Bloomberg News sues DOJ for stonewalling release of records pertaining to Biden classified documents scandal

Bloomberg News is suing the Department of Justice for failing to comply with Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for presidential records that were collected in recent months as part of the classified documents scandal plaguing President Biden. 

Tuesday's filing in D.C. district court lists Bloomberg and its investigative reporter Jason Leopold as the plaintiffs.

"Plaintiffs JASON LEOPOLD and BLOOMBERG L.P. bring this suit to force Defendant U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE to comply with Plaintiffs’ FOIA requests and release documents regarding the transfer of President Biden’s Obama-era Presidential records that were discovered at the Penn Biden Center and other locations. In violation of FOIA, Defendant has failed to issue a determination for the expedited requests and has failed to produce records responsive to the requests," the complaint reads. 

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According to the complaint, Bloomberg filed its FOIA request Jan. 17 and on Jan. 18, the DOJ's Office of Information Policy (OIP) "acknowledged receipt" of the request but determined it fell under its "unusual circumstances" policy "and therefore has ‘not yet completed a search to determine whether there are records within the scope’ of the request."

Bloomberg then sought "an estimated date of completion" for the FOIA request on March 6 but it wasn't until March 17 that the OIP responded with an estimated completion date of "415.13 days."

"Thus, according to OIP, the public must wait until September 13, 2024 (less than two months before the next Presidential election), to receive records about government records kept by President Biden in his office, home, and other locations," the complaint read. "As of March 17, 2023, OIP was aware that agencies are required to process expedited requests 'as soon as practicable.' It is practicable for OIP to process the request in less than 415 days."

The DOJ did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment.

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Troves of records, including some containing classified documents, were found in numerous locations in recent months including Biden's Delaware home, the Penn Biden Center in Washington D.C. and the office of Biden's attorney in Boston. The records found date back to his time as vice president as well as his years as a senator.

Questions started swirling around the White House when it became known in January that the first batch of documents were found and turned over to the National Archives days before the November midterm elections.

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At the time, Biden was vocal in his criticism of former President Trump over his handling of classified documents, which had been kept in the office at his Mar-a-Lago resort until the infamous FBI raid of his home there. 

Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed two separate special counsels to investigate the current and former presidents' handling of classified documents. 

While Trump's legal troubles have dominated the news cycle in recent days, especially following the indictment out of New York over a 2016 hush money payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels, there continues to be a cloud hovering over Biden as well, particularly regarding the multiple probes involving his son Hunter Biden.

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Republican lawmakers are pursuing investigations into whether the president or any member of his family have profited from shady foreign business dealings during or after the Obama presidency. Records show that Biden did meet with Hunter's business partners in the White House as vice president despite his assurance to reporters during the 2020 election that he has never discussed business with his son.