According to the New York Times, U.S. intelligence agencies have briefed Congress about ongoing efforts by Russia to interfere in the 2020 Presidential election. Following the briefing, the President replaced the acting Director of National Intelligence with Richard Grenell, a person with no background in intelligence or the management of federal agencies. The Senate Intelligence Committee, the U.S. Intelligence Community, and Special Counsel Robert Mueller previously confirmed Russian interference in the 2016 election. However, the full extent of Russian interference in 2016 has not yet been revealed. EPIC is seeking the disclosure of the complete and unredacted Mueller Report in the FOIA lawsuit EPIC v. DOJ. EPIC's case could provide further information about the scope and techniques of Russian election interference. A ruling is expected soon.
In response to a public records request, EPIC received documents from the Mississippi Department of Corrections detailing their use of risk assessment tools. The results show that the Department uses risk assessments from pre-trial through parole. The document released to EPIC also show efforts to comply with the validation requirements of state law passed in 2019. The documents disclosed include also sample scoring sheets, scripts, four different trainings, and a manual on the risk assessment software. EPIC has obtained documents about pre-trial risk assessments from several states as well as a scoring system developed by the DHS to assign risk assessments to travelers, including US citizens.
Through a FOIA request, EPIC has obtained documents (pt. 1, 2, 3) about the TSA's "Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response" program. Created in 2004, the VIPR teams worked with law enforcement agencies to conduct warrantless searches at public events, including festivals, sporting events, and bus stations. The TSA released to EPIC planning guidance, an operations directive, operating procedures, and activity summary reports. However, the EPIC request revealed that the TSA failed to complete civil rights and civil liberties impact assessments required by law. The VIPR program ended in 2019. The VIPR program used "risk-based" profiling and "behavior detection" to search and detain individuals. Two GAO reports (2013, 2017)questioned the reliability of TSA's behavioral indicators, which included, for example, "assessing the way an individual swallows or the degree to which an individual's eyes are open."
