’s proclamation concerning auto tariffs, Cause of Action Institute (CoA Institute), a nonpartisan government watchdog organization, urged the release of the Department of Commerce’s Section 232 auto tariff report. CoA Institute filed a freedom of information request for the report when it was finalized, and later sued the administration for failing to respond to the FOIA and release the report.

The President’s proclamation responded to the U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary’s final report regarding the Section 232 investigation into the national security impact of the import of foreign automobile and automobile parts.

James Valvo, counsel and senior policy advisor at Cause of Action Institute:

“Today’s proclamation by the President, summarizing the Department of Commerce’s Section 232 auto report, serves as the latest reminder that the public deserves to see this report, and we urge its immediate release. The report was paid for by taxpayers and its recommendations could harm American consumers and businesses. The public should not be kept in the dark about findings in a secret report, and that’s why Cause of Action Institute continues to fight for its release to ensure a robust debate on the merits.”

Background:

Documents:

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Media ContactMatt Frendewey, matt.frendewey@causeofaction.org | 202-699-2018

Newly Released Records Confirm IRS, DOJ Violated Taxpayer Confidentiality Law

Whether we like it or not, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) plays a central role in the administration of our tax laws. The agency consequently possesses copious amounts of sensitive financial information about individual Americans, nonprofits, and other corporations. Congress considered the protection of such information so important that it has mandated its confidentiality. Section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code requires that “returns and return information”—essentially, anything about a taxpayer in IRS files—“shall remain confidential.” The importance of taxpayer confidentiality, and the danger inherent in its unauthorized disclosure, is one reason why the 2010 “Tea Party” targeting scandal was so serious—the Obama White House weaponized the IRS to target individuals and nonprofit groups based on their perceived political alignment.

IRS records recently produced to Cause of Action Institute (CoA Institute) in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit now shed further light on how carelessly the IRS and the Department of Justice (DOJ) handled sensitive taxpayer information and only belatedly admitted to Congress that they had violated taxpayer confidentiality. In 2012, CoA Institute began its in-depth investigation into the nature and causes of the IRS targeting scandal and the misdeeds of government bureaucrats such as Lois Lerner. Part of our investigation revealed that IRS officials, including Ms. Lerner, willingly handed over twenty-one computer disks, containing over 1.1 million pages of taxpayer information, to the DOJ Public Integrity Section and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), despite lacking proper legal authorization to do so. This allegedly was done as part of the previous Administration’s efforts to investigate exempt entities suspected of having engaged in prohibited political activity.

After repeatedly insisting that it had received only “publicly available portions” of Form 990s when the IRS turned over those 1.1 million pages of taxpayer information, the DOJ later admitted it was mistaken. The records received by CoA Institute confirm that was the case.

In two requests for investigation (here and here), CoA Institute explained why the IRS’s unauthorized disclosure constituted a serious breach of taxpayer confidentiality laws. But the DOJ Inspector General, while admitting that taxpayer data had been mishandled, choose to do nothing and merely stated that Congress had been “informed” and “this matter does not warrant further investigation.” The DOJ watchdog’s inaction led to a series of further FOIA requests (here, here, and here) that were designed to discover more about what the IRS and DOJ had done, and how Congress was alerted to the violation of Section 6103. CoA Institute obtained the requested records only after filing a lawsuit to compel disclosure.

Section 6103 sets out clear rules for the handling of tax information. Those rules are in place to protect taxpayer privacy. In this case, however, the rules were not followed. The DOJ never had proper authorization to obtain the nonprofits’ tax information, including information about donors. But the IRS nevertheless transferred 1.1 million pages of returns to the DOJ and agreed to provide the data in “raw” format, so that it would be easier for the FBI to process.

On May 29, 2014, after the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform opened an investigation into the unauthorized transfer of these tax returns, the DOJ claimed that it had obtained only publicly available information, such as the returns available online on Guidestar.org.

Days later, on June 2, 2014, the DOJ again argued that the trove of tax information it obtained from the IRS was not confidential.

And then, only two days after that, the DOJ changed its story—the agency admitted that the IRS had discovered confidential Section 6103 information within the 1.1 million pages of returns and return information. The DOJ claimed that the disclosure had been “inadvertent,” and it indicated that it was “returning [its] copies of the disks to the IRS[.]” Unfortunately, it is impossible to judge just how serious this “inadvertent” breach of confidentiality was because the DOJ has refused to furnish the House Oversight Committee with internal correspondence about the incident. It has withheld this correspondence by citing the deliberative process privilege—a species of executive privilege— and, to date, those records remain secret.

To be clear, by returning the twenty-one CDs to the IRS and informing Congress about what happened, the DOJ followed proper procedure. But that does not exonerate the federal government for having allowed the breach of taxpayer confidentiality to have happened in the first place. All citizens deserve to know their government does not act with political motivations, and that the IRS will safeguard sensitive taxpayer information, especially as it pertains to charitable giving and the operation of nonprofit entities.

The DOJ’s delayed disclosure of records, which finally give a complete picture of what happened, also illustrates another danger of politicization, namely, of the FOIA process. In this case, the DOJ put up so many hurdles to accessing these records that it required a lawsuit to compel disclosure. Even then, it took months for the agency to produce the records. It would have been next to impossible for an ordinary citizen to get the same result.

For government to be truly transparent, it must be held accountable by its citizens. The behavior of the IRS and DOJ in this case is a perfect illustration of why CoA Institute is committed to fighting for an open and transparent government. Government agencies should not be allowed to violate statutes and then stonewall requests that seek to expose the truth. That is why we pursued this investigation and why we will continue to vigorously serve as a government watchdog on behalf of every American.

Ryan Mulvey is Counsel at Cause of Action Institute. 

CoA Calls on IG to Investigate Use of Government Owned Vehicles at EXIM Bank

Cause of Action Institute (CoA Institute), a nonpartisan government watchdog organization, sent a letter today to the Office of Inspector General (OIG) at the Export–Import Bank of the United States (EXIM Bank), requesting the EXIM Bank’s Inspector General investigate the use of government owned vehicles by EXIM Bank staff based on documents uncovered by Cause of Action Institute through a freedom of information request. The newly released documents reveal troubling evidence of EXIM Bank staff abusing the use of government owned vehicles.

Kevin Schmidt, director of investigations at Cause of Action Institute issued the following statement:

“We’re calling on the EXIM Bank’s Office of Inspector General to launch an investigation into what appears to be ongoing abuse and use of government vehicles by Bank staff.

“As a result of our own independent investigation, we’ve discovered what appears to be unauthorized use of government vehicles by Bank staff, lack of details in automobile use logs that are required under EXIM Bank policies, including staff leaving off the purpose for the use of government owned vehicles.

“As a financial institution with the power to hand out billions of dollars in federally subsidized and backed loans to corporations, all taxpayers should be concerned that the bank staff cannot seem to follow standard government automobile use protocols that are designed to prevent abuse and protect tax dollars.”

EXIM Bank’s OIG had previously investigated this matter in 2016, producing a report that included a detailed list of deficiencies by the Bank and Bank staffs’ use of government owned vehicles.

Letter and exhibits to the EXIM Bank’s Office of Inspector General

Questionable Vehicle Use

Ex-Im Vehicle Use Policy

2019.4.3 FOIA Request to Ex-Im Bank Vehicle Use

 

 

 

Auto-Tariff Investigation Sets Dangerous Anti-Transparency Precedent

Tariffs are often used as a costly tool that economically harms American consumers and business. These protectionist policies often invite turmoil and government overreach, and the tariffs proposed and implemented by the Trump Administration have been no different. In fact, with each round of proposed tariffs, it seems that the government has become less transparent about its process and rationale.

In an effort to advance its trade agenda, the administration has used four Section 232 investigations into different imports to justify tariffs on national security grounds. Although national security concerns may have a place in trade policy where there is a clear and narrow interest, Section 232 should not be used as a tool to bypass Congress when there is no legitimate national security threat. Nevertheless, this was the purported rationale of initiating the Section 232 investigation into auto imports despite the President’s assertion that the importation of autos and auto-parts themselves do not actually pose a national security threat.

So why was this investigation initiated and what did the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) conclude from its investigation? Commerce proactively published its findings and documents supporting its case for steel and aluminum tariffs but refuses to do the same with its auto investigation.

After Commerce announced that it was launching a Section 232 investigation into the national security impacts of auto imports, they were required by law to notify the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD). Commerce announced that it sent notification of the investigation to then-Secretary of Defense James Mattis but have yet to release a copy of this notification, as they did with the Section 232 investigation into steel and aluminum tariffs, as well as with the uranium investigation.

In June 2018, one month after the investigation into auto imports was announced, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told then-U.S. Sen. Orin Hatch that while Secretary Mattis accepted the proposition for the threats imposed by steel and aluminum imports, Commerce was not yet sure about DOD’s views for the automotive sector. Neither Commerce nor DOD has released the Defense Department’s response memo to the auto-import investigation.

Due to this lack of transparency, Cause of Action Institute (CoA Institute) sent FOIA requests to Commerce and DOD on March 22 seeking DOD’s response to the investigation and any relevant communication regarding this matter. The government has yet to release a substantive response from either agency regarding these requests.

The lack of transparency compared to the steel and aluminum process is stark. The government has announced that it will not be releasing Commerce’s final Section 232 report and recommendations on auto imports to the public. Not only were the reports for steel and aluminum published upon completion but the government is statutorily required to publish in the Federal Register “any portion of the report submitted by the Secretary under subparagraph (A) which does not contain classified information or proprietary information.”

CoA Institute believes that this information should be disclosed as the statute requires, particularly if it is going to be used to justify a potential 25 percent tariff on cars and car parts. This is why CoA Institute filed FOIA requests to Commerce for a copy of the report. After Commerce failed to respond to the request within the statutory timeline, CoA Institute filed a lawsuit against the Commerce Department.

It is troubling that the government is not upholding its legal obligations or open-government practices when it comes to Section 232 investigations. Larry Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council, stated that the administration may delay the decision on whether to impose auto-tariffs beyond the 90-day deadline that began when Commerce completed and provided the report to the White House. It is not clear how or what legal justifications exist to allow the administration to defer the decision beyond the May deadline.

However, the lack of transparency on this issue is not a new concern when it comes to tariffs. In September, after reports emerged of potential corruption in the tariff exemption process for the already controversial steel and aluminum tariffs, CoA Institute filed three FOIA requests seeking information to clarify the methodology behind the exemption process. After the government failed to respond to any of the FOIA requests relating to the steel and aluminum tariff exemption process, CoA Institute filed a lawsuit against Commerce for this information. As a result of the lawsuit, the government has agreed to produce relevant records at the end of each month.

Tariffs can be an economically treacherous policy, eroding the economic freedoms of individuals, hurting businesses, and almost always causing consumers to pay more for products as the government picks winners and losers. In this instance, not only is the government imposing tariffs that harm Americans, but it is doing so in a manner that evades transparency and, in regard to the auto-tariff report, fails to comply with its statuary obligations. The path to a stronger economy is one that eliminates barriers to trade, not one that unfairly manipulates the free-market while withholding justification from the public.

Mallory Koch is a communications associate at Cause of Action Institute.

Cause of Action Institute Secures Rare Preservation Order in Fight to Obtain DOJ Records Created on Personal Email Account

Government official caught using personal email to conduct official business ordered to maintain copies of all records in Gmail account

Washington, D.C. (April 26, 2019) – Cause of Action Institute (CoA Institute), a nonpartisan government watchdog organization, today announced it had secured a rare federal court order requiring a former U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) employee to preserve the contents of her personal email account, which had been used to conduct official agency business. Those records may be subject to later release.

Ryan Mulvey, counsel for CoA Institute, issued the following statement:

“Government transparency is a fundamental necessity in a free and open society. The use of personal devices to conduct official business remains a serious concern, resulting in records being lost, unsecured, or improperly destroyed. In some cases, personal email accounts are used to avoid disclosure altogether. This court order is an important reminder to all government employees to avoid using personal email and devices and adhere to all relevant agency rules and government transparency statutes. It also is a warning to agencies to ensure that they meet their record-keeping obligations.”

U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta granted Cause of Action’s motion, ordering the U.S. Department of Justice to require a former employee, Sarah Isgur Flores, not to delete any emails stored in her personal Gmail account, and to store copies of the account’s contents onto a thumb drive or other storage device, including all emails in archived or deleted folders. The Court also ordered Ms. Flores to maintain the emails until further instructed, and gave the U.S. Department of Justice until May 2, 2019 to provide notice of its compliance with the preservation order. Although the issuance of such a preservation order is rather rare, it is the latest example in a developing trend. Federal courts have become increasingly concerned about the use of personal email to conduct agency business, and they are taking serious the possible loss or destruction of government records that may be subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and other federal records management statutes, including the Federal Records Act.

Background

In 2017, media reports indicated that Sarah Isgur Flores, then-spokeswoman for Attorney General Jeff Sessions, used her personal email to issue official statements on behalf of the government. Due to concerns that this sort of behavior could harm the public’s access to official records, and in light of past instances of personal email having been used as a way to conceal public information, Cause of Action Institute filed a FOIA request for Ms. Flores official work-related emails sent or received through her personal devices or accounts. After waiting more than 18 months for a response, CoA Institute sued DOJ to force the disclosure of the Flores records.

On September 27, 2018, DOJ responded, “As is evident from the enclosed records, Ms. Flores forwarded emails sent to her personal account to her official Department of Justice email account, including through an automatic forward. As such, all of these emails were located pursuant to our search of Ms. Flores’ official Department of Justice email account.”

However, within the 112 pages produced by DOJ, the original email issued by Ms. Flores, as reported by members of the press, was missing. Despite raising this issue with DOJ, the government insisted the 112 pages were a full-and-complete record. As a result, and after learning of Ms. Flores’s departure from public service, CoA Institute filed a motion, urging the court to compel DOJ and Ms. Flores to preserve all relevant records.

Late on Thursday, April 25, the Court granted CoA Institute’s motion in full, compelling the government to coordinate with Ms. Flores to preserve her personal email account and maintain copies pending further court proceedings.

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CoA Institutes’s Motion for Preservation Order

Federal Court’s Order for Preservation of Records 

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CoA Institute Presents Winning Research Paper at 2019 National Freedom of Information Coalition Summit

On Friday, April 12, Cause of Action Institute (CoA Institute) Counsel Ryan Mulvey joined a panel at the National Freedom of Information Coalition’s (NFOIC) 2019 Annual Freedom of Information (FOI) Summit in Dallas, Texas to present a winning research paper co-authored by Mulvey and CoA Counsel and Senior Policy Advisor James Valvo. The paper presents a comprehensive survey of open records laws and identifies useful trends in how public access to legislative records is regulated at the state and federal levels. Ryan and James’ paper was one of three to be presented on a panel from 18 total submissions for the contest. Their underlying research evolved out of work originally undertaken for an amicus brief filed in the Georgia Court of Appeals.

The paper, ‘Opening the State House Doors’: Examining Trends in Public Access to Legislative Records examines how all 50 states’ FOI laws address the question of access to legislative records. That survey reveals that 38 states provide some form of access to various legislative materials. Only 11 exclude the legislative branch from their public-disclosure laws, whether expressly, by implication, or according to judicial interpretation. The clear trend, in any case, is to construe state FOI laws in favor of public access.

Of the 38 states that provide requesters with at least some basic level of access to legislative records, 14 do so implicitly while the other 24 explicitly allow access to legislative records.

Of the states that explicitly cover the legislature in their FOI laws, there is some diversity in how the branch is included. For example, in two states the law focuses on the nature of the record subject to disclosure. North Carolina defines a “public record” to include materials “made or received” by a “public office,” including that of an elected official. Another 20 states focus on the kinds of government entities that must disclose their records upon request, including nine states that define an “agency” to include the legislature or legislative offices. Finally, in Missouri and Florida, access to legislative records is guaranteed by the state constitution.

Ryan and James identified 14 states that impliedly grant access to legislative records. Ten states do so based on the interpretation of terms defining the governmental entities subject to disclosure. For example, six states use the term “branch,” which is understood to include the legislature. Four states define the sort of record subject to disclosure in such a way to include legislative materials. And in six states, the presence of statutory exemptions—or protections that allow a record custodian to withhold information—only applicable to certain legislative records suggest that the legislature, as a whole, is subject to the FOI statute.

Finally, the survey found that of the 12 states that completely exclude the legislature from their FOI statutes, eight do so explicitly, two implicitly, and two based on judicial interpretation.

In addition to surveying state law, Ryan and James examined the treatment of legislative records under the federal FOIA. Specifically, they discussed the possibility that courts could look more seriously at the availability of records under the control of legislative branch agencies, and they pointed to the positive development in the case law governing the extension of congressional control over records that reflect the interaction of the federal legislature and the Executive Branch.

The full paper can be viewed here. The findings discussed above, and the graphics excerpted from the panel presentation, reflect developments in three states (Missouri, South Carolina, and Michigan) that are not discussed in the paper.

Ryan Mulvey is counsel at Cause of Action Institute. Mallory Koch is a communications associate at Cause of Action Institute.