“ … those who are trying to hide the truth from the American people.” ~ Tulsi Gabbard
Judicial Watch sued in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after the ODNI failed to respond to a July 31, 2026, FOIA request “for records concerning the discovery, location, contents, and handling of the materials referenced by Director Gabbard, as well as communications about their discovery and records about any inquiry into why the materials were designated for destruction.”
On August 26, 2025, Gabbard confirmed to President Trump during a cabinet meeting that ODNI had identified burn bags containing information regarding corruption in the 2020 presidential election. “We are finding documents literally tucked away in the back of safes in random offices, in these bags and in other areas—which, again, speaks to the intent of those who are trying to hide the truth from the American people.” She added that the documents revealed the politicization of intelligence and caused immeasurable harm to the American people.
Judicial Watch said in its suit:
As of the date of this Complaint, ODNI has failed to: (i) determine whether to comply with the request; (ii) notify Plaintiff of any such determination or the reasons therefor; (iii) advise Plaintiff of the right to appeal any adverse determination; or (iv) produce the requested records or otherwise demonstrate that the requested records are exempt from production.
“There is no legitimate reason to continue sitting on these documents that will likely add further evidence of the corruption at the top of the Biden administration,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said.
Judicial Watch has another similar suit pending.
In August, a federal judge ordered the U.S. Department of Justice to provide answers about nearly 2 million pages of FBI records discovered in a “hidden room” at FBI headquarters, including whether the records have already been reviewed in response to other Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and whether the newly uncovered records had been stored in other government record systems.
In July, the FBI told a federal court that, at a rate of 500 pages a month, processing records from the “hidden room” at FBI Headquarters would take approximately 158 years. The room — now dubbed the “burn bag room” — holds over 2 million pages of records, according to the FBI’s own filing. Then-Deputy Director Bongino said in May 2025 that some of the records were found stashed “in bags.”
In February, Judicial Watch filed a FOIA lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice concerning the discovery and contents of “burn bags” found in a secured Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) at Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) headquarters in Washington, DC.
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