On June 26, 2014, ProPublica reported on a shocking twist in its recent efforts to access information about the American Red Cross response to Superstorm Sandy.

ProPublica tried to access Red Cross documents shared with the NY Attorney General about the organization's post-Sandy activities.  Now, American Red Cross is trying to keep that information secret by using a "Trade Secrets" defense.

People across the country generously donated hundreds of millions of dollars to American Red Cross, trusting that they were helping families who lost almost everything in the storm. Disaster Accountability Project has worked with countless survivors of Superstorm Sandy who say the American Red Cross failed to deliver on its promises of relief. It's only right that donors and survivors should know how the heartfelt donations were used.

Interestingly, Red Cross lawyers even tried to conceal information such as the Red Cross name and the fact the organization was in communication with the Attorney General's office.

This secretive behavior underscores the importance of independent oversight and serves as a reminder to donors that they should condition disaster relief donations on transparency, accountability, effectiveness, and real data on the capacity of a particular organization to deliver services. There is no place for secrecy in a disaster relief organization.

No organization with such public, life-saving responsibilities designated by Federal, state, and local governments should be able to claim that information related to its activities are trade secrets.

Please join us in our efforts to improve disaster relief effectiveness and accountability by calling on the American Red Cross to open its records on its Superstorm Sandy spending.