Judicial Watch Sues Justice Dept for Records on Columbia Professor in Biden-Era Short Selling Probe

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice for records concerning Columbia University law professor Joshua Mitts during the Biden Justice Department’s investigation into short selling by hedge funds (Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:26-cv-00356)).

Judicial Watch filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after the Justice Department failed to respond to a December 1, 2025, FOIA request for:

• All communications of or about Joshua Mitts, including [email protected], and [email protected],

• All contracts and related correspondence involving M Analytics, including Contract 15JCRM24P00000078.

In 2020, Mitts published research titled “Short and Distort,” in which he notes that anonymous negative reporting about public companies often coincides with stock price drops followed by sharp reversals. He argues this pattern may be due to manipulative trading by the authors, and suggests they be banned.

Mitts’ research was cited in public reporting and discussion about federal probes into short selling. Short sellers pushed back strongly, arguing Mitts’ conclusions were flawed or biased due to his consulting roles.

Mitts also has a consulting practice, M Analytics LLC, that describes itself as “a boutique consulting firm specializing in financial economics,” providing “testimony in high-stakes litigation and regulatory investigations.”

On January 30, 2024, the Justice Department’s Criminal Division awarded a $70,000 Time and Materials contract for expert witness services to M Analytics. 

“Did Joshua Mitts write the research that helped spur the Justice Department’s investigation of short selling and then start a firm that consulted on that investigation?” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “Our lawsuit intends to find out if this was coincidence.”

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