An investigative reporter joined a graduate student to file a lawsuit this week against eight federal agencies seeking more information on Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, Donald Trump’s Attorney General nominee.
First reported by Lydia Wheeler in The Hill, journalist Jason Leopold and Ryan Shapiro, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) doctoral candidate, filed the suit Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The two argue the records will shed more light on Sessions’ career as a state and federal attorney general and lawmaker.
The suit accuses the agencies of failing to comply with requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Agencies named in the suit are the Department of Justice, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Security Agency.
Wheeler writes that Leopold and Shapiro have also sued the CIA, FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, asking for records on Russian interference in the presidential election.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee agreed to delay a vote on Sessions’ confirmation until Jan. 31, after a request by Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the senior Democrat on the committee.
