Month: March 2023

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Thank you, Bobby, for that introduction. And more importantly, thank you for your leadership of the Office of Information Policy (OIP) and the guidance that you provide to the Justice Department and agencies across the federal government to increase compliance with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and to strengthen government transparency. 

So, good morning! Thank you all for joining us for the Department of Justice. It’s our kick-off for Sunshine Week. And this annual event is now in its 13th year. And it’s all the more special today because this is our first time coming together in person since the pandemic to celebrate the importance of the FOIA and the critical role that federal employees, particularly agency FOIA professionals, play in ensuring a transparent, accountable and effective government. 

As many of you know, Sunshine Week coincides with the birthday of President James Madison, who is widely regarded as the founder of open government. As President Madison wrote in 1882: “A popular government without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy … A people who mean to be their own governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.” 

The passage of the Freedom of Information Act in 1966 marked a historic milestone in our nation’s path toward realizing the informed citizenry that Madison envisioned. The FOIA, for the first time, established a legal right of access to government records and a presumption of disclosure, requiring records to be released to any member of the public, unless one of the FOIA’s nine exemptions applies. At its core, the FOIA fosters public trust – trust of those who are charged with faithfully executing the laws are in fact doing their jobs with integrity and in the public’s interest. 

For over 55 years, the FOIA has been used by journalists, civil society, scholars and everyday citizens to gain access to information about how their government works. I know firsthand how critical FOIA releases can be to shining a light on government policies and programs. I filed FOIA requests during my career outside of government and have been the beneficiary of disclosures made possible, and indeed mandatory, by the FOIA. 

In the past fiscal year alone, the government saw a record high of 920,000 new FOIA requests. During that time, agencies processed over 870,000 requests, released millions of pages of records to the public and posted over 215 million records on their websites.

As the Associate Attorney General, I am privileged to serve as the department’s own chief FOIA Officer – a position I know that many of you occupy in your own agencies. In this role, I have seen up close the substantial agency resources that we dedicate to administering the FOIA. In this past fiscal year, we processed 82,868 requests and proactively posted over 39,000 records. At the same time, I am mindful that here at DOJ and across the government, there is a continuing need to do more to meet the ever increasing number of requests. I am grateful to both FOIA professionals within the Justice Department and those of you across the government for your work and your tireless commitment to the FOIA and those evolving needs. 

Here at the Justice Department, we are not only an agency subject to the FOIA ourselves. We also have a distinct role in encouraging government-wide compliance with the FOIA. Last March, the Attorney General issued new FOIA Guidelines that update and strengthen our commitment to transparency in government operations and the fair and effective administration of the FOIA. The 2022 guidelines direct the heads of all Executive Branch departments and agencies to apply a presumption of openness in administering the FOIA: “In case of doubt,” the guidelines instruct, “openness should prevail.” The guidelines make clear that the Justice Department will not defend nondisclosure decisions that fail to apply such a presumption. And the guidelines also emphasize the importance of proactive disclosures and removing barriers to accessing government information. 

Since their issuance, OIP has been working with agencies to implement the guidelines. These efforts will be detailed in agencies’ 2023 Chief FOIA Officer Reports that are being posted online this week.

I am also excited to announce that today, OIP is issuing new guidance to agencies on applying the Attorney General’s Guidelines to administer the FOIA with a presumption of openness, including through the application of the foreseeable harm standard that is now codified in the FOIA. Among other things, this new OIP guidance highlights the need for agencies to process records with an eye toward disclosure by applying the FOIA’s foreseeable harm analysis on a case-by-case basis and also underscores the importance of working cooperatively with FOIA requesters.

This new guidance is one of many resources provided by OIP to help agencies fulfill their FOIA responsibilities. Other critical resources include the DOJ Guide to the FOIA and our FOIA Counselor Service. 

In the past year, OIP has also made available to all agencies new standard FOIA e-Learning modules that tailor training to specific government audiences, including senior executives, FOIA professionals and all federal employees. On Sept. 8 of last year, I sent a memo to all Chief FOIA Officers and agency general counsels emphasizing the importance of FOIA training and highlighting these new resources. I urge all my colleagues across government to utilize these resources – and to reach out to OIP if there are other training needs that we can assist you with. We are here to help!  

The department is also excited to lead three FOIA commitments aimed at further strengthening government transparency as part of the United States’ Fifth Open Government Partnership National Action Plan, which Bobby will speak about in more detail. Just last week, OIP fulfilled the first of those commitments by releasing an updated FOIA self-assessment toolkit that allows agencies to objectively assess their FOIA programs with key guidance for improvement. And the department has committed to further enhancing the user experience on FOIA.gov by developing a new tool to help requesters more easily find information and by establishing shared FOIA business standards across the government. More to come on each of these commitments in the coming months. 

As FOIA veterans among us know, the Justice Department has long held the view that the “FOIA is everyone’s responsibility.” But the promise of the FOIA is made real by all of you, the dedicated FOIA professionals who day in and day out interact with FOIA requesters, who each year conduct detailed reviews of millions of pages of government records and who scrupulously balance the FOIA’s presumption of disclosure while safeguarding important interests such as personal privacy and national security. Thank you. Today, we recognize your work on behalf of the American people to keep our government open and transparent and ensure that this democracy of ours always works on behalf of the public that we serve.

So, I want to thank you again for joining us today for our celebration of Sunshine Week and for your dedication to public service. Your work is the sunlight required for an open and accountable government – it strengthens our democracy. Thank you all again, and have a very bright Sunshine Week.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

An Oklahoma man pleaded guilty, on Friday, March 10, to evading over $1 million in income taxes.

According to court documents, from 2014 to 2019, Phillip Barry Albert of Tulsa was President of Pelco Structural LLC and directed its outside payroll service company to pay him over $2.6 million. Albert instructed that the payments be classified as reimbursements rather than income, so that federal income taxes would not be withheld, and the payments would not be reported on his Forms W-2 as wages.

Albert filed individual income tax returns for 2014 through 2019 that did not report the payments, totaling $2,615,750, thus causing a tax loss to the IRS of $1,000,232.

Albert faces a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison. He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties. A federal district court judge will determine the sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Clinton J. Johnson for the Northern District of Oklahoma made the announcement.

IRS-Criminal Investigation and the FBI are investigating the case.

Trial Attorney Meredith Havekost of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Richard Cella and Thomas Duncombe of the Northern District of Oklahoma are prosecuting the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Two Michigan nonprofit organizations, the Michigan Education Association (MEA) and the Michigan Education Special Services Association (MESSA), have agreed to settle allegations that the organizations violated the False Claims Act (FCA) by applying for and obtaining loans under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) for which they knew or should have known they were ineligible.

Congress created the PPP in March 2020, as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, to provide emergency financial support to the millions of Americans suffering economic hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The CARES Act authorized billions of dollars in forgivable loans to certain small businesses and other entities struggling to pay employees and other business expenses. Under the rules applicable at the time of the loans covered by today’s settlement, certain nonprofit organizations were not eligible to receive a PPP loan.

In 2020, MEA, a 501(c)(5) nonprofit labor union organization, and MESSA, a 501(c)(9) voluntary employees’ beneficiary association, each applied for and obtained a PPP loan. The United States contended that these organizations knew or should have known they were ineligible to receive their PPP loans, and that they caused the Small Business Administration (SBA) to pay lender fees to the bank that processed the loans. In connection with the settlements announced today, MEA will pay $115,265 and MESSA will pay $110,622 to the United States resolve these allegations. MEA and MESSA repaid their loan proceeds in full in December 2020.

“The PPP was intended to provide critical economic relief to eligible small businesses and other entities,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “This settlement reflects the department’s commitment to ensuring the integrity of the PPP loan process.”

“Those who violate the False Claims Act by fraudulently receiving SBA pandemic program funds meant for eligible small businesses will be held accountable,” said Special Agent in Charge Sharon Johnson of SBA OIG’s Central Region. “Today’s settlements send a strong message that those responsible will be held accountable. I want to thank the Department of Justice and our law enforcement partners for their dedication and pursuit of justice.”

The settlement resolved a lawsuit filed under the qui tam or whistleblower provision of the FCA, which permits private parties to file suit on behalf of the United States for false claims and share in a portion of the government’s recovery. The qui tam lawsuit was filed by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy and is captioned U.S. ex rel. Mackinac Center for Public Policy v. Michigan Education Association, et al., Dkt. No. 1:22-cv-00028-HYJ-PJG (W.D. Mich.). Under the False Claims Act, private citizens can sue on behalf of the government and share in any recovery. The Mackinac Center for Public Policy’s share of the settlement has not been determined.  

The resolution obtained in this matter was the result of a coordinated effort between the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Michigan, with assistance from the SBA’s Office of General Counsel and the SBA Office of the Inspector General.

This matter was handled by Trial Attorney Evan J. Ballan of the Civil Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew J. Hull of the Western District of Michigan.

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The task force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

Tips and complaints from all sources about potential fraud affecting COVID-19 government relief programs can be reported by visiting the webpage of the Civil Division’s Fraud Section, which can be found here. Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can also report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

The claims resolved by the settlements are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

The Justice Department and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced today that they filed a statement of interest to explain the application of the Fair Housing Act (FHA) and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) to lenders relying on discriminatory home appraisals. The statement of interest was filed in Connolly, et al. v. Lanham, et al., a lawsuit currently pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland alleging that an appraiser and a lender violated the FHA and ECOA by lowering the valuation of a home because the owners were Black and by denying a mortgage refinancing application based on that appraisal. 

“Discriminatory home appraisals are unlawful, perpetuate the racial wealth gap, and deny communities of color the benefits of homeownership,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “When appraisers or lenders treat homebuyers or homeowners differently because of race, they violate federal law. The Justice Department is working to ensure an open and fair housing market by taking on appraisal bias, modern-day redlining, discriminatory loan pricing practices, and other forms of discrimination that may rear their ugly head at any stage of the home-buying process.”

“The requirement that applicants and homeowners be treated equally is not new,” said U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron for the District of Maryland. “Appraisal bias is a serious and ongoing issue in this country, and it is critical that the United States ensures the proper construction and application of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act to hold appraisers and lenders accountable.”

“Lenders that discriminate against people seeking homeownership perpetuate inequities that prevent communities from thriving,” said CFPB Deputy Director Zixta Martinez. “CFPB’s Statement of Interest filing with the Justice Department is one piece of our broader efforts to ensure fair and accurate appraisals in our residential mortgage markets.”

The Connolly lawsuit was filed by plaintiffs Nathan Connolly and Shani Mott, who sought a refinance loan for their home in Baltimore. The plaintiffs allege that the appraiser, Shane Lanham, significantly undervalued their home at $472,000 because they are Black. They also allege that they told the lender, loanDepot.com LLC (loanDepot), that the appraisal was discriminatory, but that loanDepot still denied the loan and retaliated against them. When their home was later evaluated by a different appraiser, the plaintiffs replaced their family photos with photos borrowed from white friends and colleagues and enlisted a white colleague to pose as the homeowner. This appraisal resulted in a valuation of $750,000 – an increase of almost 60%.

The defendants have moved to dismiss the case, and the plaintiffs have opposed the defendants’ motions. Through the statement of interest, the department and the CFPB address three legal principles incorrectly represented in loanDepot’s motion to dismiss. First, the statement sets out the appropriate pleading standard for disparate treatment claims under the FHA and ECOA. Second, the statement clarifies that it is illegal for a lender to rely on an appraisal that it knows or should know to be discriminatory. Third, the statement explains that a violation of Section 3617 of the FHA does not require an underlying violation of another provision of the FHA. The motions to dismiss are currently pending before the court.

The FHA prohibits discrimination in housing on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, familial status (having one or more children under 18), national origin and disability. ECOA prohibits creditors from discriminating against credit applicants on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age, because an applicant receives income from a public assistance program or because an applicant has in good faith exercised any right under the Consumer Credit Protection Act.

More information about the Civil Rights Division and the laws it enforces is available at justice.gov/crt. More information about the Interagency Task Force on Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity (PAVE) is available at pave.hud.gov.

Individuals may report housing discrimination to the Justice Department by calling 1-833-591-0291, emailing fairhousing@usdoj.gov, or submitting a report online. Individuals also may report housing discrimination to Department of Housing and Urban Development by calling 1-800-669-9777 or filing a complaint online. In addition, individuals may report credit discrimination to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau at 1-855-411-2372 or online.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON – A West Virginia mam was sentenced today on a felony charge for his actions during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.

            John Thomas Gordon, 47, of Davis, West Virginia, was sentenced to six months in prison for interfering with law enforcement officers during a civil disorder. Gordon pleaded guilty on October 28, 2022. In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Rudolph Contreras ordered 24 months of supervised release, with the first six months on home confinement, and restitution in the amount of $2,000.

            According to court documents, on Jan. 6, 2021, Gordon was illegally on the Capitol grounds and took part in violence occurring shortly after 4 p.m. outside the North Door of the Capitol. Police officers were on the other side of the glass window in the door, attempting to secure the building. Shortly after officers sprayed chemical irritants to disperse the mob, Gordon yelled obscenities at officers behind the inner doors and began repeatedly throwing a heavy projectile at the inner doors. The crowd of rioters cheered as Gordon repeatedly threw the heavy projectile – at least four times. Gordon also kicked the door in attempts to destroy it to gain entry.

            Gordon was arrested on July 8, 2022, in Martinsburg, West Virginia.

            This case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of West Virginia.

            The case was investigated by the FBI’s Pittsburgh Field Office and its Martinsburg, West Virginia Resident Agency, and the FBI’s Washington Field Office, which identified Gordon as #218 on its seeking information photos. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department.

            In the 26 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 999 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 320 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation remains ongoing. 

            Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.