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Legal Advocacy Organization Appeals Pentagon's Denial of FOIA Request about Trump Military Parade
In a February 2018 request, Free Speech For People described the planned military parade as an “abuse of executive power” and a corrupt use of resources for electoral purposes.
WASHINGTON
Free Speech For People, a nonpartisan legal advocacy organization, today filed an administrative appeal against a decision from the Department of Defense, which denied the release of records relating to former President Trump's planned military parade.
In February 2018, Free Speech For People sent a Freedom of Information Act request to the Department of Defense seeking documents related to Trump's planned military parade through the streets of Washington, D.C. The planned parade, they argue, would have constituted an abuse of executive power, and a corrupt attempt to use the resources of the United States military to stage a rally for Trump's re-election campaign. Trump ultimately abandoned the parade amidst overwhelming public disapproval.
The Pentagon's response on September 16, 2021, stated that it had located 2,026 records relevant to the request. However, it refused to release any records, citing national security, "deliberative process," and privacy exemptions with no further explanation. The Freedom of Information Act requires agencies to "segregate and release nonexempt information," and the exemptions cited by the Pentagon are limited in scope. Thus, the Pentagon is legally required to separate and release what may be a substantial portion of those records.
"The Pentagon's response was grossly inadequate," says Free Speech For People Legal Director Ron Fein. "Even if there are legitimate national security or privacy interests at stake with some of the information in the records, the government must redact that information and release redacted versions."
"The planned military parade was an unparalleled attempt by Trump to abuse his powers as Commander in Chief for political gain. It foreshadowed the authoritarian tendencies on full display last summer when Trump used the military and federal officers to crack down on peaceful protests," added Free Speech For People President John Bonifaz. "The public has a right to know what happened when Trump asked the military to stage a political rally for him."
The administrative appeal was sent to Joo Chung, Director of Oversight and Compliance in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and was submitted by Ron Fein, Legal Director, and Ben Horton, Legal Fellow, at Free Speech For People.
The Department of Defense is expected to reply to the appeal within twenty days. If it does not respond to the request, Free Speech For People may pursue litigation consistent with the FOIA.
Read the FOIA appeal here
Free Speech For People is a national non-partisan non-profit organization founded on the day of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United v. FEC that works to defend our democracy and our Constitution.
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Texas Lawmakers Sound Alarm on 'Torture, Killing, and Inhumane Treatment' of Detainees in Fort Bliss ICE Facility
At least three inmates have died in the facility in just two months, including one who witnesses say was choked to death by guards.
Feb 11, 2026
A group of Texas legislators have delivered an urgent warning about the treatment of detainees in the country’s largest immigration detention camp, which sits on an Army base in El Paso.
“We have received numerous credible reports of torture, killing, and inhumane treatment of detained individuals at the Camp East Montana migrant detention facility, located within Fort Bliss,” said Rep. Ana-María Rodríguez Ramos (D-102), who joined 35 other Democrats in the Texas state House on Tuesday to demand an investigation into the facility.
Camp East Montana was constructed in August as part of the Trump administration's effort to ramp up Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) "mass deportation" of immigrants. The selection of Fort Bliss has historical precedent, having previously been used as a site for the internment of Japanese people during World War II.
Using a secretive contract undisclosed to the public, the Pentagon awarded roughly $1.2 billion to a private contractor in July to construct a sprawling tent city to hold around 5,000 people rounded up by ICE.
"Almost immediately upon its opening, detainees, their families, and legal watchdog organizations began bringing attention to conditions that were deemed unsuitable for detainees, even by internal standards set by Immigration and Customs Enforcement," the legislators wrote in a letter to state Rep. Cole Hefner (R-5), who chairs the House Committee on Homeland Security, Public Safety, and Veterans Affairs.
During the camp's first 50 days of operation, ICE inspections revealed that it had violated more than 60 federal detention standards. The report, compiled in September, was not released to the public, but was reported on by the Washington Post, which spoke with dozens of detainees.
"On ICE's webpage titled 'Detention Management,' it states that 'detention is non-punitive,'" the legislators wrote Tuesday. "Yet, according to reporting by the Washington Post based on sworn statements from dozens of detainees, the facility, for months, was being run like a prison in a country without standards for oversight, health, or safety for the inmates."
"There were complaints that the toilets and sinks didn't work for the first few weeks after the facility's opening last August. There were complaints logged that, for the first few weeks, the facility didn't adequately feed detainees. They also complained about another violation of ICE standards: the lack of access to telephones for detainees to communicate with family and legal representation," they continued.
Earlier this week, US Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas), who visited the facility unannounced on Friday, disclosed that at least two cases of tuberculosis and 18 cases of Covid-19 had been identified at the facility.
"While the private corporation continues to pocket our tax dollars, it's clear the conditions are only getting worse," she said.
The state lawmakers also cited a letter sent by the ACLU, Human Rights Watch, and several other civil rights groups in December addressing "cases of illegal, extrajudicial attempts to deport detainees to Mexico."
One inmate, a Cuban immigrant identified as "Benjamin," said he was threatened by guards who attempted to make him sign a letter agreeing to be deported to Mexico.
“The guards told him that if he did not, they would handcuff him, put a bag over his head, and send him to Mexico. Benjamin refused to sign the document, stating that he was scared to go to Mexico, because he had heard that migrants are often kidnapped, robbed, or killed there,” the ACLU letter said.
The letter also provided several examples of inmates being subject to physical and sexual assault at the hands of officers.
"People detained at Fort Bliss report that officers have crushed detainees’ testicles with their fingers, slammed detained people to the ground, stomped on detained people and punched their faces, and beaten detained people even after they are cuffed and restrained," it said.
The legislators also noted that three detainees have died in the facility in just two months.
On December 3, 48-year-old Guatemalan inmate Francisco Gaspar-Andrés was reported to have died of natural causes, namely liver and kidney failure, according to an ICE press release.
Since then, two other inmates have died. On January 14, 36-year-old Victor Manuel Diaz was found dead of an apparent suicide, though the cause of death remains under investigation.
Prior to that, the Department of Homeland Security reported that the death of another inmate, 55-year-old Geraldo Lunas Campos from Cuba, on January 3, was also a suicide.
However, witnesses have said they saw guards choking Lunas Campos and that he was heard saying, "I can’t breathe." His death has since been ruled a homicide after an autopsy revealed the cause of death to have been “asphyxia due to neck and torso compression.”
The letter notes that while Lunas Campos was "convicted of heinous crimes," including sexual contact with an 11-year-old, "he was not sentenced to death by a judge or jury—he was killed by someone responsible for his care, for unknown reasons or circumstances."
"It is our responsibility as Texas legislators to ensure that we can trust that jails, prisons, and detention facilities in Texas operate to our high standards and expectations," the lawmakers said. "We must learn more, investigate, and provide answers to the millions of Americans demanding the truth. We must also ensure this does not happen again in any federal detention facility."
The call for an investigation comes as DHS plans to rapidly convert at least around two dozen warehouses into massive new detention centers across the country. At least three of these locations are planned for Texas. One of them, planned for the town of Hutchins outside Dallas, is expected to hold around 9,500 inmates.
The legislators said: "Human rights abuses, ignoring due process requirements, repeated violation of federal regulations, clear disrespect for the United States Constitution, and murder are unconscionable on any inch of American soil—but these crimes against real people are happening in Texas, and require proud Texans to stand up in defense of our Constitution and use our power to end this widespread abuse."
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Bondi Stonewalls Congress on the ‘Enemies List’ She Directed DOJ to Compile
"Americans have never tolerated political demagogues who use the government to punish people on an enemies list," said one congresswoman.
Feb 11, 2026
Along with refusing to acknowledge the harm her Department of Justice has done to victims of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and yelling personal insults at Democratic members of Congress, US Attorney General Pam Bondi stonewalled at Wednesday's House Judiciary Committee hearing when Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon asked her direct questions about the Trump administration's attempts to label dissenters "domestic terrorists."
At the hearing focusing on oversight of the DOJ, Scanlon (D-Pa.) asked about National Security Presidential Memorandum 7 (NSPM-7), which President Donald Trump signed in September, weeks after claiming the "radical left" was "directly responsible" for the assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.
The memo directs federal agencies to develop a “national strategy to investigate and disrupt networks, entities, and organizations that foment political violence so that law enforcement can intervene in criminal conspiracies before they result in violent political acts," with an exclusive focus on anti-fascist or left-wing groups.
It classifies anti-capitalism; "extremism" on migration, race, and gender; and "hostility" toward "traditional American views on family" as some of the viewpoints that are held by groups that the Trump administration aims to disrupt, and the memo was expanded on by another memo in which Bondi directed the DOJ to compile a list of possible "domestic terrorism" groups that hold the views identified in NSPM-7.
The memos were signed months after Bondi said under oath that there would "never be an enemies list" compiled by the DOJ.
Scanlon noted in the hearing Wednesday that "Americans across the political spectrum were immediately alarmed by the memo's blurring of the line between unlawful conduct and constitutionally protected speech and activity, as well as its call to investigate, prosecute, and dismantle groups" with which the administration disagrees.
When the congresswoman asked Bondi to confirm whether the list she called for in her December memo has been compiled, the attorney general said she was "not going to answer yes or no" before saying that "an antifa member" was arrested earlier this month in Minneapolis for "cyberstalking."
🚨 Pam Bondi refuses to say if the list of "domestic terrorist organizations" she ordered the Justice Department to create has been completed.
"I'm not going to answer yes or no" pic.twitter.com/51oPYvaxQg
— Ken Klippenstein (NSPM-7 Compliant) (@kenklippenstein) February 11, 2026
The exchange was typical of the proceedings; members of the committee were continually frustrated during the hearing as Bondi refused to respond to straightforward questions about the Epstein files and other issues. Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) at one point implored the attorney general not to "go off on a wild goose chase, another tangent," when asked a question.
Scanlon later asked Bondi if she would commit to providing the committee with the list of entities that the DOJ believes should be "designated as domestic terrorist organizations."
"I'm not going to commit to anything to you because you won't let me answer questions," the attorney general replied.
CONGRESS: Will you commit to provide this committee with your list of entities that you recommend be designated as domestic terrorist organizations?
PAM BONDI: I'm not going to commit to anything pic.twitter.com/K9HySj72MU
— Ken Klippenstein (NSPM-7 Compliant) (@kenklippenstein) February 11, 2026
Scanlon responded, "We understand your current position is that you have a secret list of people or groups who you are accusing of domestic terrorism, but you won't share it with Congress."
The exchange came two weeks after independent journalist Ken Klippenstein reported that he had learned from senior administration officials that the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have already compiled over a dozen "secret and obscure" watchlists of pro-Palestinian and anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protesters and other people who have been labeled "domestic terrorists."
An ICE agent deployed in Maine also sparked alarm last month when he told a woman who was filming him that doing so would land her in a "nice little database" the department has, where she would be labeled a domestic terrorist. Filming ICE agents is protected under the First Amendment.
And CNN reported that DHS sent a memo to ICE agents deployed in Minneapolis directing them to fill out forms with personal data about protesters and people the department labeled "agitators."
Despite the mounting evidence that the administration is compiling data about dissenters, DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said late last month that "there is NO database of ‘domestic terrorists’ run by DHS."
While Bondi similarly refused to confirm that DOJ has compiled a list of what it claims are domestic terrorist groups, Scanlon issued a warning that "Americans have never tolerated political demagogues who use the government to punish people on an enemies list."
Doing so "brought down" former Sen. Joseph McCarthy during the Red Scare, she said, as well as former President Richard Nixon.
"And it will bring down this administration as well," said Scanlon.
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Data Reveals Trump Economy Added Hundreds of Thousands Fewer Jobs in 2025 Than Previously Reported
"Today’s numbers show that the economy spent 2025 treading water while costs surged and families fell further behind."
Feb 11, 2026
Revised federal data released Wednesday shows that the US economy under the stewardship of President Donald Trump added hundreds of thousands fewer jobs in 2025 than previously reported, further undercutting the president's claim to have ushered in the "greatest" economy in history.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics said Wednesday that US employers added just 181,000 jobs last year, an average of roughly 15,000 per month. That's roughly 69% fewer than the previous estimate of 584,000 jobs created in 2025.
Groundwork Collaborative, a progressive advocacy group, said the updated figures paint "a grim picture" of the job market under Trump, who has repeatedly promised—and taken credit for bringing about—an economic boom.
“Today’s numbers show that the economy spent 2025 treading water while costs surged and families fell further behind," said Alex Jacquez, chief of policy and advocacy at Groundwork. "Job growth was dramatically weaker than advertised and concentrated nearly entirely in healthcare, leaving the rest of the labor market to stall. Opportunities are drying up outside a handful of sectors, and more and more workers are settling for part-time hours or have stopped looking for work entirely. 2025 was a lost year for American workers."
Daniel Zhao, chief economist at the employment site Glassdoor, told the New York Times in response to the revised numbers that "we’ve been hearing from workers that the job market is not working for them for some time."
“The anecdotes are starting to align with the data," Zhao added.
A separate analysis released Wednesday by Democrats on the Joint Economic Committee (JEC) found that the US lost 108,000 manufacturing jobs during the first year of Trump's second term in the White House, despite the president's pledge to revive American industry through his tariff regime.
“While President Trump promised us a manufacturing boom, the reality of his first year has been a bust,” said Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH), the JEC's ranking member. “It is critical for both our national security and our economic future that we grow our manufacturing sector. The president has instead spent his first year burdening manufacturers with reckless tariffs, and this loss of jobs is the result."
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