Document Review and FOIA | ObjectWire

ObjectWire's investigative team analyzes public records, leaked materials, and submitted documents as the evidentiary backbone of published investigations. We accept:

• FOIA responses and public records — federal, state, and local agency responses to Freedom of Information requests
• Financial filings — SEC filings, 990s, campaign finance disclosures, property records, UCC filings
• Corporate documents — contracts, NDAs, board minutes, internal memos, termination records
• Government records — meeting agendas, public budgets, zoning filings, licensing records
• Legal filings — court complaints, pleadings, judgments, deposition transcripts
• Communications — emails, text messages, or screenshots of relevant correspondence
• Photographic or video evidence — timestamped images or recordings of events, conditions, or conduct

Public records are the foundation of most ObjectWire investigations. We file FOIA requests with federal agencies under 5 U.S.C. § 552 and Texas Public Information Act requests with state and local agencies under Texas Government Code Chapter 552. Responses to these requests are analyzed for patterns, inconsistencies, and evidence that supports or contradicts official accounts.

If you have already filed a FOIA request and received a response you believe contains evidence of wrongdoing, submit it to us for review. Our team will analyze the records and determine whether a public interest story exists within the disclosed materials.

If you are aware of a public record that has not been requested but likely contains relevant information, contact us via the tip page and we will initiate the appropriate request.

Documents submitted to ObjectWire are handled under strict access controls. Only members of the editorial team directly involved in the related investigation have access to submitted materials. Documents are stored in encrypted environments and are not retained beyond the conclusion of the related investigation unless the source authorizes longer-term storage.

We strip metadata from received documents on intake. This includes EXIF data from images, document author fields, revision history in PDFs and Office files, and printer-tracking dots in scanned materials where technically feasible.

We do not share submitted documents with third parties, law enforcement, or subjects of stories without explicit source authorization or a valid court order. In the event we receive a subpoena, we consult legal counsel before complying and notify the source to the extent legally permitted.

Submitting documents that belong to an employer, a government agency, or a third party can carry legal risk depending on how those documents were obtained. ObjectWire is not your attorney and this page is not legal advice.

Before submitting documents taken from an employer's systems, review any confidentiality agreements or employment contracts you are subject to. Texas and federal whistleblower protection statutes may protect certain disclosures, but the scope of those protections depends on the specific facts of your situation.

If you are concerned about legal exposure from submitting documents, consult an employment or media law attorney before submission. ObjectWire can refer you to Texas media law resources on request.

Once documents are legally in our possession and relevant to a matter of public interest, we have the right to analyze and publish the information they contain. The source's act of submission and our act of publication are legally distinct.

Digital documents contain hidden metadata that can identify who created, modified, or printed them. Before submitting sensitive documents, strip this metadata to reduce your exposure. Recommended free tools:

• ExifTool — command-line tool for stripping EXIF and metadata from images and PDFs
• Adobe Acrobat — Document Properties > Description > remove author, creation date, and application name before saving
• Microsoft Office — File > Info > Check for Issues > Inspect Document > Remove All, then Save As a new file
• Printed and scanned documents — laser printer tracking dots cannot be fully removed; scan in grayscale at low DPI and crop margins to reduce dot visibility

For full secure submission guidance, see the tip the newsroom page.

To submit documents for investigative review, use the contact page and indicate you are submitting materials for editorial review. For sensitive submissions, request a secure channel before transmitting files. We will establish a secure transfer method appropriate to your situation.

If your documents relate to a tip you have already submitted, reference your original submission so we can connect the records to the active investigation. If this is your first contact, provide context on what the documents show and how you obtained them.

For our full investigative process, see the investigative reporting overview. For digital evidence and OSINT analysis, see digital forensics.