My FOIA request, DOGE, and the heat will be turned up as I can even if it is slowly.

 

So as per the last post I sent the FOIA request for information on the Department of Government Efficiency. Below I have included their response and then I sent a response which is also included below. It is Friday afternoon at this time so I may not hear back today, yet when I do I will post.

If I do not hear back by sometime next week, I will look into my next steps.

National.FOIAPortal (OIP)	Mar 27, 2025, 1:58 PM (22 hours ago)
to me

Hello,

 

Thank you for your inquiry.  This is not the proper place to submit a FOIA request.  Due to currently pending litigation, we do not have information on the proper place to submit FOIA requests to the Department of Government Efficiency at the moment.

 

Sincerely,

The National FOIA Portal Team

 

	12:36 PM (2 minutes ago)
to National.FOIAPortal

Greetings,

 

I understand this is not the actual office to request the FOIA request for DOGE. I am looking for the office for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). In your email it is stated you do not have the proper place to submit FOIA requests for DOGE due to pending litigation. I have included in this email information I researched about pending litigation so there may or may not be a reason for pending litigation to affect the ability to make FOIA requests through the proper office. See below

 

So what is the litigation that is preventing being able to establish what is the correct office for FOIA requests for DOGE? If this is actually affecting the request I can research the litigation and once resolved make a new request. Otherwise why is there no office for DOGE for FOIA requests if the litigation is not particular to a request since there is no office for FOIA requests? This is a bit confusing if litigation exists but no office created to have handled a request that caused the litigation. And since I am not a party to any litigation at this time, I do not see why I cannot make my own request. It may or may not fall under the current issues at hand in any current litigation.

 

Please clarify.

 

And here is a quick summary of the information I have found so far.

 

No, pending litigation generally does not automatically affect a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, but it can be a factor in some cases, particularly regarding exemptions or the timing of disclosure. 

Here's a more detailed explanation:

• No Diminished or Enhanced Rights:

A requester's rights under the FOIA are neither diminished nor enhanced by their status as a party to litigation or by their litigation-generated need for the requested records. 

• Exemptions May Apply:

The fact that information is related to pending litigation can be a factor in determining whether an exemption to disclosure applies, such as Exemption 7(C) which protects information that would compromise ongoing investigations or litigation. 

• "Federal Comity" and Deferral:

If the requested records are the subject of pending FOIA litigation in another judicial district, a court may defer to the jurisdiction of the other court, avoiding unnecessary burdening of the federal judiciary and potentially conflicting FOIA decisions. 

• Timing of Disclosure:

Agencies may choose to withhold information related to pending litigation until the litigation is resolved, or they may choose to release it, depending on the circumstances and applicable exemptions. 

• No Obligation for Preferential Handling:

While agencies have no obligation to do so, they have, on rare occasions, accorded preferential handling to FOIA requests involving information needed in connection with pending litigation. 

• Not a Blanket Exemption:

The mere existence of pending litigation does not automatically mean that all information related to the litigation is exempt from disclosure under FOIA. 

Regards

New podcast is now live

Signal gate and trying to get to the bottom of DOGE

Just sent this Freedom of Information request

 

to National.FOIAPortal

Good afternoon,

 

I was searching the website for the Government Agency publicly referred to as DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency. I used the search feature and nothing appeared.

 

I formally request to know if DOGE, Elon Musk or anyone communicating through government channels to DOGE or Elon Musk is using the Signal Application for communications, messages, etc. If so, please provide the content of these messages or if not if they are being deleted. If deleted can it be determined if they are retrievable?

 

And if they are not retrievable what is the rational from DOGE as to why they are ignoring the Presidential Records act.

 

Regards.

 

I will let you know if I hear back.

 

I am tired of the BS and it is time to act.

 

I also think I will file another one to see if there are other communications among the top levels of national security. I think I would have to use the FOIA office for the Dept of Defense, National Security administration, CIA, and more so that may be a bit of a chore. One step at a time.

Where is Marco Rubio?

 

Normally a strange question to ask on a random Saturday afternoon, yet, where? I am sure if I internet searched some task or location would show up describing his current whereabouts. Yet where is Marco Rubio?

Based on some random news shows apparently Donald Trump has begun the process of throwing Sec. of State Rubio under the bus. And that bus is somewhat well hugely.

President Trump has a history of throwing people under a bus to save his skin. So where is Rubio?

I know Mike Lindell or good ole Rudy probably are not feeling too empathic towards Mr. Rubio right now, but maybe they should. The tire tracks across their lives are substantial and now they maybe can witness someone else from Trump’s orbit feel the weight of that hugely bus they have felt.

Rubio should have known better. Or at least I thought he had some intelligence, yet current events suggest something different.

He had that look in his eyes of someone that realizes too late he is about to be runover in the recent Trump’s address to Congress speech. He definitely didn’t look well once Trump pointed him out saying it is all you good ole Marco, all you. And we all knew that meant Rubio had no cover in Trump’s orbit or world. Rubio your eyes gave you away on national TV. No oopsie for you. You should have resigned right there. Some would have called you a coward, yet three years from now you would have been able to pick up your life again. Now you will go the way of some many other Trump bus victims.

Now Trump is calling his cover out on Rubio. Trump never takes the blame no matter how obvious it is Trump and unfortunately people have let him get away with that all his life. Now we the people, suffer from his personality flaws and one person in particular. It may not be today or tomorrow, yet the writing is on the wall. Rubio is a marked man. Wonderful Rubio all one hundred senate votes and all. That should have been his first clue, nothing that Trump does receives that much approval. Everyone thought he could be the sane one in the room and this time around sanity is not in demand at the White House, only loyalty. And in Trump’s world they all knew you weren’t part of the inner circle so you are about to ingest bus exhaust.

They knew they needed stooge cover. Too bad for you. You fell for it hook line and sinker.

We can surmise what you will be accused of for the court of public opinion, but the reality is you have no case. You didn’t from the start.

Personally I don’t feel good calling this out, but honestly you jumped on the Trump band wagon to hopefully grow your career or whatever DC people call their lives so this is on you. I try to feel empathy, but it ain’t coming. No one and we all know no one survives a Trump dump.

Good luck with the rest of your life. Call Mike or Rudy or the other lawyers from the first go round and yall can share weak American beer while crying that tear. Or thank goodness we still have Jack Daniels we can afford for those lonely nights in the back alley of bus way.

What did I just think again?

 

Have you ever noticed when you are thinking about either wonderful things or going into depths of some despair what causes the difference in your thought patterns? Does it matter your current state of being?

You think of something wonderful, maybe what if your life had taken a different turn and now everything is roses. Or you cannot find your way out of the paper bag metaphorically of your brain. Are there subconscious attributes driving these thoughts? Or are you just daydreaming about nothing.

Is there a good versus evil component to all this? Are those good thoughts really a smoke screen to hide you from something different. Are little demons running around in your brain showing you a version of yourself you think is your best when in reality it is distracting you from actually becoming your best. You see success, better home life, maybe a bigger house, better vacations, everyone thinks highly of you, yet you keep wanting more. Are there days of just growing and glowing dreams that makes you say what if?

We always think that bad thoughts are the evil thoughts. When you do not think highly of yourself, what does that mean? Does this mean these are the thoughts the demons are throwing at you to prevent you from overcoming obstacles and being a better you?

Is it madness to try and even figure this out? If you don’t believe in God then it may be madness to you. Yet how do you explain all the pressures in your brain pulling you one way or another. Does the first paragraph make more sense to you, that it is all just a state of being. And that if you change your attitude or mindset the thoughts in your head will change. Yet do they? Or do they change temporarily because you forced it. And is this forcing it you having control? Or is this a temporary shift that the real underlying feeling you have will come back and take control.

How do we know? Maybe it does go back to whether we believe in God or not. And if we believe in God then you do have the demons playing tricks on you problem. Yet which thoughts are the demons interference? Are they the good ones or the bad ones or both. Problem with demons is that their sole job is deception. People keep giving them more power than they have, yet deception is one powerful power. We see monsters and hell fire, you will burn forever in some pit, but we do not know. There are a few mentions of pits and grinding of teeth in the bible, but hard core demons sticking you with pitchforks are what?

The scariest movie I ever saw was the Devil’s Advocate because to me it best represents the true monster that is the evil one than red guys in a goatee sticking you in the backend with a pitchfork. Those images might actually be part of the deception. If you think you are looking for a monster then when something that appears attractive comes to you then you are not afraid.

Again deception is the only power those demons possess.

Or going back to that state of being, there is no God and we are all running around putting smiles on our faces to make sure no one sees us as scared little children without a purpose. Or there are those that project a purpose and become successful in some endeavor and think they did it all. If you are a Christian, you would instead say God did it all and I just did the action or something similar.

Yet each day your internal reveries run amuck. Sometimes you run to do lists incessantly through your head trying to accomplish something. Other days you write down your to do lists and nothing gets down because your brain synopsis light up like a spring thunderstorm with lightning bolts flying everywhere. The thunderous roar in your head keeps you from getting one thing accomplished. You drive through your brain dodging one lightning bolt after another until it is time to lay your head down and attempt sleep. Of course then you worry over everything you didn’t complete on your to do list. Sleep comes hard but your internal thought waves crash upon you tossing and turning you like rolling around in an unpleasant surf. You would hope the sound of the waves would gently rock you to sleep, but no since you are waist deep in turbulent waters of thought sleep evades you. And why do you get so distracted? Is it circumstances or something else?

So where do you stand? Are you trying to be the best me you can? Or are you sidetracked by demons real or imagined that haunt your thoughts? Do you even have a choice in life? Or is free will your only choice? And what does that mean?

Or am I conflicted because I find myself reading C.S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letters doing Lent?

Just another example of why the Democrats are failing us

 

Trump just fell into his old Trump trap | Opinion

 

Over and over again, people are beginning to realize how failed a party is the Democrats. And don’t think the Republicans have ever been on the majority of this country’s side no matter what spews forth from Trump’s mouth.

 

Are you starting to realize why I have been saying we need new parties for decades?

Why is Bernie Sanders leading the charge against the one percent? And this is why the Democrats fail us.

 

Not much more to say than the title. How is it Bernie who is older than dirt is the strongest response to what is going on in Washington with Trump? The Democratic leadership just sits around crying while this man is running around the country revamping a new version of Bernie bros.

The Democrat Senators should be asking for the moon to pass the CR. Instead they trot out Schumer who to quote Trump is low energy. And I mean low energy. The Democrats don’t get it and haven’t in years. Obama was either hand tied or didn’t get it hard to tell with him, but other than that it has been since the early 1960’s since any Democrat has truly inspired the nation.

If Bernie Sanders is the best we can put up to fight against the greed running rampant in this country we are in a shit more trouble than just having Trump for President.

And people forget Project 2025 is in full swing. Start writing your Representative and Senator now and show up if there are any rallies. We cannot sit by while this do nothing Republican House kisses the back end ring until we have nothing left.

Three very serious and wild truths

 

1) Trump supporters will give Trump as much leeway as Trump needs for way too long no matter how much it hurts them. They cannot admit that Trump is wrong because they are so far down the rabbit hole with him. Things are really going to have to break for his supporters to break with him. Demagogues survive this way and we, even the supporters, suffer immensely until it is too late.

2) If the Democrats had any real brains or backbone, they would force Johnson to vote for campaign reform first since the CR is a stand alone bill. The Democrats should have a bill written that wipes away Citizen United and puts real teeth into how much people can contribute to campaigns at the federal level. Let’s get the money out of politics now and add serious limitations to lobbying. I have written proposals previously if you want more details. Also maybe through in tougher penalties for grifting off your office.

3) And since the Democrats won’t do anything about campaign reform and of course nor the Republicans this is just one reason we need new parties to challenge their duopoly.

Somebody is up to something good

 

I was reading one of the news composite sites where they pull news from various sources. One of the articles was about a State Senator from Utah changing his party affiliation from Republican to Utah Forward party.

I haven’t jumped on the internet to research the Utah Forward Party, yet as you can imagine the change to a third party caught my eye.

I read through the comments on the article and there were quite a few positive comments about switching. Some even addressed maybe it is better to piece meal a new national party at the state level. Or another words third parties develop in individual states and then coalesce over time into a viable new major party.

I am all for something like this happening. I scream we need new parties, yet understand that it won’t suddenly appear overnight. Glad to read about his change. Personally not all on board with his exact reasons, yet hey, a win is a win.

So if you are in Utah and are looking for something center right which from the little bit I read appears to be their direction, then check them out. For everyone else, lets keep our eyes, ears and mind open.

One of the comments even stated tired of the us versus them attitude currently in politics so hats off to that commenter also.

Cheers all

Trump’s yo yoing tariffs and the Republican tax bill

 

Pretty straightforward. How can we trust any numbers the Republicans introduce about tariffs to offset their income tax cuts for the rich if we have no idea how much (even) potential revenue will be collected from tariffs?

It is madness to even think the American public can trust what the Republicans are doing if their leader changes his mind as consistently as Trump does. First of all most of us don’t trust what they say from the beginning, yet it just becomes more and more obvious they have one goal in mind and that is the tax cuts for the rich. Somehow or another they will talk their way into it no matter how much they destroy this country. Maybe one day the rich will realize if this country falls apart at the seams and no one has any money those tax breaks are worthless. Let’s hope it is today, tomorrow at the latest.

The performative show the other night was a waste of time since it was all bluster and show and tell. Nothing substantive mentioned except we will screw you to get what we want. Of course they didn’t say that, but they did.

Musk needs to be fired. Vance needs to go back to Ohio and stay there. Johnson needs to find God and listen to what God says. And if anyone thinks a crypto reserve is no more than another sham or like Musk says a ponzi scheme then they deserve to lose their money, yet the rest of us still remember 2008-09 and do not need nor want another financial disaster. And that will happen if Trump starts investing America’s tax dollar into that scheme. Or cuts taxes with no real budget in place, or keeps cutting the government with no real plan in place, the list goes on.

Trump is driving this train high on narcissism and Casey cannot find the damn brakes, much less any reliable track. My apologies to the Grateful Dead.

And ironically Trump is making the President of Mexico very popular in her country. Heck she may make Mexico great (again?).

Too bad the man who needs our help the most and deserves it since he is fighting for liberty and against oppression is treated like the third step child once removed from an abusive parent. Again Vance needs to go back to Ohio and sit on the porch and chew straw. Nothing he says shows any competence. And too bad Trump wants to gut the Department of Education, we certainly need better public education right now.

The list of madness goes on. And tomorrow will bring us more because in two weeks the government shutdown madness reaches another crescendo.

Americans just don’t want the truth

 

And this is any American, they fight hearing it daily. And this goes back decades. I think in the 1960’s there might have been a desire for truth. Then the seventies happened and people either got too high and effed up or they became Republicans. So the need for the truth wasn’t put on the back burner, it was put out with the trash.

Think about this for a moment. When the Republicans introduced trickle down economics, they should have been tarred and feathered. Even the name was the biggest hint. It was the rich saying we come first and you come what fifth, you will get what trickles down. At that point working and middle class America should have brought that government down in a heartbeat. Called for elections the next day if they really cared about themselves, much less the truth.

Trickle down is the biggest joke played on the American body ever. And yet here we are still talking about it today in one shape form or another.

Please don’t tell me it works. Please don’t tell me the Democrats are against it. Please don’t tell me squat until you are ready to make real change.

The first sign the Democrats aren’t against it is the fact, we still need major campaign reform, we still need lobbyists out of Washington, we still need to support the middle and working class, we still need better public education and I could go on.

And the Republicans still support it in its current Donald Trump tax breaks for the rich and then whatever else falls from the table you might get concept.

Neither party cares about a better America. They only care about staying in power, which means lying to their base and taking millions in campaign contributions. Did anyone try to legislate Citizens United away? DID THEY EVEN TRY??????!!!!  NO!!!!!!!!  Or were any significant campaign reform ideas legislated, much less passed? Nope

We would rather complain than work even if the work is better for us. Hate me, I don’t care, but I am telling the truth. You don’t want the truth, heck like the movie says, you cannot handle the truth because that takes real work. It is easier to be lied to than make change, even if it is the change we desperately need.

You might say, you just ate a great dinner, had a nice fine table wine (even the better half enjoyed it and she doesn’t like white wine), are digesting and should be at peace, and I should. Yet, I watch what happened with Zelensky and watch people act like he is in the wrong. Sure some people stood up and said that was a bunch of crap, but where in Congress is anyone pushing bills to change the narrative. Too much work. Too much reality.

We let the power brokers lie to us, fail us, ignore us, and sit here with our fine table wine and whine. Yes I am just as guilty since I am not beating my Representative’s door down. I should be, we all should be.

Go back and check the history if you believe we shouldn’t help Ukraine. Just in case you don’t know, we signed an agreement as the United States to protect them if they gave up their nuclear weapons in 1994. And now we watch Trump tell the world our word means shit. Again some outrage, but for the body politic as a whole, we fail Ukraine, we fail ourselves and we don’t give a damn about ourselves because if we did we need to hold our government accountable.

The tax breaks are crap. So the next time you are outraged either as pro Trump or against Trump or whatever remember the concept is trickle down. So when you don’t get yours, don’t complain because the rich are getting theirs first as always.

Nothing wrong with the rich until WE, THE PEOPLE, let them run roughshod over us. And they have been for decades.

I guess we get to enjoy our spring of discontent wine or no wine.