Want to know Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Marcia Fudge's government email address? Sorry, it's a secret.
In response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request from reasonHUD released List of email addresses All political appointees are eligible, with two exceptions. The agency redacted speeches by HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge and Deputy Secretary Adrianne Todman, citing exemptions from releasing records that would be a „clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.“
„The public's interest in reviewing those portions of government documents does not outweigh an individual's right to privacy,“ said Sandra Wright, HUD's FOIA Administrator. I have written.
Withholding is an unusual and alarming attempt to hide one of the most basic pieces of information about a public employee: contact information.
One look at the consistent format of all the other addresses on the HUD list and you could make a reasonable guess about Fudge's address, but you'd probably be wrong. Ministers and senior officials often use fake names or alias email accounts.
For example, when Joe Biden was vice president; Used at least three pseudonyms— “Robin Ware,” “Robert L. Peters,” and “JRB Ware” — A mix of family and government work emails.
This practice has become quite widespread since the Clinton administration.Lisa Jackson, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) during the Obama administration used the alias „Richard Windsor“ Her private email address used to communicate with lobbyists.former attorney general eric holder and loretta lynch Alias email addresses were also used.Trump-era EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt There were four government email addresses..
The government has defended the use of alternative email addresses for senior government appointees as necessary due to the influx of emails in public inboxes. But this practice concerns transparency advocates and watchdog groups because it raises questions about whether FOIA offices conduct thorough investigations and whether communications are properly archived.
reason was interested in what pseudonyms Biden officials were using, so it submitted a FOIA request to Cabinet-level agencies last September requesting the email addresses of all political appointees, including pseudonyms. submitted. To its credit, HUD is the only agency that has ever produced any documentation.
reason has filed a FOIA appeal to challenge the redactions. Officials may argue that they need a secret inbox to do their jobs, but convenience is not a factor in balancing the public's right to know with the privacy interests of public officials. do not have. Notably, HUD does not consider the release of her email addresses of dozens of other political appointees to be a privacy concern.
HUD's position is also undermined by the fact that other agencies have submitted similar records in response to FOIA requests.Department of Health and Human Services releases former Secretary Kathleen Sebelius' secret email address To the Associated Press In 2013.
HUD's Office of Public Affairs did not respond to a request for comment.