The State Department’s position is that responsive records simply don’t exist.

For the Bureau of Consular Affairs—which oversees 270+ posts in 190+ countries—this means claiming no policies exist for handling stranded Americans in West Africa. No guidance for long-term welfare cases. No procedures for when a U.S. veteran has been abandoned overseas for 5+ years.

For the Bureau of African Affairs, it means asserting that the regional bureau responsible for Embassy Lomé has no records whatsoever concerning a case that has consumed embassy resources since 2020.

For Embassy Lomé itself, it means maintaining that internal justification memos, coordination emails, and case file materials simply vanished.

One request—F-2025-30611, filed September 29, 2025—presents a particularly damning contradiction. After being closed with “no records” on December 8, the State Department’s public access link (PAL) system has continued showing the request status as “assigned for processing” for 18 days and counting. As of December 26, 2025, the system still contradicts the closure.

This isn’t a brief technical glitch. It’s sustained documentary evidence that the State Department closed the request without conducting the search its own tracking system shows as still ongoing.

What Systematic Obstruction Looks Like

In challenge letters reviewed by True Signal Media, Covenant for Forgotten Warriors documents what it calls “institutional policy” rather than isolated error:

“That Supervisory Government Information Specialist Ennelle Debrosse approved nine identical closures simultaneously demonstrates this is institutional policy, not isolated error—the Department has adopted systematic obstruction as standard operating procedure for FOIAs concerning Sgt. Kelvin Blas.”

Debrosse’s involvement spans the entire timeline:

• September 11: Oversaw response from unmonitored email
• September 24 – December 5: Ignored two appeals
• December 8: Approved nine simultaneous closures

The evidence supports an interpretation of deliberate, sustained obstruction rather than bureaucratic failure:

Selective Processing: While Kelvin Blas-related FOIAs languished and were eventually mass-denied, the State Department successfully processed a complex FOIA about Jeffrey Epstein’s connections to government officials—demonstrating the department has capacity when it chooses to use it.

Coordinated Timing: The December 8 mass closure came precisely when the department faced escalating oversight threats, suggesting strategic rather than administrative decision-making.

System Contradiction: F-2025-30611 remains listed as “assigned for processing” in the State Department’s own PAL system 18 days after being closed with “no records”—documentary proof that either no search was conducted or the system was manipulated to conceal the closure.

Supervisory Approval: Management-level sign-off on nine simultaneous closures indicates this wasn’t a rogue FOIA officer but approved policy.

Pattern Across Agencies: Similar obstruction patterns have emerged at the Department of Veterans Affairs, which closed multiple Blas-related requests with false claims that responses to clarification requests were never received—despite documented proof of timely replies.

Impossible “No Records” Claims: The November 11, 2025 incident alone involved CCTV footage, four civilian witnesses, embassy staff observation, a 20-minute internal consultation, physical force requiring intervention, and explicit threats—yet the State Department claims no documentation exists. This defies operational reality and suggests either wholesale records destruction or fraudulent search certification.

Retaliation Pattern: Embassy staff were monitoring online advocacy efforts (confirmed by Raymond’s “tarnishing the image” comment two days after the incident), yet proceeded with physical force against Blas anyway. The regular security guard was replaced with Abdulai Majeed shortly before the November 11 incident—suggesting deliberate personnel decisions to handle a veteran embassy staff knew was seeking help. The escalation from passive denial (2020-2024) to active physical force (November 2025) coincided with increased public scrutiny, indicating retaliation rather than security necessity.