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You’ve heard of FOIA, but how do you actually make use of it? What’s involved in filing a FOIA? Who can do it? What kind of documents can be FOIAd? What documents have been uncovered with this method and what remains to be revealed? And what does FOIA stand for, anyway? Joining us to answer these questions today is Philumina Johanni, staff attorney at JudicialWatch.org.
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SHOW NOTES
Jesse Trentadue on The Corbett Report
FOIA trial offers rare look into how FBI searches records, responds to requests
The FOIA Lady Pleads the Fifth
Transparency 101: Judicial Watch FOIA Handbook
The Secrets of the JFK Assassination Archive
State Sample FOI Request Letters (also see the main page for other relevant and user-friendly information)
FOIA wiki (user-friendly resource with loads of information on the exemptions for federal FOIA requests)
The FOIA Project (website that has been tracking federal FOIA cases and their status and litigation documents since 1992, categorized by administrative agency)
***** 5 STARS ***** — Filing FOIAs – #SolutionsWatch
Fantastic overview of a tool which we all can use!
It underscores that we are not impotent against the monster.
The :: is too expensive to find a record we allready have in our system, but the legal FEES..Oh jeese.. corrupt beukratic bs to stall and drain, Predecable hoppycoock- just managing damange control and give us a little snippet here and there.
Give me one example when this did actually did hold sway in a defenetive way. and not just for crums bits. Imagin somewere, they have the actual fotage of the ryder truck. All these things ew been spaking about for years and yet, we will never know 🙁 its aggrovating and know, saddens me.
in all– I get the interviev and how important her job is and sthings can slip ,
and the autoimmune disordes origins she was working on did sound facinating.. I guess, theres is some good use to thiis
Good day fellow corbetters ^^
Bramsen says:
Give me one example when this did actually did hold sway in a defenetive way.
Definitive EXAMPLES – FOIA and Public Records Requests
As an activist, I have seen some good results…
Unless you know the full story, you won’t understand
— FLUORIDE
A single relatively recent, stellar example which had a dynamic impact (even globally) was Attorney Michael Connett’s FOIA documents concerning the NTP Report. Remember, Michael was fighting against the entire DOJ army of lawyers, Agencies, institutions, corporate vested interests, and more.
You can read about it here in a Mainstream Newspaper (which was re-printed in other publications)
https://www.salon.com/2023/03/16/health-officials-delayed-report-linking-fluoride-to-brain-harm_partner/
I had a conversation with the author of that article who told me that it was an incredible feat to get that story in the mainstream. It is very rare that the Press will even cover the REAL fluoride news, and if they do, they almost always spin it.
May 24, 2023 – Michael Connett, Esq reveals a 102 page document containing FOIA and more.
It is a letter to the NTP Director, Rick Woychik.
https://fluoridealert.org/wp-content/uploads/Connett_Letter-to-NTP_May-24-2023-1.pdf
The pdf tells the story of Dentist Dr. Jayanth V. Kumar and his unethical, fraudulent scientific study.
Kumar once served as the state dental director for New York. In 2015, he became the California state dental director. Dr. Kumar is a member of the American Dental Association’s National Fluoridation Advisory Committee.
Kumar’s stated intention was to publish a scientific study which demonstrated that water fluoridation was safe, and to have this study influence the government’s 6 year compilation of the NTP Report about fluoride’s effects on the brain and behavior.
The May 24 pdf is damning: Peer reviewers of Kumar’s scientific study were not impressed. Four rounds of peer review rejected Kumar’s manuscript, until it was published in April 2023.
Kumar and his co-authors kept coming up with a conclusion that fluoridated water can lower IQ.
They tried different models of rigging the data in order to show that fluoride is safe. The models didn’t do it. So, they threw out the data. Then they published an unethical, biased, fraudulent study for the NTP report.
That pdf also reveals how the Dental Lobby fabricated whole-cloth lies and rumors on the Green Study in order to discredit it. In Dallas, we ran into exactly this.
On a local Dallas Fluoride level, we have had many, many Public Records Requests over the past decade. There were some great nuggets in some of those documents. One doc showed alarming levels of arsenic, lead, etc. from the HFS.
NASEM was involved with Fluoride…took Bribe money and extended the Opioid Crisis. FOIA revealed that – https://web.archive.org/web/20230423070731/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/23/health/sacklers-opioids-national-academies-science.html
Why not interviewing Christine Massey?
She got a lot of experience with FOIA’s in Canada and got also knowledge of it in other countries.
I agree and the virology issue is something that everyone should be aware of.
Wow, excellent! …and serendipitous for me. I just submitted a public records request here where I live in Portland, Oregon. They want to charge me $3000!!! I started a crowd fund to raise the money. Here is a link
https://csofand.substack.com/p/the-public-record?r=1ldnqe
Thank you James!
Studio27,
Gosh!…I know…sometimes they rake you over the coals with costs on a Public Records Request.
Thanks for the link. It clarifies things.
EXCERPT
The goal is to compare statistics for county employee work attendance before and after the coronavirus pandemic.
Looking at leave numbers in the years before and after provide a proper comparison. By including several years before 2020 we can establish a previous “norm” to then contrast the post pandemic years to. But any leave numbers have to be in the context of the county staff’s normal schedule expected to be worked.
As an aside, folks down in Texas have been sharing this news to the west of you – Hillsboro, OR.
Hillsboro Fluoridation Put On Ballot With City Council Approval Waiving Initiative Process – What Do You Think?
https://hillsboroherald.com/hillsboro-fluoridation-put-on-ballot-with-city-council-approval-waiving-initiative-process-what-do-you-think/
Thanks HRS! Wow, I did not know what was going on next door in Hillsboro. Thank you for that link! Boy, they really gotta get the poison in ya. After watching James’ video on FOIA, I don’t feel so bad about what I have experienced. It seems par for the course.
A little context. I worked for the county I am FOIAing for 27 years. Many of my former coworkers are getting sick or dying. That is what inspired me to ask for those public records. Sure seems like if the miracle drug was, well … a miracle … they would be giving me the data for free. Look! We did it! We saved the world! You’re welcome!!!!!!!
But, methinks she dost protest too much.
September 2021, studiotwoseven writes:
“Up here in Portland, you know I work for Multnomah county.
My wife and me will be turning in our religious exemptions in the next few days, September 10 is the deadline. I have been sending our union email after email imploring them to come to their senses. We have both worked there for 25 years, but are a year shy of minimum retirement.
The union will not fight for natural immunity, no matter what proof I share. They have deaf ears on the topic of endless boosters. The only explanation is that the majority support vaccines.”
https://corbettreport.com/september-open-thread-2/#comment-117459
Home Remedy Supply you are without a doubt the head librarian of the Corbett Report. I had totally forgotten posting that comment. Bittersweet.
I also just remembered that I did have a very successful FOIA earlier this year. I asked my county to provide some ambulance statistics and they gave me everything I wanted … for free.
Here is my report about that:
https://csofand.substack.com/p/sustained-echo?r=1ldnqe
In the article, there is a link to the Pacific Justice Institute. On the “About us” webpage is a map…
Pacific Justice Institute has attorneys working out of offices strategically placed across the United States.
Portland might be on the map.
October 27, 2024
Jury: Workers Fired For Refusing COVID-19 Vaccine To Get More Than $1 Million Each
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/jury-workers-fired-refusing-covid-19-vaccine-get-more-1-million-each
EXCERPTS
…According to the law firm, the jury also agreed with the figures that the plaintiffs had provided for lost wages that they had suffered after losing their jobs. The jury then added $1 million each to those figures, the firm said, describing the verdict as a “legal earthquake.”
“The rail employees chose to lose their livelihood rather than deny their faith. That in itself shows the sincerity and depth of their convictions,“ Kevin Snider, the Pacific Justice Institute’s chief counsel, who served as lead trial attorney, said. ”After nearly three years of struggle, these essential workers feel they were heard and understood by the jury and are overjoyed and relieved by the verdict.”
The law firm stated: “During the trial, jurors heard compelling testimony from dedicated employees. One of the plaintiffs had worked for more than 30 years for BART, with a stretch of 10 years perfect attendance, before being unceremoniously dismissed. Another had been out on workers comp for months, with no scheduled return date, when she was fired….”
Thanks HRS! I had seen this story but did not catch the detail regarding the law firm. I did reach out to The Highwire and ICAN for help with our plight in Multnomah County, but they had other priorities. Maybe this law group would be the right fit. Thank you!
So Judicial Watch was the organization responsible for the “Clinton Emails” being published which was one of the largest controlled opposition moves that I’ve seen, whereas the John Podesta emails and “Pizza Gate” outraged many would be righteous people to see certain circumstantial evidences of pedophilia and Satanic occult rituals which could never bring a certain conviction in any court of law, but did only shine a light upon the Blue Team colluding in those abominable deeds, as well as other conspiracies, which persons were recruited into Camp Trump and QANON, while Google assisted in ridding the internet of the atrocities that indicted The Donald and many of the Red Team actors and cohorts.
This is quite revelatory, but not surprising at all. I wonder if James can get an interview with a spokesperson from BlackRock, Black Lives Matter, The Staffor Group or other controlled NGOs.
It’s good to ask questions, find answers, connect dots and form conclusions based upon facts and evidences.
Who was it that said “The best way to control the opposition is to lead it ourselves?”
Oh yeah, Vladimir Lenin 😉
Like “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”. I wonder if James is up to interviewing Swedish Greta 😜
Who has the time to battle “red tape” for 5 years? I still appreciate people’s effort, but their energy would likely be better invested elsewhere.
How would know? It would take a “Snowden” to tell us.
Does anyone know if there are examples of fabricated FOIA materials being released?
If it hasn’t happened, it’s only because they haven’t thought of it. How would we know, without a “Snowden”?
thanks james,
this has been something i been wanting to learn. and i have recently started looking into it. I have some school board information i want to get!
Foia is important indeed, without Foia and declassified documents, osint would be hell of a lot harder!
You likely don’t want to miss this. Mr Grande Johnson came out during the evening hours to record an officer who opted to cower behind a door. The Grande team also had a drone, but little did it do dislodge the tricky situation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6psMt5EmyBU
Grande Johnson pulls another epic trolling of the finest boys in blue. It would be very funny were it not for the obviously criminal conduct where a “burner” fully loaded unsecured battle rifle is found in a police vehicle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMy6ONWAZQ4
National security = protection of the rulers, their business partners. Their most obvious tool is media/ propaganda to keep their populace under control. Starlink, X, is a threat to the liars (govt.). If the truth were known, the state secrets exposed, it would be the beginning of the end of coercive govt., authoritarianism. It might take decades for a revolt, but meanwhile the rulers know their best weapon is keeping their servants, taxpayers, ignorant, therefore they will do anything to stop uncensored global communication.
Rulers enjoy it, NOT us. Want proof? They work at obstructing the FIOA.