WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, America First Legal (AFL) sued the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) to compel the immediate release of documents requested under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) regarding the secretive Presidential Information Technology Committee (PITC) created by former President Barack Obama.
In January, AFL filed a FOIA with the Defense Information Systems Agency, part of the Department of Defense, to understand PITC.
PITC is highly relevant today as it creates a presumption that the President controls all information he receives. Thus, it is relevant to what a President may reasonably believe about information given to him in office.
If information stored on the PITC network formed the basis for Special Counsel Jack Smith’s prosecution of former President Trump, that evidence should have been disclosed to the former President and may be relevant to his liability. This is especially significant given the Special Counsel’s case in Florida hinges on the notion that former President Trump was not “authorized” to retain certain documents. The PITC memo could create a reasonable belief for any President that he has such authority.
Additionally, suppose the records Trump allegedly destroyed are still preserved within the EOP or the U.S. Department of Defense as part of PITC-created information systems. In that case, claims in the indictment that President Trump removed or destroyed records may be baseless.
Given the DOD’s failure to hand over the requested information, AFL has filed a lawsuit. AFL will not cease in its legal battle until the DOD produces documents as required under the law.
Read the lawsuit here.
