Friday, Motherboard published internal emails between Interior Department (DOI) staff, in which they discussed Fagre's dismissal. These documents were provided to us by the US Geological Survey (USGS) through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

The Trump administration was recently criticized for canceling a meeting between federal climate scientist Dan Fagre and Mark Zuckerberg at Glacier National Park. The Facebook CEO wished to discuss global warming's effect on glaciers with Fagre. Only, at the very last minute, the scientist was prevented from attending.

"This is really disappointing. Since I told Mark that the Superintendent was hosting can you share more details on why he can't attend? Also who will be able to talk to him about the research that has been causing the Glaciers to melt," Mains responded, seemingly unsettled by the abrupt change of plans.

"Unfortunately, [Glacier National Park Superintendent] Jeff Mow and Dan Fagre can no longer participate. Our deputy superintendent will be filling in for Jeff… We have other folks along on the ride who can very accurately and compellingly speak to some of the natural resource challenges the park faces," Lauren Alley, a management assistant at Glacier National Park, wrote to Facebook Communications Director Derick Mains on July 12, three days before the planned event.

The more than 300 pages of emails confirm that Trump administration appointees took issue with Fagre's involvement in the event. The emails also show that NPS staff were left scrambling to explain Fagre's exclusion to Facebook, which repeatedly requested a government scientist capable of speaking about the effects of climate change on melting glaciers at the park. The emails also show that, prior to Fagre's exclusion, NPS Acting Director Michael Reynolds suggested that the administration could try to "manage the talking point" of government scientists during the meeting.

Saturday, Motherboard received additional documents from the National Park Service (NPS) in response to an identical FOIA request we submitted in June.

I reached out to Mains and asked what the agency told him about Fagre, but did not receive a response.

Like Fagre, Mains also appeared confused about the unforeseen developments. Fagre confirmed to Motherboard in an email on Friday that he still doesn't know why he was uninvited.

It's been difficult to plot a timeline of events leading up to Fagre's dismissal. All of the agencies involved have largely refused to comment. In a statement to the Washington Post, DOI Press Secretary Heather Swift—an appointee under President Trump—claimed it was a matter of managing government resources.

Nothing in the emails provided to Motherboard by USGS and NPS suggests Fagre's participation in particular was a drain on government resources, and some of the emails show Facebook picking up significant costs associated with the trip. Fagre himself seemed open to the opportunity to highlight his climate research.

In fact, these new emails offer more insight into who squashed the meeting, how it was messaged, and the timeline of events.

The emails show that lower-level NPS, USGS, and DOI staff—many of whom have worked at these agencies under multiple Presidents—were gung-ho about Zuckerberg's visit and Fagre's involvement. These lower-level employees were left trying to explain Fagre's exclusion to each other and to Facebook after being seemingly ordered to exclude him by Trump administration appointees.