[Red State] The Atlanta-based Southeastern Legal Foundation filed a 14-page lawsuit against the National Archives and Records Administration, asking a federal judge to order the federal document custodian to produce the more than 5,400 emails from Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., where he used a pseudonym — more than 400 days after the initial request."All too often, public officials abuse their power by using it for their personal or political benefit. When they do, many seek to hide it," said Kimberly Hermann, the SLF general counsel.
"The only way to preserve governmental integrity is for NARA to release Biden’s nearly 5,400 emails to SLF and thus the public. The American public deserves to know what is in them," Hermann said.
"Public transparency is the most vital check the citizens have for holding our political class accountable," said Braden Boucek, SLF's litigation director.
"After over a year of trying to work with NARA, its continued unreasonable delays have forced SLF to file this lawsuit," he said.
In its filing, SLF’s legal team made clear that it was requesting documents that NARA already admitted holding: "By its own admission, Defendant has possession, custody, and control of the records to which SLF seeks access."
This assertion goes back to almost the beginning of the SLF quest for the Biden emails under assumed names.
The foundation first filed its Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, request on June 9, 2022, and on June 22, 2022, NARA gave two responses.