From MuckRock: Jason Leopold has used the Freedom of Information Act to break a number of major stories, from the drugging of Department of Defense detainees to the Biblical justifications the Air Force used for nuclear war to a drawn-out battle with the FBI over Occupy Wall Street documents.
So Jason was a natural for kicking off the return of our Requester's Voice, and he very graciously shared how he got involved in using FOIA in the first place, and what his secret is in shaking documents loose from bureaucracies that seem built to avoid disclosure at all costs (Follow Jason on Twitter and his articles here).
MuckRock: You call yourself a "FOIA terrorist." What does that mean, and why is FOIA such a central part of what you do?
Jason Leopold: Actually, "FOIA terrorist" is the term that was used to describe me by a certain government agency that was apparently annoyed by the number of FOIA requests and appeals I had filed. I found out about it during a phone call with a FOIA analyst (who has since become an important open government source for me) who said he saw an email from his boss that said, "the FOIA terrorist strikes again. We just got two dozen new requests from him." I actually liked the term because it made me feel that I was doing my job and doing it well if it meant I was angering government officials.
See the rest of the interview here.
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