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department of defense

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This project is to document the June 8, 1967 Israeli attack on the USS Liberty as completely as possible from sources subject to the Freedom of Information Act as well as other similar laws and regulations.

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LBJ’s “hullabaloo” made the FBI decide to avoid doing security checks for Congress

by Emma North-Best

January 04, 2018

In June 1956, Lyndon B. Johnson caused a “hullabaloo” over the search search of a Senator’s office conducted by Department of Defense security officers who were looking for a potential listening device. Johnson caused such a stink that the Federal Bureau of Investigation decided to avoid helping the Senate with security issues lest they be subject to unnecessary scandal the way the DOD security officers were.

Pentagon claims list of information exempt from FOIA is exempt from FOIA

by JPat Brown

November 17, 2017

Earlier this year, Emma Best filed a Freedom of Information Act request for a copy of the Department of Defense’s most recent declassification guide, with the goal of better understanding what the Pentagon believes can or can’t be released to the public. Just this week, the guide came in but with one notable omission: the entire section on what the Pentagon believes can or can’t be released to the public

The Pentagon’s $660 million FOIA fee

by JPat Brown

February 26, 2016

Last year, the DEA earned no small amount of infamy for putting a $1.4 million price tag on on a Freedom of Information Act request - among the largest ever recorded. This week, the Department of Defense blew that out of the water with a fee estimate of $660 million, nearly 500 times the previous record.

Agency Voice: Department of Defense’s Jim Hogan

by Michael Morisy

December 18, 2015

As the Department of Defense’s Chief of FOIA Policy, Jim Hogan helps oversee the processes that manage the roughly 60,000 requests the DoD sees each year. For him, it all started 20 years ago when, as an active duty officer in the Air Force, he made the jump to processing FOIA requests.

Requester’s Voice: Michael Powell

by Jasper Craven

March 28, 2014

Cultural anthropologist Michael Powell studies the impact of government secrecy on the citizenry. For this week’s Requester’s Voice, Powell compares transparency in the US to other countries and talks about a bizarre FOIA training video produced by the Pentagon in faux noir style.