# Jennifer Lenow Arkansas citizen. Resides at 126 Dennison Street, Little Rock, AR 72205. Email [email protected]. On 6/3/2025 at 10:56 AM, the day after the ATRS Board action authorizing up to $50 million in Israel Bonds, Lenow emailed Mark White an Arkansas FOIA request for two categories of records: an audiovisual recording of the 6/2/2025 Board meeting and the meeting minutes; and "Any financial research, reports, presentations, memos, agreements, contracts, and/other documents related to the commitment and/or authorization of investment in Israel Bonds." White acknowledged on 6/3 at 12:01 PM, noting ATRS does not maintain video recordings but has audio. He committed to producing the audio and the responsive documents by the next day. White forwarded Lenow's FOIA to APERS executive director Amy Fecher on 6/3 at 12:01 PM with "FYI." Fecher replied at 12:11 PM: "Thank you. We received that one last week as well." Fecher's reply documents that Lenow had filed a parallel FOIA with APERS the previous week. White completed production on 6/4/2025 at 9:57 AM, sending Lenow three PDF attachments and a Google Drive link. The PDFs were BoardDocuments.pdf (3.7 MB containing materials presented to the Board), SignedResolution.pdf (648 KB containing the executed Resolution 2025-22), and OtherDocuments.pdf (4.6 MB containing other responsive records). The Google Drive folder contained audio recordings of the Investment Committee and the full Board of Trustees, with White noting Lenow could request Audit or Operations Committee recordings separately. White also noted that meeting minutes had not yet been prepared. Lenow acknowledged receipt on 6/5/2025 at 6:46 PM with "Thank you very much!" The Lenow FOIA exchange documents the only complete production package containing the BoardDocuments, SignedResolution, and OtherDocuments PDFs in connection with the ATRS Israel Bonds action. None of those three packages is in the present 6/18/25 staff email FOIA production. They are likely the most evidentiarily dense missing documents. ## Evidence > "Hi Mr. White, I'm a citizen of Arkansas (I reside at 126 Dennison St. Little Rock, AR, 72205). Under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act, I request access to the following materials: An audiovisual recording of the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System's Board meeting on June 2nd, 2025, as well as minutes from the same board meeting. Any financial research, reports, presentations, memos, agreements, contracts, and/other documents related to the commitment and/or authorization of investment in Israel Bonds" > Jennifer Lenow to Mark White, Emails5.pdf p.14, 6/3/2025 > "Thank you. We received that one last week as well." > Amy Fecher (APERS) to Mark White, Emails5.pdf p.30, 6/3/2025 > "Attached are three PDF files with the documents that are responsive to your request. The first document contains the materials presented to the Board, the second contains the final signed resolution, and the third contains other responsive documents in our files." > Mark White to Jennifer Lenow, Emails5.pdf p.22, 6/4/2025 ## Cross-References [[mark-white]] [[jennifer-liwo]] [[tammy-porter]] ATRS staff handling the FOIA [[amy-fecher]] APERS executive director copied; received parallel request [[atrs-resolution-2025-22]] concept page on the action Lenow's FOIA targeted [[atrs-foia-r1-staff-emails]] [[apers-foia-r1-7-7-25]] source pages ## APERS R1 production additions (7/7/25): three sequential APERS FOIAs and the 7/2 press inquiry The 7/7/25 APERS R1 production captures Lenow's full APERS-side FOIA chain. Lenow filed three sequential APERS FOIAs and one press inquiry to APERS: (1) **5/28/2025 10:59 AM** APERS FOIA: "Any correspondences, records, memos, agreements, presentations, or any other documents that reference any current or future investments of the Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System in the Development Corporation for Israel or Israel Bonds." Gilson's response 1:59 PM same day declared APERS had no other responsive documents beyond the 5/15 IFSC agenda. Borromeo's parallel internal representation to Gilson at 11:15 AM ("for myself, I do not have anything else") was contradicted same day by Borromeo's 2:52 PM forward of the Stephens "fixed income eyes" thread to Gilson and Fecher. (2) **6/3/2025 10:56 AM** ATRS FOIA documented in the prior wiki entry. (3) **6/30/2025 8:46 AM** APERS follow-up FOIA: "I wanted to see if there have been any new records or communications related to the purchase of Israel Bonds, either directly or indirectly through an investment manager since my last FOIA request on May 28. I basically want to know whether there has been any discussion, contract negotiations, or decisions made about how APERS will actualize the decision of the board to purchase $25-50 million in Israel Bonds." Borromeo's 1:35 PM response: "As of this email, no bonds have been purchased. The APERS investment team, custodian, and consultant met to discuss the back office details. ... I do not expect to see any contract negotiations. This is something the Board specifically has told the investment team to execute. The Board has left the decision to the Investment staff." (4) **7/2/2025 8:45 AM** APERS press inquiry to Gilson identifying as Arkansas Times reporter: "I am reporting on a story for the Arkansas Times about the state's recent investment decisions related to Israel bonds and would like to request a comment." Lenow's substantive questions tested two issues: the Act 498 pecuniary standard given Brady's Mike-Huckabee-context and Milligan's "well beyond pecuniary factors" public comments; and the statutory permissibility of foreign sovereign bonds under Arkansas pension investment law. Fecher's 12:44 PM response was a 36-word non-response: "Jennifer, We are confident that the Irael [sic] Bonds investment follows all applicable state statutes and will result in a good outcome for the members and retirees of the Arkansas Public Employees' Retirement System. Thank you for your inquiry." cc'd to Bassett (APERS Chair) and Hudson (IFSC member). Lenow's APERS chain establishes the most sustained citizen-investigator FOIA pressure on the Israel Bonds matter at APERS. Combined with her parallel ATRS FOIA on 6/3/2025 (the only documented production of the BoardDocuments, SignedResolution, and OtherDocuments PDFs), Lenow's documentary engagement spans both pension systems and tracks the post-vote operational record. The Arkansas Times article that her 7/2 inquiry was preparing has not been ingested in this wiki batch but is a documented downstream outcome of her FOIA work. > "I'm a citizen of Arkansas (I reside at 126 Dennison St. Little Rock, AR, 72205). Under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act, I request access to the following materials: Any correspondences, records, memos, agreements, presentations, or any other documents that reference any current or future investments of the Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System in the Development Corporation for Israel or Israel Bonds." > Jennifer Lenow to Laura Gilson, IB_FOIA_JUL_25_Reviewed.pdf p.818, 5/28/2025 10:59 AM > "I wanted to see if there have been any new records or communications related to the purchase of Israel Bonds, either directly or indirectly through an investment manager since my last FOIA request on May 28." > Jennifer Lenow to Laura Gilson, IB_FOIA_JUL_25_Reviewed.pdf p.30, 6/30/2025 8:46 AM > "Auditor Milligan has made public comments about Israel suggesting that his motivation for supporting Israel bonds goes well beyond pecuniary factors. Do these statements mean the board has considered non-pecuniary factors when making investments of APERS funds into Israel bonds? Furthermore, non-U.S. governmental bonds are not listed as a permissible investment in the Arkansas state statute pertaining to public employee retirement plans. Would an investment in Israel bonds violate state statute?" > Jennifer Lenow to Laura Gilson (Arkansas Times press inquiry), IB_FOIA_JUL_25_Reviewed.pdf p.25, 7/2/2025 8:45 AM ## Treasury R1 7-7-25 production: Lenow's earlier 12/12/2024 Treasury FOIA The Treasury R1 batch extends Lenow's documented FOIA campaign back to December 12, 2024 — nearly six months before her documented APERS engagement began. Olan Reeves (Interim General Counsel at Treasury) handled the Lenow 12/12/2024 Treasury FOIA. Reeves's 8:30 AM response transmitted a Clearwater Analytics holdings report dated 10/7/2024. Lenow's 9:29 AM follow-up was substantively pointed: > Question: Was the Israel Internal Credit overview from 10-08-24 presented to the State Board of Finance? If it was presented at a particular meeting, I would love to have the minutes of that meeting and a recording of that meeting if it's available. > > Additional materials: > A record of Israel holdings (similar to the one you provided from 10/7/24) as of January 2023. I am interested in the coupon rate of the $5 million bond that matured on 02/01/2024 and the base market value at the time it matured. The identifier for that bond, based on the information you provided from Clearwater Analytics, appears to be A46514TMV7. > A video recording of the State Board of Finance meeting held on October 25, 2023. Lenow's question identified the existence of an internal Treasury credit-analysis document on Israel sovereigns dated 10/8/2024 (the day after the Israel Prayer Ceremony) and pressed for the document plus the SBOF meeting context. Reeves's 9:59 AM response transmitted the US Rate sheet April 15-30 2023 PDF plus a YouTube link "https://www.youtube.com/live/AI-Agy-MESU?si=vqKspl89GQGhvLZ" but did not transmit the Israel Internal Credit overview itself. Reeves's 12/13/2024 9:22 AM third response was a generic stonewall: > We do not have any other documents that could respond to your latest request for explanations. The substantive Lenow question — whether the Israel Internal Credit overview from 10-08-24 was presented to the State Board of Finance — remains documented as a Reeves-stonewalled question in the Treasury R1 batch. Lenow's December 2024 FOIA therefore predates by 5+ months the wiki's documented APERS-side and ATRS-side documentary engagement she began in May-June 2025. The campaign is documented across all three institutions (Treasury, APERS, ATRS) with Treasury as the earliest entry point. > "Question: Was the Israel Internal Credit overview from 10-08-24 presented to the State Board of Finance? If it was presented at a particular meeting, I would love to have the minutes of that meeting and a recording of that meeting if it's available." > Jennifer Lenow to Olan Reeves, Dunlap FOIA 7.,2.25.pdf p.128, 12/12/2024 9:29 AM [[treasury-foia-r1-7-7-25]] source page [[olan-reeves]] Interim General Counsel at Treasury who handled the Lenow 12/12/2024 FOIA ## Auditor R3 3-3-26 production: Lenow as Arkansas Times reporter The Auditor R3 production at [[auditor-foia-r3-3-3-26]] establishes Lenow's dual role: she is an Arkansas citizen FOIA requester (documented from her 12/12/2024 Treasury FOIA forward) AND the journalist who authored the 7/11/2025 Arkansas Times article "Arkansas taxpayers loan Israel millions as the war in Gaza grinds on." The article is the first major non-Wickline post-vote reporter story on the Israel Bonds investments and is preserved as a PDF attachment in the R3 production via Mark White's 7/11/2025 3:55 PM ATRS Board notification. **Three Lenow FOIA filings at ATRS in June 2025.** White's 6/19/2025 second canvass email at [[auditor-foia-r3-3-3-26]] references a second Lenow FOIA filing covering 6/6-6/18 emails on Israel Bonds: > *"We have received a second FOIA request, this one for emails 'regarding the purchase of Israeli bonds.' I already have the emails you've provided up through June 6. If you have sent or received any emails between June 6 and June 18 regarding the purchase of Israeli bonds, please forward them to me so that I can include them in our FOIA response."* This documents at least three Lenow FOIA filings at ATRS in the May-July 2025 window: the 5/19/2025 multi-question email to Mark White, the 6/3 board documents and audio request (per [[atrs-foia-r1-staff-emails]]), and this new 6/18-window emails request. Lenow's documentary persistence in the run-up to the Arkansas Times article publication is the FOIA-based reporting methodology. **The 7/2/2025 Arkansas Times pre-publication inquiry.** Lenow's 7/2/2025 8:44 AM inquiry to Mark White (ATRS) at his [email protected] address and her 7/2/2025 8:45 AM parallel inquiry to Laura Gilson at APERS arrived as the production-window deadline for the Arkansas Times article. The APERS-direction inquiry is captured cross-custodian in Brady's Inbox (Gilson → Fecher → Brady chain). Lenow's inquiry explicitly framed Brady's Huckabee-and-foreign-policy rationale as the central question: > *"The decision to purchase Israel bonds was made at the recommendation of Jason Brady, on behalf of Auditor Milligan. In Brady's rationale for the recommendation he mentioned his former boss, Mike Huckabee, who now serves as the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, as well as the geopolitical importance of Israel for U.S. foreign policy. Auditor Milligan has made public comments about Israel suggesting that his motivation for supporting Israel bonds goes well beyond pecuniary factors. Do these statements mean the board has considered non-pecuniary factors when making investments of APERS funds into Israel bonds?"* Mark White's same-day 4:44 PM substantive response is documented at [[mark-white]]; Lenow incorporated White's defense into the published article. Lenow also separately framed the Pulley HOLD memo for the first time in published reporting (see below). **Article publication 7/11/2025 2:26 PM.** The Arkansas Times published Lenow's article *"Arkansas taxpayers loan Israel millions as the war in Gaza grinds on"* at https://arktimes.com/arkansas-blog/2025/07/11/arkansas-taxpayers-are-loaning-israel-millions-of-dollars-as-its-war-in-gaza-grinds-on. The article PDF is preserved as an R3 attachment. Substantive findings the article surfaces: - First public-reporting disclosure of the Pulley 10/8/2024 HOLD memo (the [[treasury-internal-credit-analysis]] document), including Pulley's "hold our positions and allow for the $17M to roll off [mature] in the first half of 2025 and the $20M maturing in the calendar year 2026" recommendation language - First verbatim public-reporting quotation of Brady's APERS IFSC 5/15/2025 "ancillary reason" framing - First wiki documentation of Sanders's Israel Bonds social media post ("Arkansas puts its money where its mouth is and is investing millions in Israeli bonds!") - First wiki documentation of Milligan's April 2025 Facebook post ("my friends Larry Berman and Brad Young from Israel Bonds Development Corp.") - Cross-confirmation of Knight's verbatim dissent quoted in the 6/3 Wickline Democrat-Gazette story - Cross-confirmation of Brad Young's December 2024 thank-you postcard (with slightly different phrasing than the [[auditor-foia-r2-residual]] capture) - Reporting on the Auditor's-office non-response: *"The office of the state auditor did not respond to a request for comment about whether Milligan considered non-financial factors when advocating for state entities to invest in Israeli bonds."*