• by Ray Schultz , October 5, 2023

The Washington Post is offering a peek into the public records that fuel its investigative journalism with a new column titled Revealing Records. The first installment appeared on Thursday. 

The anchor for the column is Nate Jones, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) director at the Post. 

FOIA is the law that requires federal agencies to release records to the public upon request unless there are valid reasons for exemption such as privacy or national security. 

But it can be a grueling process, often requiring litigation.

“Generally, The Post only sues when we believe we can make a strong case,” Jones writes in the inaugural column. “When we do prevail, the agencies often have to pay our attorneys’ fees. That is a cherry on top of any records the agencies are ordered to produce.” 

In 2020, Jones entered into a legal fight with the U.S. armed forces and the State Department, suing to obtain records on military personnel seeking foreign jobs.  

The Post obtained more than 4,000 pages of documents, including case files for about 450 retired soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines. 

The result was an investigative series that revealed retired U.S. veterans who secured lucrative jobs as civilian contractors for Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other Persian Gulf monarchies, the Post reports. 

Jones has obtained “local, state and federal records to help our reporters tell better stories,” says Sarah Childress, deputy editor for long-term investigations. “We are thrilled to offer this entertaining and educational window into the work we do every day to scrutinize power and empower people.”