Kel McClanahan, the lawyer who represented MuckRock in our lawsuit against the CIA, outlines the three-year fight to get the agency to release its declassified database — and all the excuses the agency used for why it couldn’t be done.

Emails from North Dakota’s governor shows that police deployed to the #NoDAPL protests were expecting heavy resistance, with the call for assistance specifically requesting cops with chemical munitions, riot suppression, and active shooter training.

Back in December, we wrote about how the CIA, in response to our lawsuit and Emma Best’s diligence, would be placing its previously-inaccessible CREST database online. Today, we’re happy to announce that all 25 years worth of declassified documents are now available - no trip to the National Archives required.

Local law enforcement usually pick up the slack when a high-profile person comes to visit. But if that person is the President, living on one of the most famous streets in one of the busiest sections of America’s most crowded city - well, the tab ends up being best suited for a billionaire.

Since June 2015, MuckRock users have been filing FOIA requests regarding a possible Trump presidency. In fact, so far there’s been over 160 public Trump-related requests filed through the site, all of which you can browse through freely. Now, we want your help filing even more.

A report intended to clear the FBI of any wrongdoing in the Martin Luther King, Jr. murder investigation instead uncovered the extent to which Hoover’s Bureau had engaged in illicit, illegal activity in their personal vendetta against the civil rights leader.

Last September, we announced the MuckRock Thiel Fellowship, an opportunity for one journalist to dedicate their time, wit, and a whole lot of FOIA requests to studying the life’s work of Peter Thiel. Thanks to the generosity of Motherboard, The Outline, and a number of individual supporters, we were able to expand that to three inaugural Thiel Fellows, and I’m pleased to announce them today.

Read our weekly series looking at the stories public records made possible, you failing pile of garbage, you.

President-elect Donald Trump’s calls for a database and “extreme vetting” of Muslims has understandably alarmed civil rights and Muslim organizations - but left unsaid in much of the discussion of Trump’s proposed policies toward Muslims, however, is any recognition of just how much these policies will depend on programs already established by the Obama administration.

MuckRock users have requested use of force policies from over 100 police departments in the country, including Lynn PD. In the wake of the recent shooting of Michael McInnis, we wanted to give you a chance to read the policy yourself.

For years, an FBI FOIA request had to be 2,500 pages or more to be classified as large or complex. Now, without any announcement or update to the Bureau’s website, the number’s down to 51 pages.

Responding to North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple’s request for aid, nearly 40 police and sheriff’s departments flocked to Standing Rock to participate in crowd control around the #NoDAPL protests. Recently released emails show that many relished the opportunity to test out the equipment and tactics that would be most effective in quelling future unrest in their own states.

A new year and a new president may mean better business than usual for private prisons. As we tackle another segment of the Private Prison Project, join us in whatever way you can to fight for greater transparency in our criminal justice system.

He gave his name to what would become the biggest private detention company in the world. But he got his start over sixty years ago here at home in Hoover’s FBI. Meet George Wackenhut.

Everyone in the world of public records has at least one experience that’s straight out of Kafka - maybe the agency gave an estimated completion date of next century, or the “responsive documents” turned out to be a couple hundred blank pages. In that spirit of commiseration, MuckRock is proud to announce that we’re partnering again with EFF for the third-annual “Foilies” Awards.

A recently released copy of John Tower’s FBI file deals with long under-examined allegations that the Tower Commission, officially known as the President’s Special Review Board, was part of a whitewash for the Iran-Contra affair – which, it turns out, Senator Tower had personal connections to, along with a pivotal role in the 1980 “October Surprise.”

A mixed bag of FCC complaints regarding the 2016 World Series take aim at cultural appropriation, improper junk bumping, and the indignity of Joe Buck’s continued existence.

Our friends at the Electronic Frontier Foundation have put together a guide to three of the biggest changes Congress made to FOIA this year, and how you can get the most out of your requests.

Earlier this week, the Washington Post made headlines of its own for reporting that “intelligence sources” were saying Russia had hacked into the U.S. power grid, which is a thing that did not happen. In fact, this wasn’t even the first time it hadn’t happened - just five years ago, a Senate report tore into Homeland Security for making the same claims with even less evidence.

Read our weekly series looking at the stories public records made possible before that giant meteor NASA warned us about shows up.

In the wake of Boston’s move to clamp down on leaks, MuckRock is re-surveying area towns for their plans to tackle natural gas waste and pollution at home.

In November, we reported on the strange rejection received by J.M. Porup when he requested information on the poisons used by the Central Intelligence Agency for assassinations: They simply said that assassinations were illegal. Now, Porup is raising money to make the CIA give a real answer.

While many are expecting the unexpected from the new year, the new presidency, and the new sense of an old America, MuckRock has some suggested resolutions for those on either side of the wait.

In May of 2014 the Florida ACLU filed a FOIA request to Sarasota PD for their documents on Stingrays. However, just days before the ACLU was due to inspect the documents, the United States Marshals Service swooped into Sarasota and rushed off with almost all of SPD’s Stingray records. We say almost, because this strange collection of records that SPD recently gave us is evidently is everything the Marshals missed.

MuckRock began collecting state recount policies last month. Help us keep up the effort by letting us know what local elections matter to you.