FBI LIES About Blacklist—Documents Prove Otherwise…

The FBI has been caught red-handed maintaining a secret blacklist targeting Americans who dare to hold the government accountable through Freedom of Information Act requests, exposing yet another layer of deep-state deception that undermines constitutional transparency.

FBI’s Secret System Exposed Through FOIA Irony

The FBI maintains an internal classification system branding certain Americans and organizations as “vexsome” for exercising their legal right to government transparency. Transparency researcher John Greenewald of The Black Vault uncovered internal records showing this designation in action, while the Cato Institute discovered it had been labeled troublesome for its persistent FOIA requests. When journalist Patrick Eddington filed a FOIA request asking for the definition and usage of “vexsome,” the FBI responded that no responsive records exist—a brazen contradiction given the documented evidence already obtained through previous requests.

IRS has been one of the principal tools of the government weaponization to obliterate the lives that the FBI illegally placed on the blacklist hidden categories of the Terrorist Screening Database, without reasonable suspicion.@FBIDirectorKash needs an immediate audit of this… https://t.co/ewL1wbMDKd

— Targeted Justice (@TargetedJustice) September 29, 2025

Decades of Stonewalling and Surveillance

This revelation builds on a troubling pattern stretching back to 1989, when FBI Director William Sessions authorized surveillance of the National Security Archive due to its tenacious FOIA activity. The bureau has long employed “blackballing” tactics, classifying FOIA-related files under special codes that exempted them from standard searches unless requesters specifically asked for those hidden categories. Trevor Griffey and other investigative journalists uncovered this practice after the FBI initially denied having files on subjects like Manning Marable and Occupy Wall Street, only to later admit the records existed in “blackballed” classifications per standard operating procedure.

Chilling Effect on Constitutional Rights

The “vexsome” designation represents a direct assault on the 1966 Freedom of Information Act, which Congress designed to empower citizens to monitor government actions and prevent abuses of power. By secretly flagging requesters as problematic, the FBI creates a two-tiered system that punishes those who most vigorously exercise their rights—journalists, civil liberties organizations, and watchdog groups committed to exposing government overreach. This practice inverts FOIA’s fundamental purpose, transforming a tool for accountability into a mechanism for identifying and potentially retaliating against citizens who refuse to accept bureaucratic stonewalling.

Cato Fights Back With Federal Lawsuit

The Cato Institute filed a federal lawsuit in April 2026 to compel the FBI to disclose records about the “vexsome” blacklist after the agency denied any documentation existed. This legal challenge highlights the absurdity of the FBI’s position: the bureau simultaneously uses the designation internally while claiming ignorance when confronted. The lawsuit seeks to force transparency about how many Americans have been labeled, what criteria trigger the designation, and whether it affects processing times or disclosure decisions. Cato’s action represents a critical stand against bureaucratic manipulation that undermines the constitutional principles of open government and limited federal power.

Historical precedents show the FBI has routinely monitored activists and civil rights figures under the guise of national security, with files on figures like Aretha Franklin revealing suspicion of civil rights connections. The bureau’s FOIA practices, including heavily redacted responses to organizations like the ACLU and portal restrictions limiting requester rights, demonstrate systemic resistance to accountability. These patterns raise legitimate concerns about whether the Trump administration will rein in this deep-state behavior or whether existing directives against “vexatious” litigation—while aimed at frivolous immigration lawsuits—might inadvertently provide cover for continued FBI opacity. Patriots who value constitutional checks on government power should demand full disclosure of this blacklist and accountability for those who weaponized transparency laws against the American people.