BuzzFeed News hires ‘FOIA terrorist’ Jason Leopold from Vice News

BuzzFeed’s legal team has helped reporters pry more than 70,000 pages of documents from government agencies with FOIA requests.

That number is about to increase in a big way. On Tuesday, BuzzFeed News announced the hiring of investigative journalist Jason Leopold, who has made a living — and eked out tons of scoops — by deluging the federal government with Freedom of Information Act requests.

Leopold, who currently works for VICE News, is a self-styled “FOIA terrorist,” and has the distinction of triggering a flood of stories after suing for Hillary Clinton’s State Department emails. Leopold has brought more FOIA lawsuits by himself than any other news organization except The New York Times.

In a memo to BuzzFeed’s staff, Investigative Editor Mark Schoofs said Leopold was attracted to BuzzFeed by its legal team, which has “set aside formidable resources to help Jason continue his strategy of aggressive FOIA litigation.”

As we enter a new and uncharted era in covering the federal government, Jason will build on that track record here with us. Indeed, Jason came to BuzzFeed News in large part because of our own Nabiha Syed, who has set aside formidable resources to help Jason continue his strategy of aggressive FOIA litigation. Watch out, Washington!

Leopold, who will be based in Los Angeles, will have free rein to cover a wide variety of topics for BuzzFeed News, but he will likely pay close attention to national security during his tenure. He will join an investigative team that now has 21 members around the globe, with journalists based in the U.S. and U.K.

In the wake of the presidential election, Leopold’s scrutiny of the federal government will be more important than ever, Schoofs said.

“We had begun talking to Jason before the election, so we didn’t know it would end up,” Schoofs told Poynter. “But obviously having someone like Jason, with his expertise in FOIA is a huge asset. And we are thrilled to have him now more than ever.”

Here’s Schoofs’ memo: