The Army alleged that a cemetery employee was “abruptly pushed aside” after attempting to enforce a rule prohibiting political activities at the cemetery.
American Oversight, a government ethics watchdog group, previously asked U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman to force the Army and the Defense Department “to make timely determinations” on a Freedom of Information Act request they had submitted regarding the visit.
“Defendants shall produce responsive, non-exempt records on or before October 25, 2024,” Friedman said in a Tuesday filing granting a preliminary injunction.
American Oversight submitted its FOIA request in late August to Arlington National Cemetery “seeking records with the potential to shed light on the events” from the incident.
“Specifically, American Oversight requested any report, including an incident report, regarding the alleged incident,” American Oversight personnel wrote in an earlier filing. “This request would capture records, to the extent they exist, about ANC’s efforts to enforce and investigate any potential inappropriate political activity in a location where it is prohibited by law.”
American Oversight asked to expedite its request, but attorneys for the government suggested it would be unfair to do so. The watchdog group’s request “would effectively allow” them “to jump the line ahead of other FOIA requests” the Army and DoD are working on.
“Rather, the plain language of FOIA’s expedited processing provision requires that an agency process an expedited FOIA request ‘as soon as practicable’ and imposes no limit for the processing time,” the attorneys said.
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“With the election just two weeks away, the American people have a clear and compelling interest in knowing how the government responded to an alleged incident involving a major presidential candidate who has a history of politicizing the military,” Chioma Chukwu, American Oversight’s interim executive director, said in an emailed statement to the Hill.
“These records belong to the public, and we’re pleased the court agreed on the need to expedite our request,” Chukwu said. “We look forward to receiving the incident report and making it available to the public.”
