Federal watchdog sues State Department over delayed FOIA request on Kerry climate office
- March 29, 2022
Juliette Fairley, Legal Newsline
WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) – A federal watchdog has sued the U.S. Department of State alleging that it is wrongfully withholding records related to the Office of the Special Envoy for Climate Change, chaired by John Kerry.
Protect the Public’s Trust filed the lawsuit on March 23 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after the State Department indicated it wouldn’t be able to complete the request until Nov. 18, 2024, which is after the next presidential election.
“We think that delaying the release of the records calls into question what they may not want the public to know about until after the election and if people have questions about or concerns about why the American public’s trust in their government is at an all-time low, this is one of the reasons,” said Michael Chamberlain, director of Protect the Public’s Trust.