Collings Quoted in “Judicial Watch FOIA Suits Spotlights EPA Resistance to Trump”
On June 7, 2017 by Schnader in EnvironmentalEnergy & Environmental Practice Group Co-chair Robert L. Collings was quoted in the article, “Judicial Watch FOIA Suits Spotlights EPA Resistance to Trump,” published by Pacer Monitor on June 1, 2017.
The article discusses a suit filed by Judicial Watch to compel the EPA to respond to its FOIA request for communications sent and received by EPA staff using cell phone encryption. Judicial Watch contends that EPA employees created new email addresses and signed up for encrypted messaging apps to push back against the new administration. Mr. Collings explained that the core issue would be whether the communications concerned government or personal business.
“Any texts sent that are part of your official duties as a federal employee need to be saved. However, there’s no federal law that says you need to log personal communications of federal employees even those expressing dislike of the commander in chief,” said Mr. Collings.