President Trump famously and frequently attempts to undermine trust in reporting on his administration with accusations of “fake news.” It’s a practice that has trickled down through his agencies, with cabinet members and public affairs officials attempting to portray unfavorable stories as fake or biased. The solution? File more FOIA requests!

The best records requests are specific, so if you want to know how the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement tactics are impacting your area, why not ask your local institutions?

Starting today, every Tuesday we’ll be putting together a weekly roundup of how FOIA is contributing to oversight of the Trump administration.

You don’t have to be a journalist to use FOIA - in fact, some of the best requests I’ve seen have come from former or current government employees. In this week’s roundup, a few requests from public officials that have potential to show wrongdoing as well as other examples of using public records for impact.