President Trump’s presumptive nominee to the Federal Reserve Board, Stephen Moore, has faced a series of scandals related to the release of public records that threatens to derail his nomination.  Moore’s recent troubles illustrate the importance of properly vetting appointments before they are announced and exposed to public scrutiny.  There were proactive steps that Moore could have been taken in advance to mitigate damage to his reputation or protect his privacy, however he was forced to take reactionary steps because he was unprepared.

The rules and regulations regarding transparency in special counsel investigations have received heightened scrutiny in recent days.  The current federal regulations stipulate that special counsels are required to produce a full report to the attorney general at the end of an investigation, which is confidential, and the attorney general must then provide Congress with a brief report that explains the conclusions. Whether the full report is released publicly is at the discretion of the attorney general, however several FOIA lawsuits are seeking to compel disclosure of records related to the recent Mueller investigation.

C-SPAN turned 40 today. The network is an invaluable resource for researchers, with almost 250,000 hours of video content.  Video content is indexed by a number of different factors including speaker name, type of event (forum, debate, task force, etc.), as well as any number of user-selected search terms and modifiers.  Content searches can also be limited by date.

This week is Sunshine Week, which calls attention to the importance of open government, under the premise that government functions best when it operates in the open.  Sunshine Week is celebrated every year in mid-March, scheduled to coincide with James Madison's birthday on March 16th, which is also National Freedom of Information Day.  The American Society of News Editors and Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press host a website – sunshineweek.org – that includes a toolkit of free resources, a vault with resources from prior years and a FOI in Action page that includes FOIA resources.   

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a measure this week that required California Charter schools and the entities that manage them to comply with the California Public Records Act and required them to ensure that members of the public can access their board meetings. The legislation also requires Charter school board members to be bound by the same ethical responsibilities and rules governing conflicts of interest as public school board members.

Presidential libraries have developed into an invaluable resource since President Franklin Roosevelt began the Presidential Library system in 1939 by donating his personal and Presidential papers to the Federal Government.  The 14 presidential libraries are maintained with public funds and the public is allowed access to these records under the Freedom of Information Act.  For researchers, the most immediately useful aspect of Presidential libraries are that they contain files created by and about employees of past administrations.  Our new blog includes tips on accessing and searching the Presidential library archives.

Federal Court records are organized and made available through the PACER (Public Access to Court Records) system, which requires users to sign up for an account and charges ten-cents-per-page for electronic access to records.  The federal courts are allowed to charge for this access under the E-Government Act that permits courts to recoup costs “only to the extent necessary” to pay for “services rendered.”  PACER has been accused of charging higher than necessary fees in a class action lawsuit filed by the National Veterans Legal Services Program, the National Consumers Law Center, and the Alliance for Justice. The case could lead to refunds for PACER users and changes in the way users are charged for PACER access.

The controversy around Virginia Governor Ralph Northam’s appearance in a racist photo published in his medical school yearbook has prompted a series of articles urging backgrounding on executive level hires and celebrities. The professionals quoted in these articles offer general advice to “be prepared,” but don’t specify the exact level of diligence that should be exercised by a company hiring a new CEO or looking for a new celebrity partner. We explore the answer - it varies depending on context - in our new blog, which also includes questions to help guide the process.

A California State Assemblyman is slated to propose a measure that would require the state to employ a public records ombudsman, who would be responsible for reviewing denials under the California Public Records Act (CPRA).  As currently drafted, the CPRA provides a court challenge option for records denials, but leaves the decision on whether a requested record should be released up to the agency.  A model for how this could work is available at the federal level where requestors have the right to administratively appeal agency denials.  The measure being considered in California is slightly different than the federal process as, on the federal level, the agency that issued the denial handles the appeal (albeit at a higher level internally than the department that issued the first denial), while the California law under consideration would create a new government position empowered to review denials government-wide. 

When drafting public records requests, it is a good idea to get a log of what has already been requested from the agency you are querying.  FOIA logs show what has been asked for by prior recipients and provide insight on how best to request it.  Furthermore, researchers can get an actual copy of the FOIA request and the materials released in response, which is known as FOIA “tailgating." Another variation on this is known as a "FOIA trap," which is a standing request with an agency to be copied on requests and attachments fitting a certain description or received from a certain party.