The Intercept Sues for Records About Arizona’s Financial Surveillance Dragnet

The Intercept filed a citizens records lawsuit on Monday for documents about a financial surveillance plan run by the Arizona attorney general s office for more than a decade For the past year the attorney general s office has denied multiple requests for records about its relationship with the Transaction Record Analysis Center or TRAC a nonprofit organization that runs a massive database containing details about millions of wire transfers sent through Western Union and other companies The database which is fueled by administrative subpoenas issued by the Arizona attorney general s office offers an intimate glimpse into the financial lives of millions of immigrants and U S citizens alike Over the years Immigration and Customs Enforcement has played an outsized role in TRAC not just as a top user of the wire transfer material but also as another input pipeline via subpoenas that alarmed civil liberties watchdogs The inhabitants has the right to know about mass governing body surveillance of its citizens mentioned Heather E Murray associate director of Cornell Law School s First Amendment Clinic which is representing The Intercept in the lawsuit in an emailed declaration Because TRAC is indisputably performing a core governmental function the records that The Intercept seeks must be published by the AGO and TRAC to fulfill their transparency obligations under the Arizona Society Records Law Ben Rundall a partner at Zwillinger Wulkan in Phoenix is also representing The Intercept in the development which was filed in Maricopa County Superior Court This absolutely defies the spirit and purpose of the Arizona citizens records law In response to The Intercept s records request last year TRAC claimed it is not subject to constituents records disclosure requirements because of its nonprofit structure But TRAC was established by the attorney general s office in and records show close coordination over the years between agency agents and TRAC staff who sometimes used official authorities email addresses For years one TRAC staff member even helped draft the administrative subpoenas which she sent to the attorney general s office for official signature before they were served on Western Union and the other money transfer businesses The attorney general s office previously distributed hundreds of documents about TRAC s structure and operations to the American Civil Liberties Union But under Attorney General Kris Mayes the office now asserts it has no obligation to release similar materials because they are in TRAC s possession Stated directly the AGO and TRAC are engaging in gamesmanship to avoid providing records about their general functions reads The Intercept s court filing When a request is made to the AGO it suggests TRAC has the record When a request is made to TRAC it suggests the AGO has the record This totally defies the spirit and purpose of the Arizona constituents records law Related The Strange Nonprofit That Helps ICE Spy on Wire Transfers The attorney general s office also previously disclosed to the ACLU more than copies of subpoenas the agency has sent under the state s racketeering law to more than two dozen companies since But in response to The Intercept s request the agency explained releasing any more subpoenas would violate the racketeering law itself We are correcting the previous administration s error and following the law wrote Richie Taylor communications director for Mayes s office in an email last year An ACLU attorney Nate Freed Wessler previously called the agency s argument about disclosing the subpoenas wrong and borderline frivolous The racketeering law has nothing to do with the AGO s responsibility to disclose records The Intercept argues in its filing Withholding these records does not comport with any exception to inhabitants access provided in Arizona law The post The Intercept Sues for Records About Arizona s Financial Surveillance Dragnet appeared first on The Intercept