Judicial Watch Sues DOJ, and HHS for Communications about Project Veritas with Pfizer, The New York Times and Other Outside Groups

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that it filed three Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits against Departments of Justice (DOJ) and Health and Human Services (HHS) for communications about Project Veritas with Pfizer, the New York Times and other outside groups(Judicial Watch v Department of Justice (No. 1:22-cv-01035)) (Judicial Watch v Department of Health and Human Services (No. 1:22-cv-01033)) (Judicial Watch v Department of Justice (No. 1:22-cv-01034)).

The lawsuit (No. 1:22-cv-01035) about the FBI’s communications with Pfizer about Project Veritas was filed after the DOJ failed to respond to a December 21, 2021, FOIA request for:

• All records of communications between officials in the FBI, including officials in the offices of the FBI New York Field Office on the one hand, and employees and representatives of Pfizer Inc. on the other hand, regarding Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe and/or Project Veritas.

The lawsuit (No. 1:22-cv-01033) about Phoenix Indian Medical Center communications about Project Veritas was filed after HHS failed to respond to an October 18, 2021, FOIA request for:

• All records of communications between PIMC officials and/or employees regarding, concerning, Jodi O’Malley, James O’Keefe and/or Project Veritas.

The lawsuit (No. 1:22-cv-01034) about the FBI’s communications with the New York Times about Project Veritas was filed after the DOJ failed to respond to a November 10, 2021, FOIA request for:

• All records of communications between officials in the FBI, including officials in the offices of the FBI Director, FBI Deputy Director, Office of General Counsel, Office of Public Affairs, and/or the FBI New York Field Office on the one hand, and employees, contractors, and representatives of The New York Times on the other hand, regarding the FBI search warrants and raid on the residence of Project Veritas journalist Spencer Meads on November 4, 2021.
• All records of communications between officials in the FBI, including officials in the offices of the FBI Director, FBI Deputy Director, Office of General Counsel, Office of Public Affairs, and/or the FBI New York Field Office on the one hand, and employees, contractors, and representatives of The New York Times on the other hand, regarding the FBI search warrants and raid on the residence of Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe on November 6, 2021. 

“From midnight raids to legal maneuvering, the government has been attacking Project Veritas for years,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “We need to know the details of any Biden administration discussions targeting the journalists at Project Veritas.”

In January 2022, Judicial Watch announced that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) told Judicial Watch in a response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request that it has communications from Pfizer in an investigative file targeting Project Veritas. (In October 2021, Project Veritas, a nonprofit investigative journalism organization, published two viral stories [here and here] about the Pfizer COVID vaccine.)

In December 2021, Judicial Watch received a six-page incident report and bodycam footage from the Delray Beach, FL, Police Department, detailing the turnover of records related to the diary and/or other property of Ashley Biden, daughter of President Joe Biden.

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