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FOIA

The ACLJ's Government Accountability Project is fighting to uncover corruption and lawlessness in the Deep State bureaucracy. This is a report on our prior findings that we've delivered to Congress.

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Cases

On January 26, 2024, the Biden Administration suspended funding to UNRWA after the IDF reported that 12 members of UNRWA had directly participated in the terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. The report further showed that the Biden Administration was supporting UNRWA, and therefore Hamas, with close to $1 billion in U.S. taxpayer funding since 2021. We’ve filed two separate FOIAs to . . .

House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan exposed the FBI for targeting conservatives’ bank statements that had purchases labeled “MAGA” or “Trump” or came from stores like the Bass Pro Shop. The FBI even went so far as to screen Bible purchases. When will the Deep State FBI stop violating the constitutional rights of U.S. citizens? We’ve filed a FOIA to get to the bottom of it.

On February 12, 2021, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken revoked the designation of the Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. Yet, the Houthis continue their Iranian-backed reign of terror threatening global trade in the Red Sea. We’ve filed a FOIA request to get to the bottom of it.

On November 3, 2023, a memo or dissent cable (hereafter memo) was transmitted to the State Department’s policy office heavily criticizing Biden’s unwavering support of Israel, including accusing him of “spreading misinformation”, and claiming that Israel was committing “war crimes” in Gaza. The vast majority of the memo is focused on criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s. . .

We’ve uncovered multiple hirings by the Deep State of Israel’s enemies. Nejwa Ali was an asylum official with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) until she was placed on leave after it came to light that she had worked as a spokeswoman for the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), according to a report by the New York Post. When contacted by the Daily Wire, she insisted that she still. . . . .

We’ve filed a FOIA seeking records pertaining to the U.S. Department of State’s knowledge and efforts surrounding Hamas’s response and suppression of dissidents.

On July 4th, while Americans were celebrating the birth of our nation with family and friends, a federal judge in Louisiana was filing a 155-page ruling against the Biden Administration. The court opinion blew the lid off a federal assault against our liberties – a First Amendment violation of epic proportions. Judge Terry Doughty had determined that the Administration had arguably been. . .

The ACLJ just began an investigation into Biden’s State Department rejoining the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Educational Organization (UNESCO). Biden has chosen to rejoin what may be the U.N.’s most anti-Israel agency under the pretense of confronting Chinese influence. There are a total of 10 requests in our FOIA.

Is Walter Reed violating free exercise of religion? The short answer to this question appears to be "Yes!" Two days before the beginning of Holy Week, the most important date on the calendar of Christians worldwide, the historic Walter Reed National Military Medical Center issued a cease-and-desist order against a Catholic group that had been providing religious ministries for over two decades . . .

Recently, we learned of reports by former Maricopa County prosecutor Abe Hamadeh that the election commission for Maricopa County in Arizona has set up a secret “war room” where it keeps a whiteboard regarding “dangerous/misinformation” containing the names of dissenting voters in the county. Keeping track of U.S. citizens simply because they disagree with you is blatantly un-American. It’s a. . .

On January 23, 2023, an intelligence analyst within the FBI’s field office published a document titled “Interest of Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists in Radical-Traditionalist Catholic Ideology” (RMVE). The memo notes that FBI investigations have determined that there is a mounting overlap between the far-right white nationalist movement and Traditionalist Catholics who prefer. . . .

Even more highly classified documents have been discovered at President Joe Biden's Delaware home. This comes after classified documents were found in a closet inside a personal office he used after his time as Vice President. There may even be more classified documents yet to be discovered. The hypocrisy of this Administration is just glaring. Never forget how Biden and the Left went after. . .

FBI whistleblowers revealed that the FBI was recategorizing investigations as domestic terrorism to inflate the numbers and “labeled at least dozens of investigations into parents with a threat tag [...] to assess and track investigations related to school boards.” AG Merrick Garland, under sworn testimony, had previously denied any DOJ “counterterrorism statutes and resources” were used to. . .

The Biden Administration quietly announced – during the Thanksgiving holiday when Congress was away – that it was upgrading diplomatic relations with the Palestinian Authority (PA) and that, while this had been in the works for months, Israel was only recently informed. The direct assault to Israel's sovereignty is unmistakable. We've filed a FOIA request on this and we will get to the bottom of. . . .

The Deep State FBI pressured Facebook to suppress the Hunter Biden laptop story days before the 2020 Election. This is what election interference and collusion actually look like. We've filed a FOIA request on this and we will get to the bottom of it.

According to one report, a Christian is killed every two hours in Nigeria. And yet rather than take action to defend these embattled Christians, President Biden has effectively abandoned them in their darkest hour by removing Nigeria from the State Department's Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) list, a critical persecution watchlist. We've filed a FOIA request on this and we will get to the. . . .

Leading up to Easter, an anti-Bible advocate "charged that displaying Bibles and other Christian literature alongside a display of chocolate Easter bunnies and other goodies commonly associated with Easter in a gift shop" at the VA hospital in New Mexico "crossed the dreaded red line that separates church and state." Within 24 hours of this anti-Christian group's demand letter, the leadership at. . . .

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is now being weaponized against free speech. DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced the creation of a "Disinformation Governance Board" raising serious free speech concerns. This is unprecedented and dangerous to our constitutional republic. It's a dystopian and draconian attack on free speech. We never thought we'd see anything like it. We've filed . . .

We filed a FOIA request to the Office of Information Programs and Services (IPS) of the U.S. State Department requesting all records pertaining to the U.S. Department of State's knowledge and efforts concerning removing the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) from the terror list.

Within his first month in office, President Biden quietly notified Congress of his plans to distribute $125 million in U.S. taxpayer-funded aid to the terrorist-funding Palestinian Authority (PA). We filed a FOIA request to the U.S. Department of State asking for all records pertaining to this program, and how the decision to incentivize Israel's accusers was made, going as far back as January. . . . .

President Biden invited Taiwanese officials to his Summit for Democracy and then appeared to have censored them. Digital Minister of Taiwan Audrey Tang presented at the Summit, but the video was conveniently cut out after the Minister showed a map that indicated that Taiwan is separate from China. The White House then reportedly contacted the State Department to remove this part of the video. . . .

There were many failures that led to the circumstances in Afghanistan. The lack of U.S. military control at the airport access points was one of the first major failures in President Biden's exit strategy. That's why the ACLJ filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the U.S. Department of State, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the Department of Defense –. . .

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) initially refused tax-exempt status to a religious organization. The reasons that the IRS listed in their rejection letter for this decision are examples of blatant targeting of conservatives once again. We've seen this before and at the ACLJ, we're going to take action.

The Biden Administration is still USING COVID-19 as an excuse to expand abortion. Clearly, this poses a danger to unborn babies, but it also jeopardizes the health and safety of countless women under the guise of protecting them with COVID rules. That's why the ACLJ filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Biden FDA and HHS to expose the deceptive and dangerous intent behind this. . . .

When our very own ACLJ Senior Counsel for Global Affairs Mike Pompeo was Secretary of State, he led a State Department investigation into the origin of the COVID-19 virus. However, the Biden Administration has shut down that investigation after they were briefed on the State Department's draft findings in February and March 2021. Clearly, the Biden Administration did not like what the State. . .

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) continues to unlawfully spy on American citizens. We've filed a FOIA request on these horrific abuses. We can and must get to the bottom of this and end the FBI's illegal assault on the privacy of American citizens.

All of Former Acting Director Ric Grenell’s unclassified emails and text messages were easily released by a single FOIA request from BuzzFeed News, while the ACLJ has to wait years and fight numerous legal battles to get a single page under FOIA. There seems to be a real Deep State double standard here. The ACLJ has filed a FOIA request to secure emails and text messages belonging to the current. . . .

U.S. Customs and Border Patrol stopped two terrorists on the terror watchlist at the U.S.-Mexico border, and then mysteriously scrubbed the arrest from its website. The ACLJ has filed a FOIA request to get to the bottom of this.

The Biden Administration is pursuing increasing U.S. aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA), even as the PA continues it’s “Pay for Slay” program and in spite of the limitations imposed by the Taylor Force Act. The ACLJ has filed a FOIA request to get to the bottom of this.

Planned Parenthood improperly applied for and unlawfully received MILLIONS of dollars of Coronavirus relief funds meant for struggling small businesses. The ACLJ has filed a FOIA request to get to the bottom of this.

Former Secretary of State John Kerry who is now on President Biden’s team had secret meetings with Iran, as a private citizen after he left office. The purpose of those meetings was to work with the Iranians to sabotage the Trump Administration. The ACLJ has filed a FOIA request to get to the bottom of this.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team claims they somehow “accidentally” wiped their own phones 27 times before turning them over to the Department of Justice (DOJ). The ACLJ has filed FOIA requests to get to the bottom of this.

Rep. Eric Swalwell (CA-15) – one of the lead agitators in the first impeachment against President Trump and now an impeachment manager – was found to have a direct connection with a Chinese Communist spy right around the same time he was named to the House Intelligence Committee. The ACLJ has filed FOIA requests and a lawsuit to get to the bottom of this.

This country is blessed to have numerous businesses that proudly support the United States military and its service members. Shields of Strength (SOS) is one such business. Unfortunately, one organization in particular is deeply troubled by the fact that SOS sells religious products that also include the official United States Marine Corps ("USMC") emblem. In fact, this organization, which. . .

The ACLJ has filed a number of state Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests on the issue of abortion and in support of pro-life advocacy.

FBI director James Comey reportedly conducted his own “covert operation” against President Trump by inserting FBI agents – spies – inside the White House. Their job was to secretly collect information and report back to Comey’s office on the President and his Administration. The ACLJ is taking action to expose this unprecedented spying, bias, and corruption. We submitted Freedom of Information. . . . .

Obama’s State Dept. funded efforts to unseat Israel’s Prime Minister. ACLJ submitted a FOIA request and filed a lawsuit against State.

Obama’s Administration hesitated to arrest a known Iraqi insurgent in Texas. ACLJ submitted a FOIA request to DOJ, FBI, and the USAO.

Obama’s Administration expanded the federal bureaucracies access to intelligence, leading to and explosion in classified leaks. ACLJ submitted a FOIA request to the NSA, ODNI, and DOJ and filed a lawsuit against the NSA/ODNI.

Obama’s State Dept. doctored evidence that it lied about the Iran Deal. ACLJ submitted a FOIA request and filed a lawsuit against State.

Obama refused to veto an anti-Israel U.N. resolution declaring Jerusalem occupied territory. ACLJ submitted a FOIA request to State.

Evelyn Farkas at the Department of Defense encouraged illegal leaks. ACLJ submitted a FOIA request to DOD.

Obama’s Administration purged all references to Islam from government manuals. ACLJ submitted a FOIA request to DHS.

ISIS Genocide Case Closed

Obama’s State Dept. failed to take action to stop ISIS’s genocide or protect Christians. ACLJ submitted a FOIA request and filed a lawsuit against State.

Obama’s Administration allegedly removed the term “genocide” from official documents. ACLJ submitted a FOIA request to State.

Susan Rice and Ben Rhodes are accused of unmasking American citizens for political purposes. ACLJ submitted a FOIA request and filed a lawsuit the NSA.

Franken attacked Sen. Sessions at his confirmation hearing with a setup question. ACLJ submitted a FOIA request to DOJ and FBI.

Obama’s Administration granted citizenship to immigrants from countries of concern. ACLJ submitted a FOIA request to DHS.

The Clinton Foundation colluded with the Clinton-led State Department. ACLJ submitted a FOIA request and filed a lawsuit against State.

AG Lynch met with Bill Clinton during the Clinton email investigation. ACLJ submitted a FOIA request to the FBI and DOJ and filed a lawsuit against DOJ.

Ambassador Power is accused of unmasking American citizens for political purposes. ACLJ submitted a FOIA request to NSA and State.

Obama’s Administration edited and translated the Orlando terrorists’ 911 call. ACLJ submitted a FOIA request to DOJ and the FBI.

Comey exonerated Clinton three months before interviewing her or key witnesses. That is no investigation. ACLJ submitted FOIA requests to DOJ, OSC, and FBI.

The Biden Administration’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) continues to fund research that involves using aborted babies’ body parts for experimentation, including with federal taxpayer dollars. We sent a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to HHS to get to the bottom of this disgusting practice. The American taxpayers should know how their tax dollars are being spent.

DOCUMENTS

March
February
January
December 2023
November 2023
October 2023

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