The Records Converge: University of Michigan Vice President and Lead General Counsel Timothy Lynch Asked to Account for the HHS-OIG Record Behind Dr. Foerster's 5.09 Proceedings
On August 20, 2026, Dr. Bradley Foerster wrote to University of Michigan Vice President and Lead General Counsel Timothy Lynch concerning discrepancies between University and federal records involving HHS-OIG Agent Tyson Howard, federal debarment, and the Regents’ Bylaw 5.09 proceedings against Dr. Foerster.
The correspondence brings together two documentary discrepancies separately reported in this archive and asks Lynch to account for the University's own records and the federal investigative information upon which it relied.
In February 2026, the University of Michigan reported that it had located a responsive record involving Dr. Ella Kazerooni and HHS-OIG Agent Tyson Howard, but withheld the record from disclosure. The University's denial was subsequently upheld on appeal.
A reciprocal FOIA request was then submitted directly to HHS-OIG, expressly informing the agency of the University's determination and providing a copy of it. HHS-OIG responded that it had conducted a “thorough search” but could locate no responsive documents.
The University says it possesses a responsive communication involving Dr. Kazerooni and Tyson Howard. HHS-OIG says it has no such communications.
Related Reporting: The Record That Exists — and Doesn’t: Communications With a Federal Agent
Records obtained through Dr. Foerster's litigated Freedom of Information Act appeal against the U.S. Department of Justice documented a February 2019 meeting involving the FBI, HHS-OIG, and the University of Michigan Office of General Counsel.
According to the FBI's contemporaneous record, the U.S. Attorney's Office had declined criminal charges concerning the NIH ALS R01 grant investigation, while debarment proceedings involving Dr. Foerster and at least one other redacted individual were reportedly “in process.”
Yet targeted FOIA requests to HHS-OIG subsequently produced determinations stating that the agency could locate no responsive records reflecting that it sought, contemplated, recommended, referred, or pursued debarment of either Dr. Foerster or Dr. Myria Petrou.
A parallel FOIA inquiry to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has now produced another development: on August 20, NIH confirmed that it is “in the process of reviewing documents for releasability” responsive to Dr. Foerster's request concerning debarment and related federal funding actions. What those documents establish remains unknown.
Related Reporting: The Dr. Foerster and Dr. Petrou Debarment Records HHS-OIG Couldn’t Find — and NIH Is Now Reviewing
The Regents’ Bylaw 5.09 proceedings occurred during Lynch's tenure as University General Counsel, while the federal investigative record documents activity involving HHS-OIG, the FBI, and University of Michigan OGC.
During those proceedings, Dr. Foerster was not informed that the HHS-OIG investigation had resulted in a criminal referral to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Nor was he informed that University counsel was participating in federal discussions in which debarment proceedings involving him were reportedly “in process.”
The Tyson Howard issue was also raised contemporaneously during the 5.09 proceedings. Its significance becomes clearer when viewed alongside the FBI records actually introduced during those proceedings.
During the November 2018 Ad Hoc Committee hearing, Daniel Tukel, the outside attorney representing Michigan Medicine, introduced two unredacted FBI reports concerning Dr. Foerster and Dr. Petrou. One documented their July 28, 2017 visit to the FBI's Boston office and was introduced as University Exhibit 35. The other documented their January 30, 2018 visit to the FBI in Detroit and was introduced as University Exhibit 36.
Tukel thus introduced unredacted FBI reports from Dr. Foerster and Dr. Petrou's visits to FBI offices in Boston and Detroit, but not the FBI report documenting their March 2, 2018 interview at the local FBI Ann Arbor office. That distinction is significant: an unredacted copy of the March 2 report would have identified the HHS-OIG Special Agent who participated in the interview—the individual who identified himself to Dr. Foerster and Dr. Petrou as Tyson Howard.
On April 10, 2019, Dr. Foerster and Dr. Petrou executed sworn affidavits concerning the March 2 interview and their subsequent efforts to verify the identity of the individual who had introduced himself to them as HHS-OIG Special Agent Tyson Howard.
At the May 1, 2019 SACUA appeal hearing, Tukel stated that he was “a bit perplexed” by the issue concerning Special Agent Tyson Howard. He nevertheless reasoned that because Dr. Foerster had met the individual in the presence of an FBI agent at the FBI office, he could not believe that an FBI agent would be sitting with someone “who wasn't what he said he was” or “somebody who didn't exist.”
Tukel then suggested that Dr. Foerster seek additional information himself through the FBI, stating that he “certainly could have submitted a FOIA request to the FBI if he wanted to try to obtain some additional information.”
Tukel thus offered FBI FOIA as a remedy for Dr. Foerster to pursue, but did not offer to obtain or produce the March 2 Ann Arbor FBI report himself—even though he had introduced unredacted FBI reports from the Boston and Detroit contacts during the same 5.09 proceedings.
On May 20, 2019, Dr. Foerster wrote directly to University of Michigan Vice President and General Counsel Timothy Lynch, attached the April 10 affidavits, and asked Lynch to “look into this matter.” The documentary record reviewed for this archive reflects no substantive response from Lynch to that request.
After the 5.09 proceedings had concluded, Dr. Foerster did exactly what Tukel had suggested. In 2021, he obtained the March 2 interview record through FBI FOIA—but the name of the HHS-OIG Special Agent who participated in the interview was redacted. The production nevertheless confirmed that an HHS-OIG Special Agent had participated in the March 2 interview. The FBI identified six responsive pages, released only three pages, and withheld the remaining three pages in full. Dr. Foerster administratively appealed the redaction specifically seeking disclosure of the HHS-OIG Special Agent's identity; the FBI denied the appeal.
The issue is particularly significant because then-Dean Marschall Runge relied upon the HHS-OIG investigation and related information in his charge letter initiating the Regents’ Bylaw 5.09 proceedings against Dr. Foerster.
Against that backdrop, the March 2, 2018 report from the local FBI Ann Arbor field office takes on particular significance: Tukel introduced unredacted FBI reports from Boston and Detroit during the 5.09 proceedings, but not the local Ann Arbor FBI report that, if unredacted, would have identified the HHS-OIG Special Agent whose identity later became the subject of sworn affidavits, an FBI FOIA request, and an unsuccessful administrative appeal.
The provenance, accuracy, and completeness of the federal investigative information maintained by the University therefore bear directly on the institutional basis for those proceedings.
Related Reporting: The HHS-OIG Tyson Howard Question: Sworn Affidavits, the FBI Interview, and the University of Michigan 5.09 Proceedings
Related Reporting: FBI Interview Report (March 2, 2018) – Dr. Petrou and Dr. Foerster, Ann Arbor Field Office – HHS-OIG Agent Identity Redacted
The August 20 correspondence asks Lynch to review the University's records and provide a substantive response to three questions:
The correspondence does not ask Lynch to explain the internal activities of the FBI, HHS-OIG, or NIH.
It asks him to account for the University's own records, its own communications, the source of the federal investigative information in its possession, and the information upon which the University relied in initiating and pursuing proceedings against Dr. Foerster.
The complete August 20, 2026 correspondence is reproduced below.
Exhibit 1 — Correspondence to Timothy Lynch Regarding HHS-OIG, Tyson Howard, and Regents’ Bylaw 5.09 Proceedings
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Selected Reporting
- Bradley Foerster Submits 140-Exhibit, 1,121-Page Documentary Chronology to FBI for Supervisory Review of the Investigation Involving Dr. Bradley Foerster, Dr. Myria Petrou, and Duaa Altaee
- From One FBI File to a Legislative Proposal: Peter and Maria Foerster Ask Senator Van Hollen's Office and Congressman Jamie Raskin to Consider a Uniform Administrative Framework for Federal Investigations
- Eva Feldman Documentary Chronology: 139 Exhibits on NIH R01NS082304, University Proceedings, and Federal Investigation — No Response Received
- Bradley Foerster and Myria Petrou Send Ann Arbor Officials Documentary Chronology on AAPD and Related Federal Investigations — No Response Received
- Timothy Lynch Documentary Chronology: 63 Exhibits on University of Michigan Office of General Counsel, University Investigations, and Law Enforcement — No Response Received
- Bradley Foerster and Myria Petrou Documentary Chronology: 8 Exhibits Document More Than Two Years of Efforts to Trace Bank of Ann Arbor's $1.4 Million Sheriff's Sale Credit Bid — No Response Received
Brad Foerster, MD PhD
Brad Foerster is a FOIA advocate documenting requests, transparency disputes, and accountability investigations involving public agencies, universities, police oversight, and Russia-Gate related inquiries. His work compiles original documents, timelines, and analysis of public records and institutional responses. Brad is also a board-certified radiologist, author of Town & Gown, and has published over 40 peer-reviewed articles. Brad lives in Potomac, Maryland with his family and is a member of the Montgomery County Medical Society and the Takoma Park U.S. & World History Book Club.