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Futuro DC Bureau
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This week’s round-up: FBI gets shady on dark web bust, records show Trump trips cost thousands, and Texas comes down hard on public records violations
For this week’s FOIA round-up, the Federal Bureau of Investigation claims it can withhold footage of a dark web bust it had already made public, Secret Service records show a five-figure bill for a First Family visit to a Trump International Hotel in Canada, and a rare indictment for violating public records laws gets handed down in Texas.

FBI’s High Visibility Memoranda document FOIA’s greatest hits
When the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s FOIA office in the Records Management Division prepares to release a file that it deems significant, newsworthy or controversial, it issues what’s known as a High Visibility Memoranda. These memos, circulated to different parts of the Bureau and often to the Director’s Office as well as outside agencies, outline the proposed releases and their possible fallout. A recent release of over 500 pages of these memos serves as a list of files for FOIA requesters to file new requests for so the files can be published online, as well as showing government reactions to the requests themselves.

That time Secret Service asked government psychics to predict the future to prevent an undefined disaster (that never happened)
In late 1981, the U.S. Secret Service needed help locating someone. Unable to find the A-Team, they turned to the government psychics at Army Intelligence.

It took the Secret Service two years to answer a basic question about the Presidential election
As part of MuckRock’s coverage of all things presidential leading up to the 2016 presidential election, Matthew Guariglia sent a FOIA request to learn the identities of the “one additional member” of the advisory committee who had to decide whether or not to grant Herman Cain Secret Service protection. Two years and two mostly-redacted documents later, we have an answer. Sort of.

Between the election and the inauguration, the NYPD spent an estimated $35 million guarding Trump Tower
Back in January, MuckRock’s Beryl Lipton filed public records requests with the NYPD for how much the city was spending in security details for President-elect Donald Trump. Those budgets just came in last week, and they confirm reports that Trump was costing his hometown the equivalent of a President’s annual salary every day.
5 Requests
No Responsive Documents
1947 Alleged Truman Assassination Attempt
Michelle Kinnucan sent this request to the United States Secret Service of the United States of America
No Responsive Documents
Documents on Martin Ahmad Couture-Rouleau
Joshua Eaton sent this request to the United States Secret Service of the United States of America
No Responsive Documents
Documents on Michael Abdul Zehaf-Bibeau
Joshua Eaton sent this request to the United States Secret Service of the United States of America
Rejected
William Green sent this request to the Internal Revenue Service of the United States of America
Completed
Secret Service seized Bitcoin policies
William Green sent this request to the United States Secret Service of the United States of America