I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8500 
To establish an electronic system by which members of the press may file 
a complaint with the Department of Justice alleging misconduct by 
Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies, and for other pur-
poses. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 1, 2020 
Mr. TAKANO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To establish an electronic system by which members of the 
press may file a complaint with the Department of Jus-
tice alleging misconduct by Federal, State, and local 
law enforcement agencies, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Attacks on Free Press 
Transparency Act’’. 
SEC. 2. PRESS COMPLAINTS. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 
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(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney 
General shall establish a electronic system by which 
members of the press may file a complaint with the 
Department of Justice alleging misconduct by Fed-
eral, State, and local law enforcement agencies and 
law enforcement officers of such agencies. 
(2) ATTACHMENTS.—The electronic system 
shall allow relevant media to be attached, including 
photos, videos, and audio recordings. 
(3) ANONYMOUS
SUBMISSION.—A complaint 
may be filed anonymously under this section. 
(b) PROCEDURE.— 
(1) COMPLAINT.—A complaint may be filed 
under this section not later than 180 days after an 
incident has occurred, Such complaint shall include 
the following: 
(A) The date of this incident. 
(B) The name of each law enforcement of-
ficer involved. 
(C) A detailed description of the incident. 
(D) Any legal justification or motivation 
that was provided to the individual by a law en-
forcement officer to justify the law enforcement 
action taken. 
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(E) If applicable, any property searched, 
damaged, or seized during the incident. 
(F) If applicable, any audio or visual re-
cordings of the incident between the law en-
forcement officer and press materials or mis-
cellaneous documentation with respect to the in-
cident. 
(2) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 30 days 
after a complaint has been filed with the Depart-
ment of Justice, the Attorney General shall notify 
the law enforcement agency that is the subject of the 
complaint that the complaint has been filed and pro-
vide the details of the complaint. 
(3) RESPONSE.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Any Federal, State, or 
local law enforcement agency that is the subject 
of a complaint shall respond not later than 60 
days after receipt of the notice of the complaint 
under paragraph (2). 
(B) CONTENTS
OF
RESPONSE.—A re-
sponse to the complaint shall include the fol-
lowing: 
(i) The date of the incident. 
(ii) The name of each law enforce-
ment officer involved. 
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