When an Office of Financial Management public records officer complained in writing about requests from “West and Nixon,” she didn’t just vent about workload. She accused those requests of having “no legitimate concern,” suggested there should be ways to “tighten and restrict those particular types of requests,” and contrasted them with what she called “legitimate requests.” 

In this episode, Jamie Nixon breaks down why that email matters, what request OFM was actually processing at the time, and why the request at issue was plainly in the public interest: records about the 2020 deletion of roughly 1.5 terabytes of Microsoft Teams chat data during the first summer of COVID. The episode also draws on the Washington Coalition for Open Government’s 2024 report to argue that requesters are not the problem. The real problem is underinvestment, disorganization, and a government culture that treats accountability as the irritant instead of the point. 

Expect AI-read public records, sharp commentary, and one public official’s bad Outlook decision becoming very public indeed. 

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About WashCOG:
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Tip of the hat to the musicians who created the music used on the show: Alex Grohl, Ian Post, Jakub Pietras, lumine wave, Roberto Pravo, Solis, ...