“Biden’s DOJ and FBI made clear they are perfectly willing to selectively enforce the law. This double standard-driven war, particularly on conservatives, must stop,” Heritage President Kevin Roberts said in a statement announcing the seven lawsuits, which were filed on March 6 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
“When the top law enforcement agencies in the country refuse to comply with the very laws they’ve sworn to enforce, true accountability is necessary. This is precisely why the Heritage Oversight Project is filing these lawsuits. Americans have a right to know why and how the FBI is targeting everyday Americans and others whom Joe Biden, Merrick Garland, and their lieutenants smear as ‘domestic terrorists.'”
Federal officials are required by the FOIA to acknowledge receiving requests submitted seeking government documents within 20 days and to then conduct reasonably comprehensive searches for the materials being sought. They’re also required to inform the requestor of an expected completion date, any reproduction costs that may be incurred, and whether fees will be waived in the public interest.
Each of the suits claims that federal officials failed to comply with the law in response to all seven FOIA requests from the conservative think tank, beginning with one filed Sept. 12, 2022, concerning documented work hours devoted by FBI agents to “investigating any and all matters related to left-wing domestic terrorism, to include ‘violent extremist agendas—anarchists like Antifa and other agitators’ arising from the summer 2020 riots.”
A Nov. 18, 2022, FOIA request to the FBI from Heritage sought documents concerning information provided by FBI whistleblowers to Republican staff members of the House Judiciary Committee regarding an internal program at the law enforcement agency believed to be titled “Operation Bronze Griffin.” The program is central to an alleged “special relationship” between the FBI and Facebook, according to the FOIA request.Under Operation Bronze Griffin, Facebook provides the bureau with users’ content information without informing the individuals involved.
