Judicial Watch Sues DOJ/FBI for Top Officials’ Communications about Alleged Russian Interference in the 2016 Election

Updated 4/5/19

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice for records of communications of former Attorneys General Loretta Lynch, Sally Yates, Dana Boente and Jeff Sessions; Deputy Attorneys General Sally Yates, Dana Boente, and Rod Rosenstein; former FBI Directors James Comey and Andrew McCabe; former Deputy Directors Mark F. Giuliano and Andrew McCabe, as well as the Office of General Counsel regarding possible Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign.

The suit was filed after the DOJ failed to respond adequately to a May 21, 2018, FOIA request (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:19-cv-00726)). Judicial Watch seeks DOJ communications:

All records of internal DOJ communications, including emails (whether on .gov or non-.gov email accounts), text messages or instant chats, of officials in the offices of the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General regarding possible Russian involvement and/or interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign.

Also, on May 21, 2018, Judicial Watch submitted a FOIA request to the FBI seeking similar information:

All records of internal FBI communications, including emails (whether on .gov or non-.gov email accounts), text messages or instant chats, of officials in the offices of the FBI Director, FBI Deputy Director and Office of General Counsel regarding possible Russian involvement and/or interference in the 2016 US presidential campaign.

The time frame for both requests is January 2016 through May 2017.

In July 2018 the DOJ claimed that it needed additional time to respond to Judicial Watch’s request but has since been unresponsive. The DOJ’s answer to Judicial Watch is due April 21, 2019.

The FBI asserted in June 2018 that all records responsive to the request were exempt from disclosure, claiming that release would result in interference with law enforcement proceedings.

This is the latest FOIA lawsuit in Judicial Watch’s ongoing, in-depth investigation regarding the FBI’s involvement in the Russian investigation. Judicial Watch’s extensive investigation includes discovering information on the Clinton funded anti-Trump dossier and its use to obtain FISA warrants in order to spy on the Trump campaign; politically biased messages against President Trump between former FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page; the leaking of former FBI Director Comey’s memos; and the relationship between FBI official Bruce Ohr, his wife Nellie Ohr and Fusion GPS.

“Americans deserve to know the truth about what the corrupted DOJ and FBI leadership were saying when they were ginning up the bogus Russia investigation,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “It’s no wonder the DOJ and FBI are stonewalling. Once again, Judicial Watch is in the lead in investigating the worst corruption scandal in American history – the abusive targeting of President Trump by the Obama administration and the Deep State.

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