Active Watchdog Article disclosures from FOIA and investigation
Fri, Jun 27, 11:13 AM this was sent to multiple regulators, elected officials, and politicians in multiple states as well as pressure players we have evidence on.
To Whom It May Concern,
This notice is issued on behalf of F’nAround Media to inform you of the impending release of a federally protected public interest report concerning systemic misconduct, regulatory breakdowns, and retaliatory actions involving cannabis licensure, political officials, and regulatory bodies across multiple jurisdictions, including Illinois.
This report supported by FOIA records, financial documentation, public records, legal filings, and recordings will be submitted to appropriate federal authorities on July 3, 2025, with full public release scheduled for the week of July 7, 2025 at fnaround.com and everywhere else submitted.
Should your office wish to submit a written clarification or formal comment for inclusion in the published record, please do so by 5:00 PM CST on July 3, 2025. Absence of response will be recorded as a declination to comment.
This opportunity is extended as a professional courtesy to ensure transparency and fairness prior to publication.
Sincerely,
Joe Phelan
Investigative Journalist | F’nAround Media
joe@fnaround.com | www.fnaround.com
Sun, Jun 29, 6:22 AM sadly this occurred and a new disclosure had to be sent out excuse the typos.
To whom it may concern,
While we await your reply or silence, which will be duly noted, we wish to clarify that our recent courtesy notice identified no specific companies or individuals nor contacted them. Comments were requested solely from regulatory bodies, elected officials, oversight participants, and previously involved pressure agents.
However, in the interest of transparency and witness protection, we must now formally document the following:
On the evening of July 28, 2025, a known associate of one of the companies we are investigating, who previously contacted a witness in Fall 2024 with an executive of said company in an effort to dissuade testimony again attempted to make contact. This individual placed multiple phone calls, followed by a text message within minutes.
This follows a prior incident in Spring 2025, in which the same individual sent an unsolicited message to the witness’s minor daughter during an ongoing episode of academic interference. The content and timing of that outreach gave the clear impression that the sender was taunting the family and suggesting they had a hand in the disruption.
This establishes a concerning pattern of contact that appears designed to unsettle and suppress protected testimony.
We presume your office would prefer this information remain confidential until our scheduled federal filing and public watchdog release. However, given that this latest contact occurred within 48 hours of our notice, and involves an individual previously associated with interference, we are compelled to formally advise:
• All parties are now on notice: Any further attempts to contact, influence, or unsettle witnesses, their families, or affiliated parties will be documented publicly as retaliatory. These instances including what occurred will be included by name in our federal submissions and forthcoming article, along with the full list of recipients who were placed on notice.
• We are not attributing this act to your office or any copied parties directly. However, the recurrence and timing now demand a firm and public warning as we don’t know who received this notice requested this action to occur.
We will be filing FOIA requests and/or pursuing subpoenas for relevant communications during this window. As such, we formally request that you preserve all internal and external communications, including texts, emails, calls, or chat logs regarding this matter for yourself and your teams.
We strongly advise that all forms of communication toward protected witnesses or their families cease immediately. Any additional incidents will be escalated to federal oversight agencies and named without delay.
Sincerely,
Joe Phelan
Investigative Journalist | F’nAround Media
joe@fnaround.com | www.fnaround.com
Sent from my iPhone