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June 24, 2024—The Society of American Archivists (SAA) notes with concern the correspondence released by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic from Dr. David Morens and other officials at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) referencing the use of private email accounts for the specific purpose of avoiding disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). SAA leadership is particularly concerned by the implication from a subset of the released correspondence that dedicated records staff within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) may be providing guidance for avoiding FOIA requests.
The importance of the Federal Records Act (FRA) and FOIA in ensuring transparency in government cannot be overstated. Both appointed officials and non-appointed civil service officials should be aware of their responsibilities under these and related statutes, regardless of political affiliation. Use of unofficial, non-government email accounts rather than official government accounts, especially if done with the explicit intent to circumvent FOIA, violates the transparency and openness that the public requires from its government. Such behavior makes it difficult to hold public officials accountable, unnecessarily mixes government and personal records, and ultimately jeopardizes the accessibility of the archival record by the American people. The Department of Health and Human Services and all its constituent parts must enforce its policy forbidding employees from using personal email accounts to do official business and ensure that staff is adequately trained on identifying and maintaining records in any format, including email.
For more information, read the Joint Statement on Conducting Public Business in Non-government Email Accounts (2015).