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The Trump administration has never hidden its contempt for transparency, and recent news demonstrates just how far it is willing to go to avoid accountability — including by attempting to evade public records laws and trying to hide details about an alarming data-sharing agreement.
American Oversight was in court on Friday in our lawsuit over the Trump administration’s use of Signal and related violations of the Federal Records Act. We’ve asked for an emergency order to prevent the further destruction of Signal messages, given several revelations about the administration’s continued reliance on the auto-deleting messaging app.
Most recently, a Reuters photograph circulated of former National Security Adviser Mike Waltz using Signal in conjunction with an app called TeleMessage, which can be used to archive Signal messages but has major security vulnerabilities that sparked immediate alarm.
- Signal uses end-to-end encryption to ensure that messages exchanged on the platform can only be accessed by the sender and intended recipients. TeleMessage claims to uphold this end-to-end encryption, but experts have called this into question.
- Days after the photo circulated, TeleMessage suspended its services, citing multiple breaches of its system. Hackers were able to access data from Customs and Border Protection and various financial institutions, 404 Media reported.
- We immediately moved to urge the National Archives and Records Administration, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and the General Services Administration to investigate the use of TeleMessage in conjunction with Signal.
- Earlier this week, CISA added TeleMessage TM SGNL to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, noting that the platform’s archiving system “holds cleartext copies of messages … which is different functionality than described” in its marketing.
- In the photo, Waltz appears to be communicating with other top officials, including Vice President Vance, Director of National Intelligence Gabbard, and Secretary of State Rubio, raising the stakes of the kind of communications that could be at risk.
It’s unclear whether Waltz, who was ousted from the White House the day after the photo was taken, was using TeleMessage to address the records preservation concerns at the heart of our lawsuit. But if so, using a vulnerable communication platform is not the solution.
- Federal records laws require that official communications sent over nongovernmental platforms are transferred to official channels. But it’s extremely difficult to ensure officials are complying with regard to all records, and as we’ve seen in our ongoing lawsuit, we have reason to be skeptical of the administration’s efforts to preserve their records.
- The real solution that would have prevented these failures — the destruction of official records, the mistaken addition of a journalist to a chat about highly sensitive military operations — would be for our leaders to demonstrate a commitment to the rules and policies designed to keep the country safe and hold our leaders accountable, including record preservation laws.
The administration's disdain for accountability also underpins the Trump administration’s weaponization of government to further its attacks on perceived enemies and to advance its mass-deportation goals — all while trying to keep key details hidden from the public.
- This week, following our intervention in court, a controversial agreement between the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and immigration authorities was finally made available to the public in its near entirety. The agreement allows the IRS to share sensitive taxpayer information with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — read more about what we uncovered below.
- Meanwhile, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) continues to stonewall our requests for public records that could shed light on the full scope of the administration’s efforts to dismantle the agency and destroy its official documents.
- We recently expanded our lawsuit challenging USAID’s troubling pattern of obstruction. In addition to seeking the agency’s communications with the White House and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), we are demanding information about canceled aid projects and the alarming directive to remotely wipe the devices of departing staff and contractors.
- Our lawsuit, initially filed in March, came after reports that USAID officials were directed to shred and burn classified and personnel documents — destruction that risks permanently erasing official records, and, with them, evidence of the Trump administration’s actions.
Investigating the Trump Administration’s Use of Vulnerable TeleMessage App
After an image circulated of now-former National Security Adviser Mike Waltz using the Telemessage app in conjunction with Signal during a cabinet meeting, we urged the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the General Services Administration (GSA), and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), to investigate the Trump administration’s use of the vulnerable app.
- The picture was captured by a Reuters photographer one day before Waltz’s departure from the White House. As it spread across news sites and social media apps last week, multiple hackers reportedly breached the TeleMessage system, leading the tool to suspend its services.
- In the letter we sent this week, we urged CISA and the GSA to immediately investigate the security risks posed by the use of TeleMessage, which is purportedly used to transmit and store data from Signal, and asked NARA to assign staff to examine whether officials have used the platform in compliance with federal record-keeping laws.
- We also called on acting Archivist Marco Rubio to recuse himself from the investigation because of his own use of Signal — and his status as a defendant in our related litigation.
On the Records
IRS-ICE Agreement Could Compromise Sensitive Taxpayer Data of Millions
This week, the public finally saw the entirety of an agreement that allows the IRS to share personal information with immigration authorities, thanks to American Oversight’s intervention in an ongoing lawsuit.
- The agreement has sparked major concerns from privacy experts and civil rights advocates, and was reportedly a major reason for the acting IRS commissioner’s resignation in April.
The unsealing of key documents, including the agreement itself, revealed not only what taxpayer data ICE is seeking from the IRS, but also the highly suspect justifications the government used to keep that information hidden.
- The government sought to keep secret fundamental details in the agreement between the two agencies by marking them as “law enforcement sensitive,” a designation typically used to shield information protect information such as the personal identity of an informant or investigation details that could jeopardize tactical plans or cause harm if made public — not to withhold details about how the IRS is violating the government’s promises of confidentiality by sharing addresses with law enforcement.
Our successful efforts to lift the redactions revealed that ICE is indeed seeking the addresses of people it is investigating. That information is shared by taxpayers — including undocumented immigrants, who pay income tax — with the IRS, which is trusted and bound by law to keep it confidential and safe.
- The agreement fails to include any meaningful independent oversight of when and how the information is to be shared, raising questions about how the public can ensure the government is following its own rules.
- “These documents confirm what we feared: Not only is the Trump administration using databases containing sensitive personal information in ways that were never intended, but it’s doing so deliberately to advance its partisan agenda,” our Executive Director Chioma Chukwu said.
- Read more here about what information the government fought to keep hidden in the agreement.
Other Stories We’re Following
Trump Accountability
- Trump sons’ deals on three continents directly benefit the president (New York Times)
- Why the Qataris are happy to dump their 747 on Trump (Forbes)
- The Trump administration leaned on African countries. The goal: Get business for Elon Musk. (ProPublica)
- US AG Pam Bondi sold more than $1 million in Trump Media stock the day Trump announced sweeping tariffs (ProPublica)
- Price tag for Trump’s military parade could reach $45 million (Washington Post)
- Stephen Miller re-emerges as an ‘untouchable’ force in Trump’s White House (NBC News)
- Multiple Trump White House officials have ties to antisemitic extremists (NPR)
Federal Agencies
- As White House steers Justice Dept., Bondi embraces role of TV messenger (New York Times)
- Federal workers spoke to reporters after DOGE fired them. Now they face investigation. (CBS News)
- Trump asked EPA employees to snitch on colleagues working on DEI initiatives. They declined. (ProPublica)
- DOJ voting section has just three lawyers left, watchdog estimates (Democracy Docket)
- RFK Jr., DOGE gutted legally required offices. Courts may undo it all. (Politico)
- RFK Jr. tells Congress ‘people shouldn’t take medical advice from me’ (Guardian)
- Elon Musk’s Boring Company is in talks with government over Amtrak project (New York Times)
- Top Justice Dept. official is now also acting Librarian of Congress (New York Times)
- Gabbard fires leaders of intelligence group that wrote Venezuela assessment (Washington Post)
State and National News
- Supreme Court justices appear divided in birthright citizenship arguments (NPR)
- Outside official will take over deadly Rikers Island jail, judge orders (New York Times)
- Newsom again urges cities to ban homeless camps (Los Angeles Times)
- Wisconsin judge Hannah Dugan is indicted on accusations she helped a man evade immigration agents (Associated Press)
LGBTQ+ Rights
- Republicans seek more state laws on transgender people, putting Democrats on the spot (NPR)
- Pentagon halting gender-affirming healthcare for transgender troops, memo says (Reuters)
- Montana judge finds trans care ban unconstitutional (Montana Free Press)
- 'Like a punch in the gut': Trump threats halt Tucson provider's teen gender-affirming care (Arizona Republic)
- Texas House sends bill that could increase cost of gender transition health care to governor's desk (KUT News)
- Texas House votes to strictly define man and woman, excluding trans people from state records (Texas Tribune)
Abortion and Reproductive Rights
- Fringe movement sparks divide with push to charge women who get abortions (Washington Post)
- Texas lawmakers propose abortion pill bill that can’t be challenged in state courts (Texas Tribune)
- Louisiana investigates second case against New York doctor over mailing abortion pills (Louisiana Illuminator)
- RFK Jr. orders mifepristone review as anti-abortion groups push for ban (Guardian)
- Court strikes down Michigan’s 24-hour waiting period for abortions (Michigan Advance)
- Judge rules some remaining abortion restrictions in Michigan are unconstitutional (Detroit Free Press)
- South Carolina Supreme Court decides heartbeat definition allows six-week abortion ban (Associated Press)
Threats to Education
- Some Republicans push to put school desegregation officially in the past (New York Times)
- American schools were deeply unprepared for ChatGPT, public records show (404 Media)
Government Transparency and Public Records Laws
Immigration
- ICE duped a federal judge into allowing raid on Columbia student dorms (Intercept)
- 20 states sue Trump over immigration demands and threats to cut funding (New York Times)
- US Customs and Border Protection quietly revokes protections for pregnant women and infants (Wired)
- An agency tasked with protecting immigrant children is becoming an enforcement arm, current and former staffers say (ProPublica)
- Trump aims to use more FBI, drug and gun agents to pursue immigrants (New York Times)
- Pentagon spent at least $21 million on flights to Guantanamo, which currently holds 32 migrants (NBC News)
- Newsom proposes scaling back health care for undocumented immigrants in California (New York Times)
- Federal judge OKs use of Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelans (NPR)
- DHS requests 20,000 National Guard members to help with immigration crackdown (New York Times)
- DHS is considering reality show where immigrants compete for citizenship (Wall Street Journal)
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