HUD Refuses To Release Secretary Marcia Fudge's Email Address in Response to Reason FOIA Request

Cabinet officials often use pseudonymous email accounts, but declaring them secret from records requests is another matter altogether.

Want to know Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Marcia Fudge's government email address? Too bad, it's a secret.

In response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request from Reason, HUD released a list of email addresses for all political appointees—with two exceptions. The agency redacted HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge and Deputy Secretary Adrianne Todman's addresses, citing an exemption from releasing any records that would "constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy."

"The interest of the general public in reviewing those portions of government documents does not outweigh the individuals' right to privacy," Sandra Wright, the chief of HUD's FOIA office, wrote.

The withholdings are an unusual and concerning attempt to conceal one of the most basic pieces of information about a public servant: their contact info.

Glancing at the consistent format of every other address on the HUD list, one could make a reasonable assumption about Fudge's address, but one would likely be wrong. You see, cabinet members and high-ranking officials often use pseudonymous or alias email accounts.

For example, while he was vice president, Joe Biden used at least three pseudonyms—"Robin Ware," "Robert L. Peters," and "JRB Ware"—on emails that mixed family and government business.

The practice has been fairly widespread since the Clinton administration. Obama-era Environmental Protection Agency Administrator (EPA) Lisa Jackson used the alias "Richard Windsor" and her private email address in communications with lobbyists. Former Attorneys General Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch also used alias email addresses. Trump-Era EPA administrator Scott Pruitt had four government email addresses.

Administrations have defended using alternate email addresses as necessary for high-level political appointees because of the flood of emails to their public inboxes. However, the practice worries transparency advocates and watchdog groups because it creates doubts over whether FOIA offices are performing complete searches, and whether communications are being properly archived.

Reason was curious about what pseudonyms high-ranking Biden officials are using, so we filed FOIA requests in September of last year to cabinet-level agencies requesting the email addresses for all political appointees, including pseudonyms. To its credit, HUD is the only agency so far that has produced any documents.

Reason is filing a FOIA appeal to challenge the redactions. While officials may argue they need a secret inbox to get work done, convenience is not a factor in the balancing test between the public's right to know and the privacy interests of government employees. Notably, HUD does not consider the release of dozens of other political appointees' email addresses a privacy concern.

HUD's position is also undermined by the fact that other agencies have turned over similar records in response to FOIA requests. The Health and Human Services Department released former Secretary Kathleen Sebelius' secret email address to the Associated Press in 2013.

HUD's public affairs office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.