On Feb. 6, Center for Public Integrity senior political reporter Dave Levinthal filed a FOIA request seeking any email exchanges between a White House and FEC official.
On May 8, the FEC informed Levinthal that it had located responsive documents — all originating from the White House’s Office of Management and Budget — but that it would not release them. Instead, the agency said it was referring the matter to OMB.
Several messages left by Levinthal with OMB about the FOIA request went unreturned until June 2, when OMB wrote in an unsigned email: “We have no record of receiving the Agency consultation from FEC.” OMB did not respond to follow-up questions.