The State Department is refusing to hand over documents on former Secretary of State John Kerry until after the next presidential election in 2024.
A government watchdog group is demanding to see files on Democrat President Joe Biden’s climate envoy, but the federal department is rejecting the requests.
The group, Protect the Public’s Trust (PPT), filed a lawsuit after the department said they would not hand over documents involving Kerry until after the 2024 election.
PPT filed a lawsuit against the State Department on Wednesday after the department gave the date of November 18, 2024, to fulfill the group’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request on Kerry’s office.
PPT director Michael Chamberlain said: “The Biden Administration promised to be the most transparent ever.
“But when the State Department is asked for records about John Kerry’s office – whose work touches on energy prices, international relations, many of the issues the American public cares about right now – they refuse to commit to anything until after the next presidential election.
“It doesn’t take a huge cynic to believe politics may be a factor.
“Looking at the State Department’s schedule for providing records, it would be hard to convince the American public that political considerations were not factored into their reaction to this request.
“Delaying the release of records about one of the most high-profile, high-priority offices, run by one of the most prominent political figures, until after a relevant election is an affront to not only the AG’s guidance but to basic principles of public service.
“If anyone were wondering why trust in the government is so low, this case is Exhibit A.”
“As the Garland Memo makes clear, ‘Timely disclosure of records is also essential to the core purpose of FOIA.’
“An agency purporting to give itself more than three years to complete a FOIA request is anything but timely,” the lawsuit says.
“Particularly where, as here, the Department’s proposed completion date conveniently allows it to hide information about high-level political appointees working on one of the Administration’s highest priorities until just after the next presidential election,” it continues.
“This can hardly be said to promote ‘transparency’ or ‘accountability.’”
PPT issued a statement that said:
“Today, federal watchdog Protect the Public’s Trust announced it has filed a transparency lawsuit against the State Department.
The action seeks to enforce the organization’s legal rights regarding a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for records involving John Kerry’s Office of the Special Envoy for Climate Change (SECC), a request which State estimates it will be unable to complete until November 18, 2024.
The American public is suffering from intense pain at the pump, rising inflation, and the specter of armed conflict in Europe.
Yet the State Department is claiming the need to withhold records that could shed light on an office that is run by former presidential candidate and Secretary of State John Kerry until after the next Presidential election.
Mr. Kerry is charged with leading one of the administration’s top priorities and is performing work that could have immense impacts on Americans’ pocketbooks, record inflation, and international crises.
State’s replies to the original request and PPT’s follow-up inquiries are wholly inconsistent with both the spirit and the letter of Attorney General (AG) Merrick Garland’s memo last week to heads of departments and agencies regarding FOIA.
FOIA, the AG intoned, is “a vital tool for ensuring transparency, accessibility, and accountability in government” whose “‘basic purpose . . . is to ensure an informed citizenry,’ which is ‘vital to the functioning of a democratic society [and] needed to check against corruption and to hold the governors accountable to the governed.’”
But not until after the next election, apparently.
PPT challenges State’s lack of transparency around climate officehttps://t.co/iesKhGHHdD
— Protect the Public’s Trust (@PublicsTrust) March 24, 2022
