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A conservative group has filed a lawsuit over the Obama administration's FOIA response times. | Getty Watchdog suit: Obama White House slowing FOIA process

A conservative watchdog group has filed a lawsuit alleging that the Obama administration is illegally delaying responses to Freedom of Information Act requests by forcing records into an often lengthy review process by White House lawyers.

The suit filed Monday by the Cause of Action Institute claims that agencies across the federal government are interpreting a 2009 memo from then-White House Counsel Greg Craig to send to the White House records sought in FOIA requests on a wide variety of topics, including some where the only obvious interest the White House would have in the files appears to be political in nature.

"FOIA requests that implicate records that may be of political interest to the White House, even when they do not originate with the White House and where White House review is not necessary to evaluate FOIA exemptions and privileges, are sent to the White House for review," the lawsuit says. "The practice is followed if the information sought is politically sensitive or potentially embarrassing."

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, says agencies have referred to the White House records pertaining to a 2012 scandal overspending on conferences by the General Services Administration, files on bathroom renovations at the Department of Interior and details about employee bonuses and awards at the Defense Department. Agencies also appear to be pulling the White House in to the handling of seemingly mundane records about travel, when the travelers are members of President Barack Obama's Cabinet.

While agencies, Republican lawmakers and conservative groups have attributed the referrals and ensuing delays to the 2009 Craig memo, it is unclear whether that directive actually requires referral of a broader set of information to the White House than under earlier memos issued during the Reagan and Clinton administrations.

Cause of Action's lawsuit acknowledges that the Craig memo is vague about what constitutes "White House equities." The group says that vagueness appears to be leading to unnecessary referrals to the White House. Requesters are often unaware that a White House referral is delaying their request, although POLITICO is aware of cases where such referrals have led to years of delay.

A White House spokeswoman defended the Obama administration's overall record on FOIA, but declined to comment on the suit. She referred a reporter to a Justice Department spokesman who also declined to comment.

White House Counsel Neil Eggleston, his office and 11 federal agencies are named as defendants in the case, which seeks a judicial ruling "that Agency Defendants' compliance with the Craig Memo is unlawful to the extent that it delays compliance with FOIA deadlines." The case was assigned to Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, a Clinton appointee.