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@jasonleopold.bsky.social Oct 9, 2026, 5:08 PM

NEW FOIA Files newsletter is out!

A newly declassified State Dept audit I obtained via #FOIA found that more than 200 programs to counter Iran-backed groups were deeply disorganized, scattered across the agency, with no clear leadership or a coordinated strategy
www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...

Doc says: Finding A: Department Efforts To Counter Iran-Backed Groups Were
Decentralized and Lacked Strategic Guidance
(U) OIG identified more than 200 Department efforts with direct or indirect links to countering IBGs, including work done with interagency partners. However, OIG found that the Department employed a decentralized approach to countering IGs that relied on general goals and objectives in higher level Department and national strategies-such as the NSS and JSP-to inform individual efforts to counter IBGs, rather than goals and objectives with a specific focus on countering these groups. This occurred, at least in part, because the Department did not have a Department-wide strategy to guide its counter-IBG efforts. Although officials stated that higher level Department and national strategies provided sufficient guidance, OIG determined that those strategies did not provide adequate details. Specifically, the Department's strategies did not include Foreign Affairs Manual-recommended elements, including agency roles and responsibilities, interagency coordination mechanisms, desired results, and milestones and performance indicators specific to IBGs. Moreover, the Department did not designate and authorize a bureau or office to lead the Department's collective counter-IBG efforts. As a result, counter-IBG efforts executed by the Department were not always effectively coordinated or communicated among 12 Department bureaus, 7 overseas posts, and 7 interagency partners.
Without a comprehensive strategy to counter IBGs, individual efforts lacked common direction and focus, and OIG was unable to assess whether the Department's efforts to counter IBGs

@opengovva.bsky.social Oct 9, 2026, 12:35 PM

VCOG All Access News, 10/9/26: the "it's a non-profit" fallacy; Albemarle schools double down; responding to public; Secret Service #FOIA
opengovva.org/transparency...

@kenfoxe.bsky.social Oct 9, 2026, 9:47 AM

An umbrella concealing a sword, a war hammer, and a gauntlet with a hidden blade were among items intercepted by Revenue.

Customs also seized imports of ‘Bug-a-Salt’ guns which kill insects by blasting them with table salt.

www.thestory.ie/2026/10/09/r...

#ireland #revenue #foia

@opengovva.bsky.social Oct 8, 2026, 12:09 PM

VCOG All Access News, 10/8/26: no longer NDA-bound; mayor expelled; data center tactics; don't say "superintendent" #FOIA
opengovva.org/transparency...

@nationaldesk.bsky.social Oct 7, 2026, 2:55 PM

ICE saw an Army study finding shock gloves caused intense pain and immediate compliance before signing a $16.7M no-bid deal for 6,000 pairs in August, AP reports, citing records American Oversight got via FOIA.
www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
#ICE #Immigration #CivilRights #USNews #Army #FOIA

Original National Desk graphic (CC BY 4.0) on ICE shock gloves. Headline: ICE knew Army test results before buying shock gloves. Stats: $16.7M no-bid contract signed August 2026; 6,000 pairs of gloves from Compliant Technologies; Army test in Oct. 2024 at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. Study findings: role-playing prisoners stopped resisting seconds after shocks; "Inmate compliance was immediate"; participants felt intense pain and feared being shocked again. Source: AP, records via American Oversight.

@opengovva.bsky.social Oct 7, 2026, 1:09 PM

VCOG All Access News, 10/7/26: unsealed video; development via public comment period?; travel reimbursement report #FOIA
opengovva.org/transparency...

@kenfoxe.bsky.social Oct 7, 2026, 9:02 AM

SIPO granted ‘cooling-off’ waivers to nearly every former minister, special adviser and senior public servant that applied.

Names & details are kept confidential by SIPO.

Information Commissioner has also deemed them exempt from release under FOI.

www.thestory.ie/2026/10/07/s...

#ireland #foia

@robmcconnell.bsky.social Oct 6, 2026, 2:57 PM

📣 New Podcast! "Rob McConnell Interviews - DALTON WALKER - A Very Strange, and Unusual Rock" on @Spreaker #anomaly #dalton #discovery #extraterrestrial #foia #geology #government #investigation #meteorite #minerals #mystery #rock #science #sky #space #specimen #testing #unexplained #walker

@opengovva.bsky.social Oct 6, 2026, 12:51 PM

VCOG All Access News, 10/6/26: ejected for clapping; vacancy appointment questioned; behind the (non)byline #FOIA
opengovva.org/transparency...

@cbarbermd.bsky.social Oct 6, 2026, 12:00 AM

FBI leadership too. And the requests cover personal devices and accounts, code names, and communications passed through third parties, so there's nowhere to hide. h/t @annepmitchellesq

annepmitchell.substack.com/p/omg-yes-co...

#BlueSky #MedSky #LawSky #press #Trump #Epstein #FOIA #Accountability

@quirkygrrrl.bsky.social Oct 5, 2026, 3:06 PM

Reminder, we STILL haven't seen April Haynes' report on the last election. Where is that? #FOIA

@opengovva.bsky.social Oct 5, 2026, 12:52 PM

VCOG All Access News, 10/5/26: unknown contract; question about vote; AG's personal email address; boat strike memo #FOIA
opengovva.org/transparency...

@touaregtweet.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy Oct 4, 2026, 9:17 PM

2/2

EXCLUSIVE: The government trained FBI agents to flag Epstein documents containing Trump's name for supervisory review.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYiQOhPYSuc #Epstein #EpsteinFiles #redaction #training #videos #FOIA #MSWMedia #lawsuit #Trump #DOJ #FBI #CoverUp

@profciara.bsky.social Oct 4, 2026, 9:02 PM

Well, well, well. #trump #epsteinfiles #FOIA 👀⚖️👇

@rusbowden.bsky.social Oct 3, 2026, 10:25 PM

Secrecy should have to justify itself.

Protect legitimate secrets. Redact victims & intelligence sources.

But if gov't files can lawfully be released, release them.

Epstein. Venezuela oil records. Audits. 9/11 records.

Every administration.

#Transparency #FOIA #Venezuela #EpsteinFiles

@smaurizi.bsky.social Oct 3, 2026, 2:39 PM

I don't know if it has to do with the massive hacking which targeted the #FBI - allegedly by the #French hacking collective #ShinyHunters - but over the last 2 weeks I've been unable to reach #FBI's #FOIA email

@sirpedosfriends.bsky.social Oct 3, 2026, 1:34 AM

A federal judge ordered #DOJ to expedite #FOIA requests for #Epstein-related records involving #Trump, Mar-a-Lago & senior officials, citing exceptional #public-interest & government integrity. Ruling speeds processing but doesn't require immediate release of records.

www.yahoo.com/news/politic...

@jasonleopold.bsky.social Oct 2, 2026, 2:32 PM

NEW FOIA Files newsletter is out!

Pam Bondi’s Secret DOJ Email Address Revealed

The former AG used an email alias during her tenure. It’s a long-standing DOJ practice that can interfere with the public’s ability to access records through the #FOIA
www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...

@opengovva.bsky.social Oct 2, 2026, 12:35 PM

VCOG All Access News, 10/2/26: #FOIA Friday; emails show problems; legislative agenda; private v. public university
opengovva.org/transparency...

@bsky.realhackhistory.org Oct 2, 2026, 12:32 PM

Sad that they won’t give me anything here. #FOIA

FOIPA Request No.: 1738130-000
Subject: Syrian Electronic Army (March 1, 2011 - December 31, 2016)
Dear i
This responds to your Freedom of Information/Privacy Acts (FOIPA) request. Please see the paragraphs
below for relevant information specific to your request as well as the enclosed FBI FOIPA Addendum for standard responses applicable to all requests.
The FBI has completed its search for records subject to the FOIPA that are responsive to your request. The
material you requested is located in an investigative file which is exempt from disclosure pursuant to 5 U.S.C. S
552(b)(7)(A). 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(7)(A) exempts from disclosure:
records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes, but only to the extent that the production of such law enforcement records or information.. could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings...
The records responsive to your request are law enforcement records; there is a pending or prospective law
enforcement proceeding relevant to these responsive records, and release of the information could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings. Therefore, your request is being administratively closed. For a further explanation of this exemption, see the enclosed FBI/DOJ Explanation of Exemptions.
Please refer to the enclosed FBI FOIPA Addendum for additional standard responses applicable to your
request. "Part 1" of the Addendum includes standard responses that apply to all requests. "Part 2" includes additional standard responses that apply to all requests for records about yourself or any third-party individuals. "Parl 3" includes general information about FBI records that you may find useful. Enclosed for your information is a copy of the FBI/DOJ Explanation of Exemptions.