Biden Administration sued for withholding info on illegal funding of Palestinian Authority
- January 19, 2022
Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz, Israel365 News
The Washington Free Beacon reported that Protect the Public’s Trust (PPT), a watchdog group comprised of former government officials, has brought a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) against the Biden administration’s State Department to release documents showing that funding for the Palestinian Authority violated the Taylor Force Act.
The PPT has initially made the FOIA request on May 13 for records related to the resumption of direct and indirect aid to the Palestinian Authority. The State Department responded that it would be unable to complete the request until December 16, 2022 while at the same time refusing to commit to even an estimate of when it will begin to provide records.
Resuming the aid would require certification. According to media reports at the time State decided to resume the payments, the Department was “unable to certify” those conditions had been met.
“The American public deserves transparency around this decision, which may not only be in violation of the law but could potentially result in increased danger for U.S. citizens and their allies,” Michael Chamberlain, PPT’s director, told the Free Beacon. “But the State Department has yet to even give an estimate for when we will receive records, much less provide any.”