FOIA News: Another request letter service

MyFOIA.ai is a newly launched online service focused on supporting public records requests.

The platform provides tools for drafting FOIA request letters, organizing submissions, and tracking responses from government agencies. It includes agency-specific templates, options for follow-ups and appeals, and a system for managing correspondence related to requests.

MyFOIA.ai offers a tiered pricing model ranging from a free plan to $149.99/month, with paid tiers offering “AI Managed Mode” that claims to handle FOIA requests end-to-end, including drafting, certified USPS mailing, follow-ups, and appeals with postage costs bundled into the subscription..

Claims about the platform’s capabilities, including automation of FOIA workflows and agency-specific intelligence, have not been independently verified by FOIA Advisor.

Additional details are available here.

FOIA News: Critics target Trump's records policies

Inside Trump's assault on public records

By Josephine Walker, Axios, May 5, 2026

The Trump administration's moves to limit public access to government records are prompting warnings from watchdogs and historians.

The big picture: As the Justice Department challenges the constitutionality of the Presidential Records Act and slow-walks some Freedom of Information Act requests, worries persist about weakened oversight and the government being enabled to spin a curated narrative of American history.

• The Presidential Records Act and FOIA exist to preserve presidential documents as public property and to ensure access to government records, respectively.

• "By erasing and deleting the information to which we are entitled, they are depriving the public of information ... to know whether their government has been serving them as they promised to," Chioma Chukwu, executive director of American Oversight, tells Axios.

Read more here.

FOIA News: David Morens, former NIAID advisor and Fauci confidant, indicted over alleged evasion of FOIA requests

David Morens, a former advisor at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has been indicted by a federal grand jury for crimes related to an alleged scheme to evade Freedom of Information Act requests seeking records about COVID-19 research grants.

Dr. Morens, who previously advised Dr. Anthony Fauci and others, is charged with conspiracy; destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in federal investigations; concealment, removal, or mutilation of records; and aiding and abetting.

The indictment can be read here.

And DOJ’s press release is available here.

In 2024, a U.S. House select committee drafted a memorandum detailing some of the same alleged wrongdoing by Dr. Morens.

FOIA News: More coverage on indictment of David Morens

• Statement of House Oversight Chairman James Comer, 4/28/26

• Post, Rand Paul (@SenRandPaul), X, 4/28/26

• Grand Jury Indicts Former N.I.H. Official, NY Times, 4/28/26

• Former Health Official Charged With Concealing Emails About Covid-19 Grants, Wall St. J., 4/28/26

• Former Fauci aide charged with conspiring to evade Covid-related records requests, Politico, 4/28/26

• Trump admin revives COVID origins debate with indictment, Axios, 4/28/26

• Anthony Fauci adviser indicted by DOJ on charges of concealing COVID records, NY Post

• Former Fauci aide charged in alleged effort to thwart inquiries into pandemic, Wash. Post

• Who Is David Morens? Ex-Fauci Adviser Indicted Over Secret COVID Records, Newsweek, 4/28/26

FOIA News: New "FOIA Hiring Toolkit"

New FOIA Hiring Toolkit from Chief FOIA Officers Council Committee on Cross-Agency Collaboration and Innovation Available on FOIA.gov

Dep’t of Justice, Office of Info. Pol’y, FOIA Post (Apr. 28, 2026)

A new hiring toolkit issued by the FOIA Hiring Toolkit Working Group of the Chief FOIA Officer (CFO) Council Committee on Cross-Agency Collaboration and Innovation (COCACI) has been published on FOIA.gov.  The hiring toolkit provides sample KSAs, interview questions, scoring methods, position descriptions, and more.  All documents are available for download on FOIA.gov.

Agency FOIA professionals, FOIA leadership, and GIS career professionals are encouraged to review the toolkit.  For additional information about the CFO Council’s work, visit the Council page on FOIA.gov.  For additional information on COCACI, please review  COCACI’s FOIA.gov page. 

Read the original post here.

FOIA News: FOIA litigation webinar

On June 30, 2026, the Federal Bar Association will host a one-hour webinar entitled “Navigating the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in Federal District Courts. The presentation will be led by Mark Zaid. See more details here.

FOIA News: The sky is falling!

By Shifra Dayak, NOTUS, Apr. 27, 2026

These days, the life cycle of a Freedom of Information Act request goes something like this: submit the request, wait and watch the 20-business-day deadline for an agency to respond pass. Wait some more, and more, and then some more.

Sometimes, a FOIA officer sends a clarifying question. Either nothing more comes of it, or the released records are rife with redactions. Attempts to appeal result in more delays, leaving one more option: to sue.

Legally public information from the government is becoming harder to access. The Department of Energy reported 2,277 backlogged FOIA requests — or requests that are still open past the legally required response time — at the end of fiscal year 2025; by comparison, the agency reported 1,629 backlogged requests at the end of fiscal year 2024.

The Department of Defense reported a 20% increase in pending requests and a 42% increase in backlogged requests between the end of fiscal years 2024 and 2025. The State Department’s backlog, meanwhile, grew from more than 21,000 requests at the end of fiscal year 2024 to more than 27,000 requests at the end of fiscal year 2025.

A dozen experts, ranging from former federal employees who worked in FOIA offices to lawyers that litigate FOIA cases, told NOTUS that the Trump administration is categorically worse at complying with the transparency law.

Read more here.

FOIA News: OPEXUS under further scrutiny

Last week we reported that federal contractor OPEXUS was facing a class action lawsuit in connection with a 2025 data breach by two former employees. We recently learned that the United States Senate is investigating the breach, specifically through a request for information from Senate HELP Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy seeking details on the company’s cybersecurity practices and safeguards. See more here.

FOIA News: HHS posts annual report for FY 2025

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services posted its FY 2025 annual report yesterday, more than seven weeks after March 1st deadline. Here are the highlights (and lowlights):

• Requests received: 55.006, up from 49,053 in FY 2024.

• Requests processed: 47,489, up from 46,923 in FY 2024.

• Backlogged requests increased from 11,149 to 18,360.

• 49.72 average days to process “simple perfected requests; 198.91 average days for “complex” requests; and 315.73 average days for expedited requests.

• Requests for fee waivers: 2441 granted and 312 denied.

• Requests for expedited processing: 125 granted and 1415 denied.

• Total processing costs: $56.2 million, down from $80.2 million in FY 2024.

  Fees collected from requesters: $656,731, down from $752,786 in FY 2024.

For more comparisons, see HHS’s FY 2024 report here.

FOIA News: NextGen 3.0 FOIA Tech Showcase

Register Now for the NexGen 3.0 FOIA Tech Showcase for Federal Agencies

DOJ/OIP, FOIA Post, April 21, 2026

The Office of Information Policy (OIP) is pleased to announce that the Technology Committee of the Chief FOIA Officers (CFO) Council, in conjunction with OIP and the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS), will host a four-day event for federal agencies called the NexGen 3.0 FOIA Tech Showcase on May 11-14, 2026.    

The Showcase is intended to identify FOIA technology solutions for federal agencies in response to existing FOIA case processing and backlog challenges, as well as raise awareness of existing technological capabilities utilizing artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies.  A variety of vendors will provide video demonstrations of their technology products for use in agency FOIA administration.  Agency Q&A with the vendor will follow each demonstration.

This event is open to federal agency employees with a .gov or .mil email address only.  Registration is required by May 7, 2026. You can register here.  Additional details about the Chief FOIA Officers Council and the meeting, including the agenda, will be available on the Chief FOIA Officers Council Technology Committee website on FOIA.gov.

Read original post here.