DENVER—New reporting by Roll Call, based on thousands of pages of internal documents obtained by Earthjustice, revealed the existence of a previously-undisclosed set of guidelines that let political appointees at the Interior Department intercept and interfere with documents set to be released under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). These rules are in addition to the documented “awareness review” process that Interior claims governs FOIA production, according to congressional testimony.
The documents contradict verbal and written testimony from Interior Solicitor nominee and Chief FOIA Officer Daniel Jorjani, who told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee that “as a policy matter, I typically did not review records prior to their release.”
The Center for Western Priorities released the following statement from Deputy Director Aaron Weiss:
“These latest documents reveal that Daniel Jorjani misled and may have outright lied to Congress. It’s clear the Interior Department has let political appointees interfere with FOIA in ways that are both unprecedented and illegal. He is ethically unqualified to serve as Interior Solicitor.
“In addition, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt was clearly feigning ignorance when he told Senator Leahy last month that it was ‘troubling to me‚ that [awareness review] would be slowing the reviews down,’ and that ‘if it’s responsive, it’s going out.’ These documents show that Bernhardt and top Interior officials have known for months that political interference was not just slowing FOIA production, but causing the Interior Department to miss court-mandated deadlines.”
The Freedom of Information Act is America’s bedrock transparency law that ensures reporters and the public have access to information about how the federal government works. Congress last updated FOIA in 2016.