Disclosure

Former US Attorney General Jeff Sessions received official emails at the address [email protected]. Eric Holder chose [email protected].

Why does the Justice Department’s top official use an alias email address? What could go wrong when the nation’s top law enforcement official uses one? What name did Bondi pick? Jason tells Matt why he sends a FOIA every time an attorney general steps down and about the time he saw Kareem Abdul-Jabaar in LAX.

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How a 50-year FOIA campaign changed the public understanding of the most notorious Cold War espionage case.

In 1953, the US executed Julius and Ethel Rosenberg on charges of conspiring to pass atomic bomb secrets to the Soviets. Their sons, then 6 and 10 years old, have spent a half-century requesting documents the US and prosecutor Roy Cohn used to build its case against their parents. Michael and Robert Meeropol join Jason and Matt to discuss documents from the government's files that contradict the US case against Ethel Rosenberg and have led them to seek a presidential exoneration.

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Is your alma mater inviting the government to monitor its football fans on game day? How much do Big Ten schools earn renting out their mascots? You can FOIA that – or visit FOIAball.com, where journalist David Covucci adds transparency to the big business of collegiate sports. Covucci tells Jason and Matt what he learned from FOIAing Osama Bin Laden’s porn collection and how he applies it to a multibillion-dollar industry run by public institutions. Matt and Jason let David in on their FOIA Soundtrack playlist. 

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When the Securities and Exchange Commission announced earlier this year that it had disciplined workers for golfing on the job, investigative reporter Jason Leopold shot off a FOIA request. Co-host Matt Topic, who is an accomplished golfer, and Jason, who isn’t, pore over records he received about the SEC’s internal investigation. They learn how a few words overheard on a golf course launched a Caddyshack-worthy investigation into allegations of government waste and abuse – or, in this instance, “known golf activity.”

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Investigative reporter Jason Leopold and attorney Matt Topic take viewers inside a yearslong effort to head off document destruction at the White House during President Trump’s first term. Drawing from government documents (and The Big Lebowski), they reveal how the US National Archives and Records Administration tried to alert the feds to potentially illegal record disposal. And they learn why FBI and Justice Department personnel clashed before searching Trump's Florida home, Mar-a-Lago. Voice acting by Mandy Hull.

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Disclosure, the podcast dedicated to revealing the government’s inner workings, is back for Season 2 in audio and video.

By law, nearly every move federal agencies make—every email, every memo, every receipt—belongs to the public. The key to gaining access is the Freedom of Information Act. In theory, FOIA obligates the government to open its files. But it also allows the government to hold back certain details, meaning that forcing transparency often requires a fight.

Join Bloomberg investigative reporter Jason Leopold and First Amendment attorney Matt Topic for a guided tour of explosive details, bureaucratic foibles and details that government officials never wanted you to know. Listen to new episodes of Disclosure, from Bloomberg & No Smiling, starting Oct. 15, wherever you get your podcasts.

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One Christmas, Matt dashed off a letter to the FBI’s FOIA office: Please search your old investigation files for the name Santa Claus, he requested, and send me the first few pages you find. What a simple holiday wish taught us about one agency’s spirit of giving.

The Disclosure podcast is available on Apple, Spotify, iHeart or wherever you get your podcasts. For early and ad-free access to episodes, subscribe at www.bloomberg.com/subscriptions/podcasts.

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Ask the US government for public records, and your request will go to a federal employee who holds the keys to what gets released and what doesn’t. Jason and Matt get a rare look inside a government Freedom of Information Act operation from Michael Sarich, who worked his way up from a FOIA post at the Bureau of Land Management to FOIA director at the Department of Veterans Affairs. In this episode, they discuss weird requests, big backlogs and the latest challenges to government transparency.

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The new Epstein Files Transparency Act requires the government to release a trove of documents from its Jeffrey Epstein investigations – minus whatever documents the Justice Department determines need to be withheld from the public. Jason and Matt dig into the FBI’s massive review of the Epstein files earlier this year, unearth an inventory of the government’s Epstein records and explore an alternate way the files could go public -- via a long-running, under-the-radar court battle.

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Exclusivity was the point of Wu-Tang Clan's Once Upon a Time in Shaolin. Only one copy was produced. A few minutes of it were played -- once -- in public. It sold at auction, with the condition it be heard only in private. And the album may have remained shrouded in mystery, were it not for a pharma bro, a Justice Department seizure... and the power of the Freedom of Information Act.

Thanks to Open Mike Eagle for reading this week's Justice Department documents.

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Earlier this year, newly minted young workers from the Department of Government Efficiency slashed USAID spending and hobbled the US Institute of Peace. Meanwhile, at the Peace Corps, staffers spent weeks preparing for their own mystery guest from Doge – ensuring that whoever arrived would have computers, a quiet conference room and weekend access, according to public records obtained under FOIA. Special thanks/apologies to Phil Collins, Loverboy, Slayer and Megadeth for this episode’s rich tapestry of musical touchpoints.

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In August 2022, on the day the FBI raided Mar-a-Lago to recover files from Donald Trump's first term, another allegation was swirling around – that presidential papers may have been flushed down a White House toilet. This raised a lot of questions. How many documents could a person flush down a toilet? Could they be recovered? Did the FBI ever investigate? Join hosts Jason Leopold and Matt Topic, and producers Heather Schroering and Sean Cannon, on a journey of sinkholes, fatbergs and the power of public record searches.

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How did Jeffrey Epstein make his money? How did he spend it? In exclusive reporting, Jason Leopold reveals that federal prosecutors followed Epstein’s money trail almost two decades ago – in an 18-month money laundering inquiry whose existence has remained hidden until now. In this episode, Leopold and co-host Matt Topic dive into Epstein’s old emails, which capture his fury at the probe and his efforts to discredit the investigation and investigators. And they show which “Epstein Files” documents may hold the keys to the Epstein money mystery.

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When Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report on the investigation into Russian election interference finally landed, many key passages were redacted from public view. So reporter Jason Leopold and First Amendment lawyer Matt Topic began a running battle with government lawyers to reveal the rest. Featuring government documents read by comedian Kyle Kinane.

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One morning in April 2023, investigative reporter Jason Leopold wakes to a wild bit of news. According to a video released by a duo of Russian pranksters, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has been tricked into taking a video call with a Volodymyr Zelenskiy impersonator. How could this happen? Jason files a public records request, and documents from the Fed reveal the backstory ... that unfolds like a movie for your ears.

Fed emails read by comedians Josh Gondelman, Katherine Blanford and Adam Gilbert. Musical appearance (in Jason's head) by Fugazi.

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