The Capitol Police Granted Permits For Jan. 6 Protests

Oakland CA

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BuzzFeed: The chief of the Capitol Police and its top intelligence officer personally approved permits for six demonstrations to be held on Jan. 6, 2021 They shed new light on what Capitol Police knew about threats to the Capitol leading up to the Jan. 6 insurrection and provide rare insight into the operations of the Capitol Police, which, as an arm of Congress, is not subject to Freedom of Information laws. The release of the documents also marks a significant victory for BuzzFeed News, which filed a lawsuit last February after the Capitol Police declined a request for the permits. Attorney Jeffrey Light cited the “common law right of access” to public records, which maintains that the public has a basic right to review the records of its government that are exempt from the Freedom of Information Act. The Capitol Police opted not to fight the case. “To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time that a lawsuit brought under the common law right of access has been successful as applied to a congressional agency,” Light said. “Forcing the government’s hand in this case is important because it shows that the right of access to congressional records is not just theoretical. We now have a concrete example of a type of document for which Congress recognized it can’t defend secrecy in court.” BuzzFeed News is in ongoing discussions over the release of other records from the Capitol Police and its Office of Inspector General and continues to press its case in federal court.