Public records can help dig into policy makers at all levels, as well as help find out the truth on the ground. This week’s FOIA roundup shows how you can use requests to do the same no matter what subject you’re interested in.

Richard Nixon’s unsuccessful 1937 application to be a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation is a fairly well-known bit of presidential trivia. But as the Bureau’s own records show, answering the obvious corollary - why wasn’t Nixon FBI material - isn’t so easy.

Cheer him or boo him, Coach Michael Krzyzewski of the Duke Blue Devils is one of the winningest coaches in college basketball history. But before he led the Devils to five NCAA championships, Coach K was a hoops star in his own right at West Point and during his time in the Army.