Investigative Reporter
@business
. 'FOIA terrorist.' Band Tshirt hoarder. Subscribe to my newsletter FOIA Files jasonleopold
@protonmail
.com Signal 213-270-4334.
NEW investigation: When Gery Shalon, mastermind of the infamous JPMorgan hack, flipped, US law enforcement considered it a triumph. But new evidence suggests that while Shalon was working w/FBI, he built a massive new fraud empire in Europe
By Simona Weinglass,
@MichaelRileyDC
&
NEW: Remember when Trump took a trip to Japan back in 2019 and reports surfaced that the WH requested the move the USS John McCain out of view so it wouldn't upset Trump?
Well, I
#FOIA
'd the military for docs about this & 3 yrs later they just arrived
"This just makes me sad"
BREAKING:
@BuzzFeedNews
and I won our appeal before the DC Circuit to further unredact the Mueller report, specifically passages pertaining to Donald Trump, Jr. et al.
This is a massive win and it's all thanks to the expert legal arguments by our attorney
@mvtopic
BREAKING: After a year of legal battles,
@BuzzFeedNews
news and I and
@EPICprivacy
have scored a MAJOR
#FOIA
victory: the Justice Department has unredacted portions of the Mueller report pertaining to Roger Stone and Wikileaks and more.
Story to come:
🔴
#BREAKING
@NPR
has learned ousted State Department Inspector General Steve Linik was looking into allegations Secretary of State Pompeo was misusing a Department political employee for personal tasks for both Pompeo and his wife.
I'm glad
@BuzzFeedNews
and I and CNN spent nearly two years litigating for thousands of FBI interview summaries like this one from the Mueller probe so that the public can read what Rick Gates said Paul Manafort told him way back in 2018.
"Sit tight" "we'll be taken care of"
BREAKING in my/
@BuzzFeedNews
/
@EPICprivacy
#FOIA
lawsuit to unredact the Mueller report
Judge Walton just ordered DOJ to turn over an unredacted copy of Mueller report by March 30 so he can review it to determine what can be further released publicly
This is what we hoped for!
While Security spending was somewhat more than his predecessor, Scott Pruitt has received death threats because of his bold actions at EPA. Record clean Air & Water while saving USA Billions of Dollars. Rent was about market rate, travel expenses OK. Scott is doing a great job!
@documentcloud
WHOA!
Hell of an email from NOAA official Craig McLean to NOAA's chief and other top officials:
"What concerns me most is that this Administration is eroding the public trust in NOAA for an apparent
political recovery from an ill timed and imprecise comment from the President"
NEW: ICE turned over docs to me in response to my
#FOIA
about protests in Portland, forgot to redact them & then wrote back to me & demanded I destroy the docs & "refrain from using or disclosing the contents"
Here they are.
SCOOP w/
@a_cormier_
: DOJ granted DEA the authority to conduct "covert surveillance" & collect intel on people participating in protests over George Floyd's death. We obtained the DEA memo written by Timothy Shea, DEA acting administrator & ex-US atty
This is INCREDIBLE
Judge Reggie Walton: I think when a president makes an unambiguous statement that he was declassifying information I don't think anything more is required. He clearly has indicated intent.
Walton wants WH counsel to speak to Trump about his tweets/intent
In 30 minutes, govt attorneys will tell the federal judge presiding over two of my
#FOIA
cases that Trump's order authorizing the declassification of Russia investigation documents is not an order and they have no intention of declassifying anything
🚨NEW: For 2 years, I have been working on a massive, global financial investigation w/my
@BuzzFeedNews
colleagues based on secret US govt docs we shared w/
@ICIJ
, internal bank records & intvs w/100s of sources.
Here's Day 1
#FinCENFiles
1/
Steve Hotze left a voicemail for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott asking him to order rioters be killed
The Texas Tribune obtained the voicemail Friday via a public information request
Incredible. 5 yrs ago, I filed a FOIA request w/SOUTHCOM for photographed copies of all artwork created by Guantanamo detainees for a project I've been working on. SOUTHCOM just turned docs over & redacted 100s of paintings citing law enforcement techniques & procedures exemption
@documentcloud
WOW. These emails underscore how angry NOAA officials were about the Hurricane Dorian tweets by Trump and how NOAA handled and responded to the controversy (and sharpiegate).
"You have no idea how hard I’m fighting to keep politics out of science..."
#FOIA
BuzzFeed News is dismantling our award-winning investigations team. So this is my last investigative project for the newsroom. I hope you'll give it a read and share it. I think our findings are pretty damning and worthy of your time.
🧵NEW: A yearlong investigation by
@KendallTTaggart
@jtemplon
@a_cormier_
& me into private equity giant KKR & its takeover of BrightSpring Health Services, a company that serves ppl w/intellectual & development disabilities turned up some damning findings
🚨BREAKING:
@BuzzFeedNews
& I just got more passages unredacted from Mueller report
It reveals for 1st time that Mueller declined to charge Donald Trump Jr with a computer crime for accessing a website using a PW he got from Wikileaks & Stone for hacking
I'm watching Kirstjen Nielsen talk to
@Scaramucci
live. She literally said "there was no policy to separate families."
SHE SIGNED IT INTO EXISTENCE.
She had 3 options. She signed the one that would "separate minors from adult family members."
📚 P. 165:
Here's something you rarely see. A suspicious activity report, or SAR, sent to Treasury's FinCEN
Perhaps even rarer: It was sent to FinCEN by Bank of America raising red flags about Deutsche Bank and the volume of Russian money flowing into the US financial system in 2016
NEW: Massive new investigation into Deutsche Bank's mirror trades led by my colleague
@TomBWarren
based, in part on never before released internal US govt documents we obtained.
2/
NEW: DOJ just turned over to
@BuzzFeedNews
and I and CNN nearly 300 pages of the supplemental material attached to the FBI 302s from the Mueller probe.
@a_cormier_
and I are going through the records now but here's a sample
#FOIAFriday
SCOOP: DOJ released a doc to me in response to a 5 year old
#FOIA
request. It's a doc I didn't specifically ask for. It's a transcript of an off the record discussion Obama had with reporters about Trump, et al, 3 days before he left office
1/
BREAKING
#FOIA
: At 10 pm EST tonight, NOAA released hundreds of pages of documents in response to my and other
#FOIA
requests about Hurricane Dorian and Sharpiegate.
A late night dump from NOAA! Hmm wonder what's in here.
Uploading docs now.
USPS experiencing backlogs of mail across the US after a Trump donor running the agency put in place new procedures described as cost-cutting efforts, alarming postal workers who warn it could undermine their ability to deliver ballots on time for Nov
HISTORIC day. Govt attorneys can't just say Trump's tweets are meaningless and we should not take his orders seriously as they have been doing for 3+ years.
Now, govt attorneys must find out directly from the president what his intent was and file it with the court.
#FOIA
Last year, my
@BuzzFeedNews
colleagues and I documented three separate instances of people reporting to the police and FBI that they were physically threatened by people close to Trump. The incidents date back to the 1980s.
How the sequence of events unfolded. An email describing how the directives to keep the USS John McCain out of sight during Trump's 2019 visit to Japan were passed to US Indo-Pacific Command and the Navy
BIG
#FOIA
SCOOP: Among the excuses Trump offered after FBI found classified docs at MAL, is GSA packed the boxes
But these docs-including PICS of pallets Trump's team packed, stacked & shrink wrapped-I obtained from GSA tells another story.
w/
@jackgillum
Michael Ellis, a former Republican political operative, resigned Friday as the National Security Agency’s top lawyer, having been sidelined for three months after President Biden took office.
@nakashimae
Regarding the lede of this story: I obtained documents from the Navy via
#FOIA
about Trump's 2018 trip to Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris and the documents say his transport was canceled by the Navy due to rain.
New, from
@TheAtlantic
: Trump skipped a visit to an American military cemetery in France after calling the dead "losers" for getting killed: Full story here:
🚨NEW/WOW: At a hearing this morning in my/
@BuzzFeedNews
& CNN
#FOIA
lawsuit for FBI 302s from the Mueller probe, Judge Reggie Walton said Judge Sullivan could potentially find that the pardon issued to Michael Flynn is invalid because it is too broad in its language.
1/
BREAKING: DOJ just turned over the last set of typewritten FBI 302s from the Mueller investigation --46 heavily redacted pages - in response to my/
@BuzzFeedNews
& CNN's
#FOIA
lawsuit. We pried loose more than 5K pages over the past 13 months
#MuellerMemos
Here's a Feb 21, 2020 email to Fauci from a Weill Cornell Medical College associate professor of dermatology who wrote: "we think that there is a possibility that the virus was released from a lab in wuhan, the biotech area of china"
Fauci fwds to a colleague: "please handle"
NEW: 🚨
@business
& I defeated ODNI & DOJ's use of a GLOMAR in our FOIA case (HUGE) for a copy of Trump's declassification standing order
Surprise! Now the agencies have officially confirmed to us they have no record of Trump's standing order
1/
HOLY SHIT!
Judge Walton continues this hearing until next week. He specifically wants govt atty to get WH counsel to speak to Trump and find out intent of his declassification tweets and submit with the court
BuzzFeed News is publishing the slide presentation by Erik Prince to privatize the Afghan war and mine Afghanistan's valuable minerals. He pitched the proposal to the Trump administration. Prince told BuzzFeed News, "You're a fucking hack."
@AramRoston
Navy officials wanted names of the individuals responsible for requesting the USS John McCain be kept out of view during Trump's visit to Japan. They seem stunned.
I'm excited to announce that I'm joining the investigations team at Bloomberg News! Today is my first day. I am going to be following the money and building a powerful
#FOIA
operation here to pry loose records from across federal and state govts on a wide range of topics.
After 5.5 years, a bunch of investigative projects, 2 of which were Pulitzer finalists, and successfully prying loose tens of thousands of docs via
#FOIA
from govt agencies, I'm taking a buyout and leaving
@BuzzFeedNews
. Tomorrow is my last day.
It was a hell of a run.
This is STUNNING! Judge Walton is essentially saying he does not trust DOJ and AG Barr.
From the 23 page opinion in my/
@BuzzFeedNews
/
@EPICprivacy
#FOIA
case just issued to unredact the Mueller report.
BREAKING in my/
@BuzzFeedNews
/
@EPICprivacy
#FOIA
lawsuit to unredact the Mueller report
Judge Walton just ordered DOJ to turn over an unredacted copy of Mueller report by March 30 so he can review it to determine what can be further released publicly
This is what we hoped for!
All of the White House Military Office emails about the discussions to keep the USS John McCain out of sight during Trump's visit to Japan are classified and redacted except for one.
It's been 5 painful years. On July 25, 2016, my brother Eric died. He was brutally murdered on the pathway leading to the front door of his house. Every single day since then, I have struggled with my own grief.
BREAKING: FBI & DOJ have just turned over the 5th installment of
#MuellerMemos
(FBI 302s) to me/
@BuzzFeedNews
&
@CNN
in response to our
#FOIA
lawsuits. 298 pgs. Reince Priebus, Sean Spicer & more
We will be going through the docs, which you can read here
After 5.5 years, a bunch of investigative projects, 2 of which were Pulitzer finalists, and successfully prying loose tens of thousands of docs via
#FOIA
from govt agencies, I'm taking a buyout and leaving
@BuzzFeedNews
. Tomorrow is my last day.
It was a hell of a run.
HUGE NEWS coming on heels of the massive
@BuzzFeedNews
&
@ICIJorg
global
#FinCENFiles
investigation: the anti-money laundering legislation has bipartisan support and was just included in the annual defense spending bill.
Several of us have filed
#FOIA
lawsuits for documents from various federal agencies related to Trump's tweets and the Justice Department has told the court in response that Trump's tweets should not be taken seriously or literally and we should not be given documents.
These Media Posts will serve as notification to the United States Congress that should Iran strike any U.S. person or target, the United States will quickly & fully strike back, & perhaps in a disproportionate manner. Such legal notice is not required, but is given nevertheless!
BREAKING: New batch of
#MuellerMemos
(FBI 302s) just released. These are interviews with key witnesses from the Mueller probe, such as Stephen Miller and Peter Aven. 169 pgs
Docs are in the story and please keep refreshing the page to see what we found
SCOOP: Trump filed
#FOIA
requests w/IRS on June 14 & 28, 2019 seeking a wide-range of docs about IRS's behind-the-scenes deliberations over releasing his taxes to Congress
He said he was willing to pay up to $30K
I FOIA'd Trump's FOIAs
w/
@laurapdavison
Memo authorized by Barr and signed by now acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen from last September. They intended it to be used against
#BlackLivesMatter
protesters and Antifa
These new unredacted passages follows our lengthy legal battle against the Justice Department and our partial victory at the DC Circuit to unmask the identities of some people Mueller declined to charge.
Thank you to
@mvtopic
& his team for fighting this historic battle.
NEW: Last month, a chicken was found wandering around the security area of the Pentagon and caused a bit of a ruckus. It was later taken into "custody" by Animal Control.
Naturally, I filed a
#FOIA
request with DOD for details about this incident and I just got the docs. 🐓🐓🐓
WOW!! BIG FIND in the NOAA
#FOIA
document dump tonight by
@chrisgeidner
re: Hurricane Dorian and the map Trump showed during the WH briefing
"Yes that was doctored"
🧵NEW: A yearlong investigation by
@KendallTTaggart
@jtemplon
@a_cormier_
& me into private equity giant KKR & its takeover of BrightSpring Health Services, a company that serves ppl w/intellectual & development disabilities turned up some damning findings
For a good chunk of Trump's presidency, there was a flurry of correspondence between the White House & NARA about the preservation of presidential records & adherence to the PRA & WH counsel circulated memos about following the law
1/
Email from ex-NYT reporter Donald McNeil to Fauci
"A lot of average Chinese behaved incredibly heroically in the face of the virus ... Meanwhile, in America, people tend to act like selfish pigs interested only in saving themselves. How can I hoard a mask? Where's my vaccine?"
MASSIVE thanks to
@mvtopic
& his team at
@LoevyAndLoevy
for waging this battle on our behalf.
AND we are not done! We are still fighting to have additional material unredacted.
This is a HUGE historical victory for the public and transparency
NEW: I just obtained via
#FOIA
the secret 2020 DOJ report based on an investigation ordered up by Bill Barr to determine whether Obama officials improperly unmasked Michael Flynn & others prior to & after the 2016 election
In summary..
@kenbensinger
& me
NEW: Internal Treasury Dept Docs Show Russian Oligarch Roman Abramovich Invested At Least $1.3B With US Investment Firms And Hedge Funds
Abramovich hasn't been sanctioned by US. But that may soon change, a US official told
@BuzzFeedNews
NEW from
@RosalindZAdams
who obtained the documents.
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York has at least three patients and five staff members that have been diagnosed with the coronavirus. The hospital has a one-week supply of masks.
NEW: Sean Hannity continues to be a prominent presence in the
#MuellerMemos
(FBI 302s). In this latest batch we obtained, Rick Gates told Mueller's team that during the 2016 campaign, "Hannity tailored his shows to the agenda Manafort suggested."
On Jan 11, 2021, I filed a broad
#FOIA
request w/Secret Service for text messages & other docs related to Jan 6. On Jan 19, Secret Service said it searched & found potentially responsive docs
Sued the agency 2 mos later. Docs should have been preserved
In 30 minutes, govt attorneys will tell the federal judge presiding over two of my
#FOIA
cases that Trump's order authorizing the declassification of Russia investigation documents is not an order and they have no intention of declassifying anything
This morning, Natalie May Edwards, a Treasury Dept whistleblower & one of the bravest humans I know, reports to federal prison in W. Virginia to begin her 6 month sentence
May was the source behind our global
#FinCENFiles
investigation, which we published a year ago this month
UNREAL
In my/
@BuzzFeedNews
ongoing
#FOIA
lawsuit against multiple govt agencies for documents on Mikhail Lesin, the founder of RT who authorities say got drunk, fell down numerous times in his DC hotel room and died, DOJ just sent me 32 pages of this.
BREAKING: 3rd installment of
#MuellerMemos
(FBI 302s) have arrived in response to my/
@BuzzFeedNews
#FOIA
lawsuit. These are the interview summaries of admin witnesses requested by and turned over to the House Judiciary Committee but not publicly released
The White House press office emailed this out about an hour ago.
Proclamation on National Day of Remembrance for Americans Killed by Illegal Aliens, 2020
What we have here in this incrediby detailed 165 page cache of emails, contracts, invoices, is the entire backstory from Jan through Sept 2021 of how GSA assisted the outgoing Trump transition team with SHIPPING pallets of boxes to MAL and a storage facility.
This is STUNNING! Judge Walton is essentially saying he does not trust DOJ and AG Barr.
From the 23 page opinion in my/
@BuzzFeedNews
/
@EPICprivacy
#FOIA
case just issued to unredact the Mueller report.
This is effed up.
3 YRS AGO (!!), I filed a FOIA request w/DIA for docs on Michael Flynn's job performance, his resignation, etc.
DIA RESPONDED FOR THE FIRST TIME YESTERDAY!
DIA says these records on Flynn can't be released b/c it would interfere w/law enforcement proceedings
BREAKING: DOJ just turned over the last set of typewritten FBI 302s from the Mueller investigation --46 heavily redacted pages - in response to my/
@BuzzFeedNews
& CNN's
#FOIA
lawsuit. We pried loose more than 5K pages over the past 13 months
#MuellerMemos
On Jan 11, 2021 I filed my initial
#FOIA
request with Secret Service for a wide range of documents that included text messages and on January 19, 2021 Secret Service responded saying they located responsive records.
NEW: US District Court Judge Reggie Walton has set June 18 as the target date to complete his review of the unredacted copy Mueller report in response to my/
@BuzzFeedNews
&
@EPICprivacy
#FOIA
lawsuit. We are seeking to unredact additional details from it
NEW: Massive new investigation into Deutsche Bank's mirror trades led by my colleague
@TomBWarren
based, in part on never before released internal US govt documents we obtained.
2/
BREAKING: FBI just released Ivana Trump's FBI file to
@business
in response to our
#FOIA
lawsuit
This is the 1st production of a 900 page file. It's heavily redacted & shows FBI launched a counterintel inquiry back in 89/90 that spanned a couple of years
🚨BREAKING:
@BuzzFeedNews
and I and
@EPICprivacy
just got MAJOR sections of the Mueller report unredacted related to Wikileaks and Roger Stone and the Trump campaign's interest in hacked DNC emails and charging decisions related to Julian Assange
STORY TK by
@kenbensinger
& me
NEW/BREAKING:
@BuzzFeedNews
& I just filed 3 emergency motions in federal court requesting judges immediately order DOJ to release unredacted copies of Russia related docs in our
#FOIA
lawsuits in response to Trump's "declassification" authorization tweets
NEW: Staffwide memo sent to NARA personnel on August 24 by acting Archivist Debra Steidel Wall re: Trump presidential records, Corcoran's letter and attacks on NARA staff and it's work
NEW from
@a_cormier_
& me: CIA Docs Say Staff Committed Sex Crimes Involving Children. They Weren’t Prosecuted
Declassified CIA IG reports show a pattern of abuse & a repeated decision by federal prosecutors not to hold agency personnel accountable
#FOIA