After requesting emails between Donald J. Trump Inc. and the the Worcester Police Department, the department said it would cost over $800, citing the sizable task of separating the police officers’ emails from those of other city employees. A revised request for all of the emails then brought the cost to nearly $9,000, with WPD arguing that “due to the sensitive nature of the emails, each will take 15 minutes to review and redact.”

From its role as a deterrent to lavish last meals that only exist in the public imagination, popular misconceptions remain about the way people are put to death in America.

Declassified CIA emails released to Michael Morisy show that the Agency believed that their online FOIA Reading Room had been taken down by a vicious cyberattack. Later emails admitted, however, that the attacks against the Agency’s website had been unsuccessful - and that the damage had been entirely self-inflicted.

A pair of declassified memos from January 4, 1975 reveal just how contentious things were in the lead-up to the Rockefeller Commission and the Church Committee, with recent exposés having rocked the American public’s faith in the government, already strained by the still-fresh memories of Watergate, and undermined CIA’s legitimacy.

Just last year San Jose rewrote their penal code to test every backlogged rape kit in their system. However, due to a number of legal circumstances where police departments aren’t required to have kits tested, over half of San Jose’s untested kits don’t count as part of the “official” backlog

As recent Securities and Exchange Commission filings from the Alaska Department of Revenue show, these investments can cover the gamut of companies, as one might expect from a diversified portfolio

Over the course of the last twenty years, retired Lieutenant Colonel Dave Grossman has risen to become the go-to expert for US law enforcement, traveling across the country giving seminars to police and sheriff’s deputies through his incredibly-named Killology Research Group. Records regarding one such training show Grossman’s interest in branching out, bringing “the Bulletproof Mind” to hospitals and high schools.

A video produced by Stanford as part of its government funded research into psychic phenomena alleged to show Uri Geller performing various psychic and extrasensory feats. While some in the Agency were “humbled” by the film, others were quick to declare it ordinary trickery from a con artist using techniques from stage magic and mentalist.

FBI officials fretted over critical press coverage of their interactive website and online game on violent extremism aimed at high school students and attempted to assuage concerns raised by civil liberties and Muslim organizations, according to documents released through a FOIA request.

The FBI file for the suspicious death of journalist Danny Casolaro is obviously incomplete, but does reveal several key things. First, the FBI’s sources contradicted what the DOJ would declare were the motives behind Casolaro’s “suicide.” Second, the file shows that the Bureau lied to members of Congress about not investigating Casolaro’s death. Third, documents show that the FBI agents who did investigate it questioned the conclusion of suicide, even though doing so was understood to be a threat to their careers.

A memo from the CIA’s declassified archive shows the Agency’s strong interest - and subsequent disillusionment - in investing in a device that purportedly warded off sharks with electric shocks.

Tony Webster, a distinguished public records researcher in his home state of Minnesota and prolific writer covering topics such as privacy, public policy, and public records, has been in a fierce court battle with Hennepin County over a request he sent to the sheriff’s office about their facial recognition program. We got him on the phone to give us a recap of the events surrounding the case and to discuss transparency policy and how he sees the case.

Shortly after a video started making the rounds of a Sheriff Peyton Grinnel from Florida’s Lake County swearing vengeance upon drug dealers while flanked by mask-clad deputies, Tony Webster filed a request for the unedited footage. That was released this week, and between a couple mic checks and the final cut, there’s a pretty amazing b-roll.

Actress Ethel Merman and FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover had a friendship spanning from 1938 until Hoover death in 1972. But personal insights aside, was there any benefits to being among the Bureau’s BFFs? According to the singer’s personal FBI file, to be rich in friends isn’t always enough to keep you in riches.

Searching the CIA’s declassified document database for documents on the Cold War missile defense program nicknamed “Star Wars” shows that the Agency kept a close watch on public perception, but was wary of Soviets thinking that the program was too powerful - which might lead to an uptick in hostilities.

After the arrest and conviction of a woman for laughing during Attorney General Jeff Sessions confirmation hearing, one might be curious to see the incident report filed by the police. Unfortunately, the arresting agency, the United States Capitol Police, is a “legislative branch entity,” and therefore not subject to FOIA.

Last year, Seattle-based activist Phil Mocek requested text messages sent by mayor Ed Murray to his staff. Unsurprisingly, the mayor’s press team responded fairly quickly - albeit in a fairly surprisingly way.

In the white heat of the Red Scare, journalists were often at the center of the unceasing national probe over patriotism. Over 700 pages of files on Edward R. Murrow detail the FBI’s intricate special inquiry into the legendary American newsman.

Under federal law, firearms that are 50 years old and over are classified as a “curio and relic,” and do not require an NCIS background check. However, these weapons are still used in crimes.

When J. Edgar Hoover forced William “Bill” Sullivan, the Bureau’s domestic intelligence chief, into retirement he set into motion a chain reaction which nearly forced him into retirement as well.

J. Edgar Hoover received a slew of accolades over his long career, but not all elicited the FBI Director’s enthusiastic response.

A formerly SECRET CIA memo found in the Kissinger archives shows the Agency’s lawyers arguing that they should consider dropping “the myth of presidential plausible deniability.”

An incident from the height of J. Edgar Hoover’s reign as FBI Director illustrate the lengths the Bureau would go to squash rumors surrounding Hoover’s sexuality - and the dire consequences for those found spreading those rumors.

Home to dozens of prisons, Arizona is a hotbed for private corrections, which operate local jails, state facilities, and immigrant detention centers. Public records can help gain entry to how things are going in the prison champion of the West.

General categories for what can be purchased with funds from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP, have been outlined by the federal government. We requested lists of specific exemptions, and it seems Alaska is definitely an outlier.