Judicial Watch Asks Court to Order Release of CIA Communications with Clinton Campaign Lawyer

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that a federal court hearing was held Tuesday, April 9, regarding its Freedom of Information Act lawsuit seeking to compel the CIA to produce records about its contacts with former Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann, who was unsuccessfully prosecuted by Special Counsel John Durham for making false statement to a federal agent.

Judicial Watch filed the February 2022 lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after the CIA failed to reply to an October 2021 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for records regarding meetings or telephonic conversations with Sussmann (formerly an attorney with Perkins Coie) (Judicial Watch v. Central Intelligence Agency (No. 1:22-cv-00412)).

During the hearing, Judicial Watch explained to the court that the case was filed more than two years ago and that it took the CIA more than a year, until July 1, 2023, to provide four responsive records introduced into evidence at Sussman’s spring 2022 criminal trial.

Afterward, the CIA tried to have the case shut down, arguing to the court that its production of exhibits from Sussmann’s trial was sufficient and that it need not identify any other records responsive to Judicial Watch’s request or even disclose the number of such records in its files. The CIA also admitted that it had not even searched for records responsive to the 2021 request. When Judicial Watch demonstrated that the CIA’s arguments were meritless, the agency declared to the court in November 2023, that it would finally search for records. Most recently, it asked the court for an additional four months to provide only an update.

In March 2024, Judicial Watch argued:

Plaintiff submits that, under the circumstances, the time for updates is past and the case should move forward. The Agency should be required to produce whatever additional records it intends to produce and a Vaughn index, “no list/no numbers” or Glomar assertion by the July 10, 2024, date, with Plaintiff reserving its rights to challenge the additional searches and any withholdings.

“The CIA is in cover-up mode about its communications with the lawyer implicated in a shady spy operation against President Trump,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “What is the CIA hiding about its role in this plot against President Trump?”

A further hearing is set for May 2024.

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