A conservative watchdog group sued the federal government Monday in pursuit of records related to its probe of conversations involving President Trump’s former national security adviser, retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Michel Flynn, and Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak.
Judicial Watch filed suit against the CIA, Justice Department and Treasury Department in D.C. federal court this week in an attempt to compel their compliance with regards to Freedom of Information Act requests made after reports of those conversations first emerged.
The watchdog filed FOIA requests with each of the agencies on Jan. 25, 2017, two days after CNN first revealed that U.S. authorities had intercepted conversations between Mr. Flynn and the ambassador during the course of routine intelligence gathering conducted against Russian diplomats.
As of this week, however, Judicial Watch says the government has failed to respond to its FOIA requests. In a five-page civil complaint brought Monday, attorney James F. Peterson asked U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to heed its requests and begin immediately compiling records related to the government’s probe of Mr. Flynn’s communications with the ambassador.
While initial reports indicated that U.S. intelligence had intercepted Mr. Flynn’s conversations during the course of “routine” eavesdropping, Judicial Watch’s president cited unfounded wiretapping allegations lobbied by Mr. Trump this week as all the more reason for the request to be honored.
“President Trump is on to something. The Obama-connected wiretapping and illegal leaks of classified material concerning President Trump and General Flynn are a scandal,” the group’s president, Tom Fritton, said in a statement. “Judicial Watch aims to get to the truth about these crimes and we hope the Trump administration stands with us in the fight for transparency.”
Mr. Trump claimed without evidence on Twitter this week that his predecessor, Barack Obama, had authorized U.S. officials to eavesdrop on Trump Tower prior to the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Mr. Obama’s spokesperson and several senior U.S. intelligence officials have refuted that claim.
U.S. intelligence agencies typically surveil foreign diplomats, including Russian ambassadors. Mr. Flynn resigned from his role as White House national security adviser last month after it emerged that he had misled Vice President Pence and other senior Trump administration officials with regards to the nature of conversations that occurred with Mr. Kislyak prior to Mr. Trump’s inauguration.
Judicial Watch is seeking “any and all records regarding, concerning, or related to the investigation of retired Gen. Michael Flynn’s communications with Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak between October 1, 2016 and the present.” At the latest, the watchdog said the agencies were required to respond to the requests by March 2.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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