In this week’s FOIA round-up, HUD’s public records system faces severe delays due to contract expiration, North Dakota considers restricting public record access related to “critical infrastructure,” and documents FOIA’d by The Willamette Week show friendly text exchanges between a Portland Police lieutenant and an alt-right leader.

Documents from the Federal Bureau Investigation reveal that as part of COINTELPRO, the Bureau once attempted to impersonate a redacted Black Panther Party official in forged letters to expel “fringe” members. That plan was ultimately never brought to fruition, but not due to any last-minute attack of conscience - the FBI had simply run out of the right stationery.

Annita Lucchesi, a doctoral student and freelance cartographer, has filed extensive FOIA requests to create the first centralized database on missing and murdered indigenous women. Lucchesi shared her experiences navigating a system that refuses to keep track of this data.

For this week’s FOIA round-up, the Department of Defense releases more details on a late ‘00s program concerning fringe science theories, an Arizona congressman wants to challenge the Department of Interior’s proposed FOIA changes, and Minnesota law enforcement is gearing up for Enbridge Line 3 pipeline protests.

Boston’s Great Molasses Flood happened 100 years ago this month. While the cause of the accident turned out to be a faulty tank and warmer than average temperatures, initially reports blamed sinister anarchists intent on violence. A recent Federal Bureau of Investigation report on “Anarchist Extremism” shows just how little things have changed.