All articles tagged with #public records
Have I Been Flocked? aggregates audit logs revealed through public records requests to show how often license-plate searches are run on Flock Safety’s cameras, illustrating the broad reach of the tech and fueling a debate about privacy and police surveillance; it’s part of a growing watchdog movement, as Flock faces ongoing scrutiny and updates to address concerns.
Hayden Panettiere’s death has brought renewed attention to her abusive ex-boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, as NBC News reviews interviews, court filings and business records that detail his extensive financial and legal troubles, including past domestic violence against Panettiere.
David Morens, a former senior NIAID adviser under Anthony Fauci, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to evade public-records laws and conceal documents related to Covid-19 research funding, including a bat coronavirus grant; prosecutors say he and others planned to use Morens' personal email to avoid FOIA requests, and he faces up to five years in prison at sentencing on November 12.
David Morens, a former top adviser to Anthony Fauci, pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States by diverting government emails to a private account to dodge public records requests and probe uncertainties about the coronavirus origins; Fauci was not charged, Morens faces up to five years in prison at a November sentencing, and the case centers on his ties to EcoHealth Alliance and its president Peter Daszak.
Have I Been Flocked? lets people enter a license plate to see if it appears in publicly released Flock audit logs. As of Aug. 17, it logged about 242 million searches for over 4.6 million plates, showing when the search occurred, the agency, and the stated reason, though data can be incomplete or redacted. A match means a lookup happened, not that you were investigated, and logs can be delayed or incomplete; operator names are often partial. The project relies on public records requests and aims to increase transparency about license-plate reader use amid privacy concerns highlighted by outlets like The Washington Post and 404 Media.
HaveIBeenFlocked.com now lets you enter a license plate to see if it has been included in Flock's searches, displaying only audit-log entries from public-records requests; it does not show whether a car was seen by a Flock camera. Syracuse recently replaced Flock cameras with Axon cameras amid Flock's missed reader targets and its data-sharing with ICE. The nonprofit site is funded by the Alternative Newsweekly Foundation and also shows ICE partnerships and graphs of surveillance durations.
NBC News uses internet posts and public records to sketch years of life for Amanda Karolkiewicz and her six children in Michigan before their deaths, offering a fuller background as investigators seek motive.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom publicly released four years of tax returns, showing about $1.4–$1.6 million in annual income for him and his wife from 2022–2024, with a peak of $3.5 million in 2021 after selling a Marin County mansion. The filings—first since 2022—detail income from Newsom’s government salary, capital gains, a blind trust holding wine and hospitality ventures, and his wife’s film production and nonprofit work, with an effective federal tax rate around 30–35%. The disclosure comes as Newsom weighs a potential 2028 presidential bid and amid a Department of Justice inquiry into the Newsom family’s taxes; officials say the move followed a CalMatters inquiry and a later decision to release the records, which also show about $190,000 annually spent on household staff.
Newly released text messages show Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson telling Gov. Bob Ferguson that a briefing and likely press conference would follow the Bite of Seattle shooting, with Ferguson replying he could attend by 9 p.m.; there is no confirmation of the briefing in the texts, fueling questions about why the public briefing started more than four hours after the 6 p.m. shooting. The governor’s office says it was not directing public communications, SPD indicated delays for dignitaries, a suspect remains at large, and the story is developing.
ABC News reports that Nolan Wells, described as a Black man 6'1" and 180 lbs, went missing after spending July 4 drinking with friends on Horn Island; when his boat had trouble, Wells remained on the island with an unknown woman, and was found dead days later nearby. Authorities said the death appeared to be drowning, but the cause remains undetermined as the first autopsy and toxicology results haven’t been released; the article notes new audio and documents released through a public-records request.
Trump claimed China had access to hundreds of millions of voter registration records; the article clarifies that much of this data is already publicly available through state voter rolls and commercial vendors (often for a fee), with varying privacy rules, and explains what is actually accessible versus restricted.
The Department of Justice has scrubbed its website of press releases related to Jan. 6 defendants, prompting questions about transparency and public access to information as officials reorganize or curate the department's communications.
A former federal prosecutor, Carmen Lineberger of the Southern District of Florida, was indicted on two counts of theft of government property and charges of concealing, removing, and altering public records for downloading Volume II of Jack Smith’s Trump investigation report and emailing it to her personal account using file names like Bundt_Cake_Recipe.pdf (and Chocolate_cake_recipe.pdf); she pleaded not guilty at arraignment. The Volume II material had been blocked from public release by Judge Aileen Cannon, reflecting ongoing disputes over Smith’s report and the Trump investigation.
US District Judge Kenneth Karas released a document described as Jeffrey Epstein's suicide note, but he did not rule on its authenticity and said it is a public judicial record. The note appeared in the criminal case of Epstein’s cellmate, Nicholas Tartaglione, who is serving multiple life sentences. Epstein died in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. The release followed New York Times reporting and scrutiny over Epstein-related files, which federal investigators had not previously seen.
The Justice Department charged former Fauci adviser David Morens with conspiracy against the United States and destruction/ concealment of records for allegedly moving and hiding emails to thwart public-record inquiries into the coronavirus origins; Fauci is not charged; Morens had previously apologized for hiding communications, and the case centers on links to EcoHealth Alliance and its work with Wuhan Institute of Virology.