The FCC Wants $200 to Release Emails About Ajit Pai's Giant Reese's Mug

The Federal Communication Commission wants more than $200 to release e-mails related to Chairman Ajit Pai’s novelty, oversized coffee mug under the Freedom of Information Act.  The mug gained mild notoriety after Chairman Pai was photographed with the drinking vessel. But when Taylor Amarel, a frequent FOIA-filer who secured the release of Chairman Pai’s calendar earlier in 2018, requested all of Chairman Pai’s executive assistant’s e-mails that included terms such as "reeses", "mug", or "Reese's,” the FCC pushed back.

First, correspondence posted to public records platform MuckRock shows FCC attorney advisor Ryan Yates questioned whether Amarel was using a pseudonym and demanded his name, personal mailing address, and phone number, which is not required under FOIA law. Still, Amarel complied only to have the FCC respond again, this time asserting that digging up these e-mails would take more than four hours of work and cost an estimated $232.89. “This is the first time I’ve seen anything remotely close to this kind of cost when requesting emails from the FCC,” said JPat Brown, executive editor of MuckRock.