Processing DNA for nearly a million people in a year? No problem, ICE says. Attaching a $300 camera to an agent’s vest? Logistical nightmare. That's one of the most remarkable ironies of this great story (based on FOIA requests by @georgetownlaw.bsky.social's Center on Privacy and Technology).

ICE Collected Nearly 1 Million People’s DNA Last Year—Including Young Children

Internal documents show ICE's DNA collection has skyrocketed in the second Trump administration. Now hundreds of thousands of people never convicted of a crime are in an FBI criminal database forever.

wired.com

No wonder the pentagon wants to make it harder for news outlets to obtain satellite imagery.

Visuals Suggest U.S. Dropped 2,000-Pound Bomb on Home in Iran, Killing 3

The weapon, one of the largest in the U.S.’s arsenal, struck a house in a heavily populated area, according to a Times analysis.

nytimes.com

Fauci faced a grilling because he preserved his records. The Trump administration doesn’t. "The Trump administration is actively shredding its own paper trail, preventing future accountability," FPF's @laurenleharper.bsky.social writes in @ms.now.

Opinion | The Fauci hearing takeaway that the Trump administration doesn’t want you to notice

Lauren Harper: The Trump administration is actively shredding its own paper trail, preventing future accountability.

ms.now

If we’re having this much trouble getting a clear answer on how many Americans have been killed or wounded in Iran, finding out how many Iranian civilians have died as a result of U.S. military actions will be even harder.

Freedom of the Press Foundation@freedom.press · 7d ago

The American public, as well as members of the military and their families, "have a fundamental right to see what the costs of the Iran war are," FPF's @laurenleharper.bsky.social told @thehill.com. Read more:

DOGE has effectively hidden itself by breaking FOIA "If the department is stonewalling the inspector general’s office, it’s an extremely safe bet that they’re absolutely ignoring FOIA officers who are asking for information" per @laurenleharper.bsky.social

Trump’s Education Department Leaves Mountain of Public Records Requests Unaddressed

A review by The 74 of FOIA logs shows the department has fulfilled 3% of them — some only in part.

the74million.org

How cool is this???

Freedom of the Press Foundation@freedom.press · 2w ago

📢 Are you a journalist who uses FOIA or other public records laws in your reporting? You could win $25K with our new journalism award, the Penlight Prize. Submission deadline: Sept. 1, 2026 Read more and apply today:

Pentagon playing a shell game with U.S. casualty figures.

Nearly 100 U.S. troops injured in last two weeks of Iran war, Pentagon says

An intensifying cycle of violence has left at least three U.S. service members dead since the resumption of hostilities a week ago.

washingtonpost.com

This is going to cost like a billion dollars and then Trump's "presidential library foundation" is going to get it at the end of his term - no other president is going to get to use it. Absolutely insane.

Trump says Qatari-gifted AF1 to be ‘maxed out’ following questions of security

The plane is a Boeing 747-800 worth $400 million and donated by Qatar in an unusual deal between the two governments.

washingtonpost.com

Hegseth’s Pentagon secrecy push threatens access to unclassified records: Exempting controlled unclassified information from the Freedom of Information Act could effectively put millions of files beyond the reach of open-records laws — potentially forever. By FPF's @laurenleharper.bsky.social

Opinion | Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon secrecy push threatens access to unclassified records

Lauren Harper: The Pentagon’s proposal to Congress would bypass FOIA’s transparency requirements and give the military sweeping powers to withhold nearly all unclassified information.

ms.now

This is a great way to respond to a SLAPP suit. Well done.

WIRED@wired.com · 3w ago

Yesterday, WIRED learned that Madison Square Garden was suing us for our accurate reporting. We stand by our work. That’s why we’re removing the paywall from two of the MSG stories they don’t want you to read, making them free for everyone.

"Mr. Rubio and his team set the conditions on what that money can be spent on, and by whom." Would love to see the terms but the most transparent administration in history is super bad at FOIA 🙃 So we'll keep running Venezuela in pseudo-secret!

How Marco Rubio Is Running Venezuela From Afar

nytimes.com

Amazing FOIA win from @reprorights.org raises more questions about State Department’s potential view of contraceptives as abortifacients (or if officials know the difference between the two). (Also raises more Qs about USAID records going missing during chaotic shutdown)

Emails detail confusion in State Department over Trump plan to destroy contraceptives

“There is no one here that knows definitively what is in the warehouse,” one official wrote of a USAID storage facility in Belgium as its contents were left to expire.

washingtonpost.com

B5's deliberative process exemption has been routinely overused and abused by agencies for decades - expanding it to employee interactions with AI is only going to increase that abuse exponentially.

WIRED@wired.com · 3w ago

Members of DOGE who were working at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) used artificial intelligence to inform policy decisions. Now, the agency appears to be denying FOIA requests about it.

Cue the DOJ issuing guidance to explicitly say b5 extends to AI prompts.

DOGE Used AI for Housing Policy. The Government Won’t Say How

In response to a public records request, HUD has withheld documents about DOGE’s use of AI—in part by citing a privilege that doesn’t exist.

wired.com

"DOGE’s disappearing records are part of a coordinated assault on government accountability," writes FPF's @laurenleharper.bsky.social for @ms.now. "The DOGE playbook cannot become the blueprint ...The first step to averting this oligarchical capture is securing and opening DOGE’s books."

Opinion | Fixing what DOGE broke requires records Trump is putting out of reach

Lauren Harper: If the DOGE playbook becomes a blueprint, there’s no telling how many future shadow agencies might follow — and how many government decisions taxpayers could be locked out of.

ms.now

And guess how many documents State and Treasury have released about the U.S.'s control of Venezuela's finances in response to FOIA? A big, honking 0.

How Marco Rubio Is Running Venezuela From Afar

The secretary of state effectively controls Venezuela’s finances, the distribution of its natural resources and its government. His grip on the country is a vivid manifestation of American power in th...

nytimes.com

In addition to this being an egregious threat to the free press - everyone knew security was going to be an issue w/this plane. Reporting the obvious isn't a natsec threat - it points to the idiocy of accepting a bribe-jet from Qatar and being so vain you want to fly it before it's retrofitted.

Times Journalists Subpoenaed as Trump Escalates Pressure on Media

The Justice Department is seeking to compel testimony from reporters who wrote about the new Air Force One. The Times called the move a “brazen act.”

nytimes.com

Timely report from @telliotter.bsky.social as DOGE ends. DOGE claims it’s exempt from FOIA and bound by the PRA, but DOJ says the PRA is unconstitutional - which may give WH a green light to destroy DOGE files. Agency FOIA requests are currently our best hope for DOGE info, unless docs wiped first.

Vittoria Elliott@telliotter.bsky.social · 4w ago

NEW: Last year, a whistleblower alleged that members of DOGE had accessed, and potentially exfiltrated data from the National Labor Relations Board. The claims spurred an investigation from the Government Accountability Office, which published a report in April... www.wired.com/story/federa...

NEW: Last year, a whistleblower alleged that members of DOGE had accessed, and potentially exfiltrated data from the National Labor Relations Board. The claims spurred an investigation from the Government Accountability Office, which published a report in April... www.wired.com/story/federa...

Federal Investigators Say Certain DOGE Records Were Deleted

A government report claims DOGE didn’t access sensitive systems. It also says the agency deleted records that would show if they had.

wired.com

A FOIA shell game: In 2025, @propublica.org exposed a State Dept IG report detailing the sus relationship bt Bukele and former US Amb. Johnson (including getting an FBI contractor fired). I FOIA’d that report. State IG's official response? "No records found." Lazy search or docs disappearing?

ICE is spending god knows how much $$$ on social media monitoring tools for what appears to be the sole purpose of intimidating people away from sharing the news.

ICE’s Internal Watchdog Is Now Investigating Online Critics

The Office of Professional Responsibility has opened more than 100 cases over what ICE officials call “incidents of doxing and threats” against ICE employees.

wired.com

Overclassification is a massive problem (75-90% of records are classified when they shouldn't be), and experts have begged the govt to fix declassification for decades -that's worth a mention in this convo. But Pulte isn't fixing the system-he'll just wage Trump's retribution campaign via declass.

Trump says Pulte can declassify ‘whatever’ he wants, sparking fears of exposing intelligence secrets

“If he doesn’t care about blowing up cyber exploits, putting foreign relationships at risk, or getting people killed, he could declassify a lot,” one former official said.

govexec.com

“In his Instagram post, Encina thanked Gomez, the Getty photographer, whose presence on the train he said was ‘quietly reassuring.’ In the interview, he said seeing a photographer there gave him some comfort because someone was documenting what was happening.”

Christopher Wiggins@cwnewser.bsky.social · 4w ago

My interview: “I came to this country as an infant and became a U.S. citizen,” Roswell Encina said. “So sitting there, on the Fourth of July, I couldn’t help but think about the promise of America and the work still required to protect it.” www.advocate.com/news/people/...

JUST IN: Judge Sullivan has ordered me to respond, on or before July 13th, to Todd Blanche's "I'm not turning anything over" move from last week in my lawsuit over the Epstein Files. Then, Blanche has until July 20th to reply to what I file.

It's a huge mistake for the U.S. government to close its National Archives facility in Chicago. Such a valuable resource for historians!

Chicago Collections@chicollections.bsky.social · last mo.

Our access to historical records is directly affected by this closure. Thanks @chicagoarchivists.bsky.social for their attention to this. blockclubchicago.org/2026/07/06/c...

Would be great to see how the Smithsonian operates - for both its detractors and its supporters - but it’s not subject to FOIA 🤷‍♀️

JUST IN: Todd Blanche has responded to Judge Sullivan's Order on my preliminary injunction and it's...more deflection, bullshit, and attempts to conceal. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Response to Order to Show Cause – #19 in PHANG v. BLANCHE (D.D.C., 1:26-cv-01417) – CourtListener.com

Response to Order to Show Cause

storage.courtlistener.com

When Congress passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the DOJ blew its deadline to release the files. We hosted a webinar with @katiephang.bsky.social, @brendanballou.bsky.social, and @laurenleharper.bsky.social to learn about a lawsuit to force compliance. Watch it here:

A journalist’s fight for Epstein transparency

YouTube video by Freedom of the Press Foundation

youtube.com

best headline and subhead i've seen in ages @kenklippenstein.bsky.social

Is Mitch McConnell Dead?

The big terrarium in the sky beckons

kenklippenstein.com

It's July 2nd...the deadline for Todd Blanche to comply with Judge Sullivan's order in my lawsuit over the Epstein Files. Let's see what his "compliance" looks like today... storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Order on Motion for Preliminary Injunction – #15 in PHANG v. BLANCHE (D.D.C., 1:26-cv-01417) – CourtListener.com

ORDER granting 9 Motion for Preliminary Injunction. Signed by Judge Emmet G. Sullivan on 6/25/2026. (lcegs1) (Entered: 06/25/2026)

storage.courtlistener.com