We’ve been covering the twists and turns of Congressman Lamar Smith’s (R-Tex.) tussle with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Rep. Smith, who chairs the House Science Committee, has accused NOAA scientists of manipulating climate data for political ends. While the NOAA has provided Smith with all the (publicly available) data and methodology behind the peer-reviewed study in question, Smith has also subpoenaed the scientists’ e-mails.

Now, a new combatant has joined the fray: conservative government watchdog and FOIA factory Judicial Watch.

According to a press release from the group, Judicial Watch submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request on October 30 for many of the same records Rep. Smith is seeking. The group requested “all documents and records of communications between NOAA officials, employees, and contractors” relating to decisions about methods for building NOAA’s global surface temperature dataset. In addition, Judicial Watch included a request for communications about Rep. Smith’s subpoena.

Judicial Watch says it received no response from NOAA, so on December 2 they filed a lawsuit. On December 15, the press release says, “NOAA called and told Judicial Watch that it would begin searching for documents responsive to Judicial Watch’s FOIA request.” NOAA told a Washington Post reporter it could not comment on the FOIA request since there is now a lawsuit in process.

There have been a number of recent examples of judges throwing out FOIA requests seen as “fishing expeditions” targeting university researchers’ e-mails, including a high-profile case involving climate scientist Michael Mann. If this lawsuit progresses to that point, the results may hinge on whether a judge extends that kind of protection to researchers at federal agencies.