Federal Freedom of Information Requests

About The Freedom of Information Act

The Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) is an invaluable tool to pierce the veil government agencies often hide behind to avoid accountability for their conduct. Our firm regularly submits FOIA requests on behalf of clients who demand transparency concerning government activities.

Our FOIA team has extensive experience successfully navigating the bureaucratic labyrinth of requests, appeals, and suits to obtain records that rightfully belong in the public domain. We have submitted over 2,200 FOIA requests and have a reputation with many government agencies for being efficient, persistent, and tenacious.

Unmatched Experience Navigating the FOIA Labyrinth

Our FOIA practice supports clients across a variety of areas and has sent requests to over 25 federal agencies, including AHRQ, CBP, CDC, CMS, DHS, DOD, DOE, FAA, FDA, the Federal Reserve, FEMA, GSA, HHS, HRSA, IHS, OMB, NARA, NCI, NIAID, NIH, NSF, OSHA, SSA, USDA, USDT, USPS, VA, and the White House. As discussed in the following clip by the firm’s Managing Partner, Aaron Siri, the process is often lengthy and convoluted, but we are relentless in assuring we achieve the goals set by our clients:

Finding Connections Where Others Don’t

Our FOIA team diligently reviews hundreds of thousands of pages produced by government agencies, which include things like emails, instant messages, reports, data, contracts, agreements, and meeting records. Some of the things we look for are inappropriate conduct, conflicts of interest, corruption, evidence of agency capture, and contradictions between the agency’s public statements and what was discussed behind closed doors. Our years of experience combing through these complex documents means that we see connections and patterns that others often miss.

Challenging Redactions and “No Records Found”

The documents produced in response to a FOIA request typically contain redactions, or the agency will deny the existence of the records entirely. Our FOIA team has submitted hundreds of appeals to challenge the improper use of FOIA exemptions and to fight for records that we have reason to believe exist.

In the event that our client is not satisfied with an agency’s response or the outcome of an appeal, our attorneys quickly and skillfully proceed to litigation. Our firm’s immensely successful efforts in obtaining government documents include the following:

PHMPT v. FDA:

Obtained the documents underlying the FDA’s licensure of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for individuals 16 years of age and older at the rate of at least 50,000 pages per month.

PHMPT v. FDA II:

Obtained the release of documents FDA relied upon to license Moderna Covid-19 vaccine for adults, and the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for ages 12 to 15, at a rate of at least 180,000 pages per month.

ICAN v. CDC and HHS:

Obtained a court order for the CDC to produce data collected from the COVID-19 safety monitoring system, V-safe.

FCDC v. CDC:

Obtained additional V-safe “free text” entry data at the rate of at least 300,000 entries per month.

ICAN v. CDC:

In settlement, obtained a stipulation from the CDC that listed the 16 studies and 4 reviews that it relied on to support a pivotal safety claim it makes regarding vaccines.