Dive Summary:
- U.S. Department of Education investigators are subpoenaing the e-mail records and other documents of the Institute for College Access and Success, or Ticas, in a case involving the battle over the gainful-employment rule and other regulations aimed at for-profit colleges.
- Ticas is a prominent organization that advocated in favor of tougher oversight on for-profits, and the investigators are attempting to find out if Robert M. Shireman, a former department official and Ticas founder, communicated improperly with Ticas about the regulations, breaking federal ethics laws.
- The subpoena is demanding e-mails and other communication between Ticas and Shireman between Feb. 3, 2009, and Feb. 11, 2011, as well as "any and all" documents related to the department's development of for-profit college regulations, and Ticas contends that the subpoena violates its First Amendment rights and is "unprecedented in its reach."
From the article:
... Ticas turned over a limited number of e-mails to investigators from the Education Department's Office of Inspector General over the summer. But it argues that complying with the demand for more than two years' worth of correspondence will "trample" its First Amendment rights and compromise the privacy of "students and whistle-blowers who entrust their stories and experiences" to it. ...