EPIC Urges Rules Committee to Clarify Position on Closed Door Hearings

EPIC has again written to the Senate Rules Committee regarding the meetings of a Senate "Tech Task Force," following a news item which suggested that the Rules Committee approved closed-door hearings. EPIC had called for an investigation into the meetings in the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing room, which were closed to the public and press, lacked public notice, and produced no written record. According to the POLITICO story, an unnamed staff person told a reporter that they had decided the Task Force was not subject to the open meeting requirement. EPIC was never notified of any decision. "This saga increasingly resembles a Kafka short story," EPIC wrote. EPIC has requested a written response to its requests for investigation and also wrote "we fully intend to pursue this issue until there is a favorable resolution."