Law

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) for all records regarding Joe Biden’s improper removal of classified materials while he was a U.S. Senator or Vice President and storage of the materials in unclassified settings as detailed in Special Counsel Robert Hur’s February 5, 2024 report (Judicial Watch v. Office of the Director of National Intelligence (No. 1:24-cv-01036)). Judicial Watch filed the lawsuit after ODNI failed to comply with a February 21, 2024, FOIA request for damage assessments and equity reviews performed by the Office of the Director of Nat..

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that a hearing is set for Tuesday, April 16, 2024, 10 a.m. CT, 9 a.m. ET, before Chancellor I’Ashea Myles in the Chancery Court for Davidson County, 20th Judicial District, in the public records lawsuit against the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County for records related to the March 2023 shooting at The Covenant School in Tennessee, including the reported “manifesto” written by the female shooter. Judicial Watch filed an open records lawsuit on behalf of retired Hamilton County Sheriff James Hammond and the Tennessee Firearms Association, Inc. (“TFA”) (Hammond et al. v. Metropolitan Govt of Nashville et al. (N..

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton made the following statement regarding the unprecedented prosecution of President Donald Trump by Democrats in New York: It will be nearly impossible for Trump to receive a fair trial in a courtroom run by biased, anti-Trump Democratic Party politicians. Today’s s kangaroo court proceedings in the Manhattan Supreme Court mark the first-ever criminal trial of a U.S. president. Today is a sad day that will go down in infamy. This is a dangerous attack on the rule of law and a brazen attempt to rig the 2024 elections for President Biden and Democrats. Judicial Watch denounces Alvin Bragg’s corrupt attempt to make former president Dona..

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that a federal court hearing was held Tuesday, April 9, regarding its Freedom of Information Act lawsuit seeking to compel the CIA to produce records about its contacts with former Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann, who was unsuccessfully prosecuted by Special Counsel John Durham for making false statement to a federal agent. Judicial Watch filed the February 2022 lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after the CIA failed to reply to an October 2021 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for records regarding meetings or telephonic conversations with Sussmann (formerly an attorney with Perkins Coie) (Judi..

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today it received 62 pages of records from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit, showing that the FBI opened a criminal investigation of Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt after her killing and listed four “potential violations of federal law,” including felony rioting and civil disorder. The records also contain multiple reports of two subjects being shot, including the fatal shooting of Babbitt, during the January 6 Capitol protests. The records were produced in a FOIA lawsuit against the Justice Department and FBI for records related to the death of Ashli Babbitt (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Departmen..

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that it has asked a federal court to deny the U.S. Government’s request to transfer the Ashli Babbitt wrongful death lawsuit from California to Washington, DC. Among other legal points, Judicial Watch argues it would prejudice the case and be unjust for Ashli’s family if it were transferred to the hostile forum of District of Columbia. Judicial Watch filed the lawsuit on January 5, 2024, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California on behalf of the family of Ashli Babbitt, the U.S. Air Force veteran who was shot and killed inside the U.S. Capitol by then-Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd on January 6, 2021 (Estate of..

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. State Department for all emails and diplomatic notes from Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and other top department officials that reference former Fox News host Tucker Carlson (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:24-cv-00840)). On February 8, 2024, the Tucker Carlson Network and X (Twitter) ran Carlson’s interview in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin. It was the first interview with Putin to be granted to a Western journalist since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Judicial Watch filed the laws..

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that a federal appellate oral argument is set for Tuesday, April 2 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in the case filed on behalf of Kari MacRae, a Massachusetts high school teacher who was fired in retaliation for posts on social media that predated her employment at Hanover High School (MacRae v. Matthew Mattos and Matthew A. Ferron (No. 21-cv-11917, 23-1817)). The lawsuit was filed in November 2021, asserting a claim for First Amendment retaliation. MacRae, who was hired as a Hanover High School teacher on August 31, 2021, was fired over several TikTok posts that were made months prior to her hiring at the school. MacRae,..

(Washington, DC)– Judicial Watch announced today that an appellate oral argument is set for Thursday, March 28 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in the case filed on behalf of Congressman Mike Bost and two other registered Illinois voters to prevent state election officials from extending Election Day for 14 days beyond the date established by federal law (Rep.Michael J. Bost, Laura Pollastrini, and Susan Sweeney v. The Illinois State Board of Elections and Bernadette Matthews (No. 1:22-cv-02754, 23-2644)). The lawsuit was filed on May 25, 2022. In October 2022, Judge Kness rejecteda motion by Democratic Party of Illinois to intervene as a defendant in Judicial Watch’s..

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that it filed an amicus (friend of the court) brief in the U.S. Supreme Court regarding the abortion drug Mifeprex (Mifepristone, formerly known as RU-486). Judicial Watch argues “the FDA violated its own unambiguous regulation:” The judiciary’s default position of bestowing undue deference on federal agencies has led to the rise of an unelected fourth branch of government that touches every aspect of our lives. These federal agencies wield budgets in the hundreds of billions of dollars with little to no oversight…. In 2000, the FDA harnessed the executive power from a political administration with a personal agenda bent on approvin..

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today a public ruling was made by the Judicial Council of the Seventh Circuit related to Judicial Watch’s and American First Legal’s misconduct complaints that were filed against three federal judges in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois for standing orders that granted special preferences to lawyers appearing before them based on the lawyers’ race, ethnicity, or gender/sex. The ruling notes: In sum, all three judges have rescinded the standing orders that are the subject of these complaints. They also revised their case-management procedures, which now state only that the judges “welcome” or “encourage” o..

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today it filed a Georgia Open Records Act lawsuit against the University of Georgia Police Department for audio of any 911 call about nursing student Laken Riley who was assaulted and murdered, allegedly by illegal alien Jose Antonio Ibarra on the university campus. The lawsuit also demands the initial arrest report of Ibarra for the February 22, 2024, murder of Riley (Judicial Watch v. Jeff Clark, in his official capacity as Chief of Police of the University of Georgia Police Department (SU24-cv-0106)). Judicial Watch filed the lawsuit in the Superior Court of Clarke County after the police agency failed to comply with March 1 and March 14 Georg..

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that it and the Daily Caller News Foundation (DCNF) petitioned the Superior Court of the State of Delaware to reopen their case for the release of Joe Biden’s Senate records kept at the University of Delaware in light of the findings of Special Counsel Robert Hur that contradict representations made under oath made by the University of Delaware that no taxpayer money was used to process Biden’s records. In July 2020, Judicial Watch initially filed the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the University of Delaware for former Vice President Joe Biden’s Senate records, which are housed at the university’s library (Judicia..

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for work-related emails on U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco’s nongovernment email accounts (Judicial Watch, Inc. v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:24-cv-00527)). In June 2023, Judicial Watch received FOIA records from the Justice Department that showed top officials of its National Security Division discussing the political implications of former President Trump allowing CNN to use closed-circuit TV footage of the raid on his Mar-a-Lago home, including an email exchange in which Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General Marshall ..

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for all records about Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents welding open “flood gates” in the border wall in Arizona(Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security(No. 1:24-cv-00742)). In the lawsuit Judicial Watch cites an August 22, 2023, report by the New York Post in which the U.S. Border Patrol admits it was responsible for a decision to weld open more than 100 “flood gates” in the wall at the U.S. southern border in Arizona, allowing access points for illegal aliens to unlawfully enter the U.S. Judicial Watch filed th..

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today it filed a Georgia Open Records Act lawsuit against District Attorney Fani Willis and Fulton County, Georgia, for records of any communication Willis and the county had with Special Counsel Jack Smith and the House January 6 Committee (Judicial Watch Inc. v. Fani Willis et al. (No. 24-CV-002805)). The lawsuit was filed in the Superior Court of Fulton County, GA after Willis and the County denied having any records responsive to an August 2023 Georgia Open Records Act request for: All documents and communication sent to, received from, or relating to Special Counsel Jack Smith or any employees in his office. All documents and communication s..

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today it received 88 pages of Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) records from the Department of Justice in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit that show the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) deployed personnel to Washington, DC, on January 6, 2021. Judicial Watch forced the release of the records through a June 5, 2023, lawsuit that was filed after the Justice Department failed to respond to an August 10, 2023, FOIA request for records and communications regarding shots being fired inside the U.S. Capitol, as well as requests for Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Special Response Team assista..

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice for records of all Special Counsel interviews of President Biden (Judicial Watch, Inc. v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:24-cv-00700)). Judicial Watch filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after the Department of Justice failed to respond to a February 8, 2024, FOIA request for “all transcripts, audio recordings, and video recordings of all interviews of President Biden conducted during the course of the investigation led by Special Counsel Robert Hur.” On February 5, 2024, Special Counsel Robert Hur issued ..

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today it filed a judicial misconduct complaint against three federal judges in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois for standing orders that grant special preferences to lawyers who appear before them based on the lawyers’ race, ethnicity, or gender/sex. The complaint names Chief Judge Nancy J. Rosenstengel, Judge Staci M. Yandle, and Judge David W. Dugan for orders Judicial Watch states are discriminatory and unconstitutional and constitute “conduct prejudicial to the effective and expeditious administration of the business of the courts.” On January 7, 2020, Judge Yandle entered a standing order that provides, in ..

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that it hand-delivered an ethics complaint to Chairman Christopher A. Coons (D-CT) and Vice Chairman James Lankford (R-OK) of the Senate Select Committee on Ethics calling for a full investigation into potential ethics violations tied to Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) abusing his office to benefit himself and his wife. “There is strong evidence that Senator Sheldon Whitehouse may have violated Senate ethics conflicts of interest rules. The Senate Ethics Committee should immediately investigate this serious issue,” stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “Senator Whitehouse seems to have stepped over the line of standard environ..

(Washington, DC)– Judicial Watch announced today that it filed a federal lawsuit against the Illinois State Board of Elections and its Executive Director, Bernadette Matthews, over their failure to clean Illinois’ voter rolls and to produce election-related records as required by federal law, the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) (Judicial Watch Inc. et al. v. Illinois State Board of Elections et al.(No. 1:24-cv-01867)). The lawsuit requests the court to require Illinois to “develop and implement a general program that makes a reasonable effort to remove the registrations of ineligible registrants from the voter rolls.” (Legal pressure from Judicial Watch ultimately led ..

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton made the following statement regarding the Supreme Court ruling allowing Donald Trump’s eligibility on the 2024 Colorado primary ballot. The United States Supreme Court today made a powerful and unified statement against the brazen, unconstitutional coup by leftists against the constitutional rights of tens of millions of Americans. And, thankfully, a Supreme Court majority seems prepared to stop any shady Biden administration and leftist congressional efforts to overturn a Trump victory based on false allegations of insurrection. In January, Judicial Watch filed an amici curiae(friend of the court) briefalong with the Allied Educati..

East Wing Tours Stopped for 20 Minutes Due to Blood on the Floor (Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that it received 269 pages of records from the U.S. Secret Service related to incidents of aggression by President Biden’s dog Commander, including at least 23 biting incidents. After one incident, East Wing public tours were stopped for approximately 20 minutes due to the blood on the floor from the attack in the area of the “Booksellers.” The records were obtained through an October 2023 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed by Judicial Watch after the Secret Service (a component of the Department of Homeland Security) failed to respond to a July 31, 2023, re..

Judicial Watch is Awarded $97,000 (Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today it settled its 2014 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit, which sought the emails of then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton regarding the Benghazi attack. This suit led directly to the disclosure of Clinton’s use of a nongovernment email server to conduct government business (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:14-cv-01242). The settlement commits the State Department to a payment to Judicial Watch of $97,000. This FOIA lawsuit, about the Obama administration’s Benghazi scandal, forced the Obama administration to admit to Hillary Clinton’s hidden classified and other government ema..

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch today announced its participation as a Supporting Sponsor of the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), February 21-24, at the Gaylord National Harbor. Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton is scheduled to speak at CPAC on Saturday, February 24.* Viewers can watch the broadcast live Thursday – Saturday at www.judicialwatch.org/cpac.They can also visit the Judicial Watch Facebook page or YouTubepage. About Judicial Watch Inc.: Judicial Watch is a conservative, nonpartisan educational foundation that promotes transparency, accountability and integrity in government, politics and the law. Through its educational endeavors, Judicial Watch advo..

(Washington, DC)– Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton made the following statement today about Texas A&M closing its campus in Qatar (The news follows disclosures from a Judicial Watch lawsuit on behalf of the Zachor Legal Institute that disclosed nearly half a billion in funding from the Qatar regime for Texas A&M.): Texas A&M’s decision to close its Qatar campus is a recognition how reckless and dangerous it is for a taxpayer-supported institution to take money and partner from a known supporter of terrorism especially now that terrorism has raised its ugly head so dramatically again in the Mideast. Texas A&M has more work to do to extract itself from Qatar’s hooks. And Judicial Watc..

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that the U.S. Department of Justice is asking a federal court to allow the agency to keep secret the names of top staffers working in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office that is targeting former President Donald Trump and other Americans. Judicial Watch filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit in May 2023 after the Justice Department rejected a December 9, 2022, FOIA request for ”staff rosters, phone lists, or similar records depicting all employees hired by or detailed to office of Special Counsel Jack Smith” (Judicial Watch Inc. v U.S. Department of Justice(No. 1:23-cv-01485)). After months of delay, the Biden Justice Depar..

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today it received 99 pages of Secret Service records from the Department of Homeland Security in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit that show Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas personally declined presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s request for Secret Service protection. Judicial Watch received the records through a September 26, 2023, lawsuit that was filed after the Department of Homeland Security failed to respond to a July 31, 2023, FOIA request for senior department officials’ communications regarding the provision of Secret Service protection for Presidential Candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Departme..

(Washington, DC)– Judicial Watch announced today it filed a public records lawsuit in the Superior Court for Suffolk County, Massachusetts, against the City of Boston after the city failed to produce records related to the “Electeds of Color Holiday Party” hosted by Boston Mayor Michelle Wu in December 2023 (Judicial Watch v. City of Boston (No. 2484-cv-00332)). On December 13, 2023, Judicial Watch submitted a public records request for: A. All internal email communications of Mayor Wu, Chief of Equity and Inclusion Cervera, Chief of Staff Chu, Chief People Officer Lawrence, Chief of Human Services Masso, Senior Advisor Osgood, Spokesman Patron, and Chief of Communications Pierre relat..

(Washington, D.C.) Judicial Watch announced today that it received 63 pages of records from the United States Secret Service in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit that show Assistant Director Michael Plati ordering his staff not to respond to a request for information from Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s head of security. The documents also confirm that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alexander Mayorkas and President Biden both have the discretion to provide Secret Service protection to Kennedy at any time. Judicial Watch received the records through a September 26, 2023, lawsuit filed against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) after it failed to respond ..