Citizens United filed two lawsuits this week against the Department of Interior and Department of State for failing to comply with Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) records requests regarding the White House’s attempt to federalize elections.
The nonprofit submitted FOIA requests in June, but both agencies failed to respond (federal law requires FOIA requests to be responded to within 20 working days). The requests sought email and text messages from both agencies that mentioned President Biden’s Promoting Access to Voting executive order and the Hatch Act, a law that prohibits executive branch employees from engaging in election activities.
“The Biden Administration may have violated the Hatch Act and these records should provide the answer,” Citizens United President David N. Bossie told The Federalist.
As previously reported by The Federalist, Biden’s executive order directs all 600 federal agencies to become voter registration agencies and organize voter outreach efforts. It allows such agencies — including ones that dole out federal benefits —to work with leftwing get-out-the-vote groups.
Government watchdogs and Congressional Republicans are worried Biden’s EO is a scheme to mobilize the federal bureaucracy to drive Democratic voter registration and turnout, swinging elections in favor of Democrats — particularly as the 2022 midterms loom.
“Citizens United filed these FOIA lawsuits against the Interior & State Departments because Joe Biden’s executive order on voting amounts to a Democrat turnout effort that politicizes the federal workforce and is a blatant abuse of power,” Bossie said. “This issue deserves far more transparency and that’s why we’re demanding these records be released to the American people.”
In addition to Citizens United, the Foundation for Government Accountability, the American Accountability Foundation, and the Center for Renewing America have all filed lawsuits against the Biden administration for failing to comply with FOIA requests surrounding the executive order. A federal judge ruled in July that the Biden DOJ must comply with the Foundation for Government Accountability’s FOIA request before the 2022 midterms.
Citizens United’s lawsuits come after 15 secretaries of state wrote a letter to Biden urging him to rescind the executive order on grounds of unconstitutionality.
Victoria Marshall is a staff writer at The Federalist. Her writing has been featured in the New York Post, National Review, and Townhall. She graduated from Hillsdale College in May 2021 with a major in politics and a minor in journalism. Follow her on Twitter @vemrshll.
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