A FOIA request filed last November by the nonprofit Electronic Privacy Information Center asked for a broad range of special counsel Robert Mueller materials. | Alex Wong/Getty Images legal Judge punts on speedy verdict for possible Mueller records release The nonprofit Electronic Privacy Information Center is seeking to uncover a broad range of Robert Mueller's materials.

A federal judge on Friday rejected a request to fast track a review of Robert Mueller’s records for potential public release.

U.S. District Court Judge Reggie Walton sided with Justice Department lawyers who were asking him to stick to the normal schedule for Freedom of Information Act cases as he considers a lawsuit seeking a variety of underlying records tied to the now-concluded special counsel investigation.


At issue is a FOIA request filed last November by the nonprofit Electronic Privacy Information Center that asked for a broad range of Mueller materials, including any reports connected to the end of the probe, congressional briefing materials and any referrals the special counsel made outside the criminal justice system.

DOJ on Thursday responded to EPIC by saying that it had found only 17 pages with records responsive to its FOIA request. The pages, DOJ said, were status updates the special counsel had prepared in the course of its investigation. Other than that, DOJ said it had not found anything applicable for release that wasn’t already public.

In court Friday, EPIC lawyer John Davisson questioned the validity of DOJ’s record search, citing as one example Mueller’s late March letter to Attorney General William Barr that confirms the special counsel’s office had summary documents on the investigation ready for public release — meaning they likely also had underlying drafts and other supporting materials.

“We view this as a canary in the coal mine,” Davisson said in a critique of DOJ’s insistence it had no underlying drafts, outlines or other supporting material that were prepared for members of Congress.

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Davisson requested that Walton order DOJ to submit a sworn statement backing up its claims that it had conducted a complete search of the Mueller files. But the George W. Bush-appointed judge punted on that question, saying an affidavit would need to be produced once the case advances to a later stage in the legal fight.

For now, Walton signed off on DOJ’s request to take until Sept. 12 to tell EPIC whether it will hand over the 17 pages in total or impose redactions under various exemptions to the FOIA statute. In court Friday, Davisson had asked the judge to speed that step up to take only three weeks.

EPIC’s request for a variety of underlying Mueller materials is tied to a separate case in which the advocacy group is seeking access to the entire special counsel report. On Monday, Walton signaled he’s considering siding with EPIC and its co-plaintiff, BuzzFeed.

But the judge first is considering an initial step where he’d review the unredacted Mueller report to see if the FOIA exemptions that DOJ is citing to block release of the full document actually line up with what’s allowed under the law.