Victory! Appeals Court Orders Release of Covenant School Shooter
Writings

[INSIDE JW]

JUDICIAL WATCH OBTAINS ROSTERS IDENTIFYING JACK SMITH’S TOP DEPUTIES

[[link removed]]

Overcoming major resistance in the justice bureaucracy, we finally
obtained the rosters identifying the names of top deputies who worked
for former Special Counsel Jack Smith.

The names were released after we filed a May 2023 Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit
[[link removed]]
challenging the Biden Justice Department’s rejection of our request
[[link removed]] for “staff
rosters, phone lists, or similar records depicting all employees hired
by or detailed to office of Special Counsel Jack Smith” (_Judicial
Watch Inc. v U.S. Department of Justice_
[[link removed]]
(No. 1:23-cv-01485)).

The names on the rosters released to Judicial Watch are:

> Ahmed M. Baset
>
> Greg D. Bernstein
>
> Jay I. Bratt
>
> Matthew B. Burke
>
> Joseph P. “J.P.” Cooney
>
> Karen Y. Drolet
>
> Timothy “Tad” A. Duree
>
> Julie A. Edelstein
>
> Karen E. Gilbert
>
> Jonathan W. Haray
>
> David V. Harbach
>
> Ray N. Hulser
>
> Myron L. Marlin
>
> Stephen J. Marzen
>
> Ariel C. McIntyre
>
> Anne P. McNamara
>
> James I. Pearce
>
> John M. Pellettieri
>
> David A. Raskin
>
> Brett C. Reynolds
>
> David M. Rody
>
> Michael E. Thakur
>
> Maria K. Vento
>
> Brooke C. Watson
>
> Thomas P. Windom

Earlier, we obtained a similar roster
[[link removed]]
for top staffers working for former Special Counsel Robert Mueller,
but a federal court upheld the Biden Justice Department’s
extraordinary claim that the rosters had to be kept secret
[[link removed]] because
they were “compiled for law enforcement purposes” and implicated
the staffers’ privacy interests.”

We overcame a wall of resistance to get the names of the attorneys
helping rogue prosecutor Jack Smith in his attempt to upend our
Republic. We are pleased that the Bondi Justice Department finally
stopped defending the indefensible and turned over the rosters to us
and the American people.

We are a national leader in exposing the lawfare and abuse targeting
President Trump and other American citizens.

In January 2026, we sued the Justice Department for communications of
FBI agents regarding the prosecution of former Trump trade advisor
Peter Navarro (_Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S. Department of Justice_
[[link removed]]
(No.1:26-cv-00079)).

In September 2025, we sued
[[link removed]] the Justice
Department for communications between former Assistant Special Agent
in Charge Timothy Thibault and the anti-Trump organization American
Oversight (_Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S. Department of Justice_
[[link removed]]
(No. 1:25-cv–02556)).

In July 2025, we sued
[[link removed]] the Justice
Department for records about the FBI’s “Arctic Frost,”
investigation (_Judicial Watch, Inc. v. U.S. Department of Justice_
[[link removed]]
(No. 1:25-cv-02011)).

In June 2025, we sued
[[link removed]]
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes for her communications with Smith
(_Judicial Watch v. Kristin Mayes and Arizona Department of Law_
[[link removed]]
(CV 2025-020674).

In March 2025, we sued
[[link removed]] the Justice
Department for details of any investigations, inquiries, or referrals
concerning potential misconduct of any person working for Smith
(_Judicial Watch Inc. v U.S. Department of Justice_
[[link removed]]
(No. 1:25-cv-00801)).

Also in March, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis was ordered
[[link removed]] to turn
over 212 pages of records to a state court judge. The court also
ordered Willis to detail how the records were found and the reason for
withholding them from the public. The records were belatedly found in
response to a Judicial Watch request and lawsuit for communications
with Smith and the House January 6 Committee (_Judicial Watch Inc. v.
Fani Willis et al._
[[link removed] _(No.
24-CV-002805)).



COURT ORDERS RELEASE OF THE COVENANT SCHOOL SHOOTING RECORDS

This is a major legal victory: The Tennessee Court of Appeals ruled
[[link removed]]
that the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County must
release non-exempt portions of records related to the March 27, 2023,
at The Covenant School shooting, including the shooter's writings.

Audrey Elizabeth Hale, a 28-year-old trans artist, was killed
[[link removed]]
by police after opening fire on the private Christian elementary
school in Nashville, Tennessee, killing three adults and three
children.

In May 2023, we filed an open records lawsuit
[[link removed]] on behalf of
retired Hamilton County Sheriff James Hammond and the Tennessee
Firearms Association, Inc. (“TFA”) (_Hammond et al. v.
Metropolitan Govt of Nashville et al._
[[link removed]]
(No. 23-0538-III)).

The appeals court rejected every basis behind the lower court’s
unprecedented decision to keep the records secret. The court held that
the police investigative file is a public record, that the “ongoing
investigation” rationale for hiding the records is now moot as the
investigation is over, and that the court incorrectly imposed a
blanket secrecy rule based on speculative school-security or
copycat-crime concerns. It also rejected the trial court’s
unilateral creation of policy-based exemptions not found in statute.
The court also ruled that federal copyright law does not override the
Public Records Act and does not justify wholesale suppression of
records. Limited redactions may apply, but complete secrecy –
including for the shooter’s writings – is unlawful.

The case was returned to the lower court with instructions to expedite
its proceedings:

> The trial court has discretion to prescribe additional procedures as
> necessary to govern the proceedings on remand. The entire process
> should be concluded as expeditiously as possible. Because almost
> three years have passed since the first request for this
> information, we encourage the trial court to impose upon [Metro] an
> expedited schedule for completion of its review of the [requested
> public records].

Once again, our expert persistence in court achieved a transparency
breakthrough on the awful Covenant School shooting. The public has a
right to know fully how and why this terrible shooting took place.

In April 2025, we obtained U.S. Department of Justice records
[[link removed]] of
The Covenant School shooter’s manifesto. Additional records
[[link removed]] were
obtained in August 2025.

John I. Harris III, Esq., of Schulman, LeRoy & Bennett, PC in
Nashville, TN, assisted Judicial Watch with the lawsuit.



JUDICIAL WATCH SUES FOR FBI PUBLIC CORRUPTION UNIT RECORDS ON TRUMP

We are fighting for a full account of how the Biden team weaponized
the full weight of the federal government to target their political
foes.

We filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit
[[link removed]]
against the U.S. Department of Justice for records regarding the
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Public Corruption Unit’s
investigation of Donald Trump codenamed “Arctic Frost.” The
investigation was part of an unprecedented effort by the Biden
administration to prosecute and jail Trump for questioning Biden’s
controversial election victory (_Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S.
Department of Justice_
[[link removed] _(No.
1:26-cv-00163)).

We sued in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after
the FBI failed to respond to an October 7, 2025, FOIA request for the
Washington Field Office’s Public Corruption Unit (the “CR-15”
squad) investigative reports on Operation Arctic Frost, Justice
Department approvals for investigative steps or techniques, and
communications with former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office.

Arctic Frost was
[[link removed]
in April 2022
[[link removed]]
under the Biden administration.

In January 2025, U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) publicized records
about the targeting of Trump
[[link removed]

> Internal FBI emails and predicating documents provided to Grassley
> and released jointly by the two senators show Timothy Thibault, a
> former FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC) who was f
> [[link removed]
> to retire
> [[link removed]]
> from the Bureau after Grassley exposed
> [[link removed]]
> his public anti-Trump bias, authored the initial language for what
> ultimately became Jack Smith’s federal case against Trump
> regarding the 2020 presidential election. Records show Thibault
> essentially opened and approved his own investigation.

On October 6, 2025, Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary
Committee, revealed
[[link removed]]
that he had obtained an explosive FBI document
[[link removed]]
which shows the Biden FBI targeted eight Republican senators’
personal cell phones for “tolling data” as part of the Arctic
Frost investigation.

After the revelations were made public
[[link removed]],
FBI Director Kash Patel abolished
[[link removed]]
the CR-15 squad.

We are a national leader in exposing the lawfare and abuse targeting
Trump and other American citizens.

In November 2025, we sued
[[link removed]] the Justice
Department for the emails of former Special Counsel Jack Smith with
officials in Georgia and New York and with the White House,
congressional and law enforcement offices regarding his investigation
into Trump (_Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S. Department of Justice_
[[link removed]]
(No. 1:25-cv-03849)).

In January 2025, a federal court ordered
[[link removed]] the Justice
Department to provide us information on communications between Special
Counsel Jack Smith and Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis regarding
the prosecution of Trump. In May, the Justice Department was directed
to search text messages from the Special Counsel’s Office for
responsive records (_Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Justice_
[[link removed]]
(No. 23-cv-03110).

Also in January 2025, records
[[link removed]] from the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) showed it and the FBI warning
that law enforcement agencies should be prepared for a surge in
threats from so-called Domestic Violence Extremists (DVEs) following
the August 8, 2022, FBI raid on former Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in
Palm Beach, Florida (_Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S. Department of
Homeland Security_
[[link removed]]
(1:22-cv-03275)).

In May 2024, we uncovered
[[link removed]] a recording of a
phone message left by an FBI special agent for someone at the Secret
Service in the context of the raid on Trump’s home in Mar-a-Lago,
Florida (_Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S Department of Homeland Security_
[[link removed] _(No.
1:22-cv-03147)).

In February 2024, the Justice Department asked
[[link removed]] a
federal court to allow the agency to keep secret the names of top
staffers working in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office that was
targeting Trump and other Americans (_Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S.
Department of Justice_ (No. 1:23-cv-01485)).

In August 2022, we successfully sued to unseal the search warrant
affidavit
[[link removed]] used to
justify the unprecedented raid on the home of then-former President
Trump (
[[link removed].
v. Sealed Search Warrant_
[[link removed]]
(No. 9:22-mj-08332)).

JUDICIAL WATCH SUES FEC FOR RECORDS ON ACTBLUE DONOR FRAUD ALLEGATIONS

ActBlue [[link removed]] is the primary
online fundraising platform for Democrat candidates, political action
committees (PACs), and progressive causes. It processes billions in
small-dollar donations.

We filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit
[[link removed]]
against the Federal Election Commission (FEC) for records related to
alleged fraudulent donor activities by Act Blue. (_Judicial Watch Inc.
v Federal Election Commission_
[[link removed] _(No.
1:26-cv-00149)).

We sued in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after
the Federal Election Commission failed to respond to a September 2025
FOIA request for:

* Records, including reports, audits, or investigations of ActBlue's
donor verification processes, donor irregularities or potential donor
fraud.

* Communications between the [Federal Election Commission’s] Office
of Compliance and any state attorney general’s office or the U.S.
Department of Justice, about any alleged irregularities in ActBlue's
donor verification policies and procedures, donor irregularities, or
potential donor fraudulent activity.

According to an April 2025 congressional joint interim staff report
[[link removed]],
“Fraud on ActBlue: How the Democrats’ Top Fundraising Platform
Opens the Door for Illegal Election Contributions:”

> Internal documents … show that ActBlue staff and executives fail
> to take the threat of fraud seriously. ActBlue employees regularly
> demonstrated an unfounded belief that bad actors were not seeking to
> fraudulently contribute to Democrat campaigns and causes. For
> example, ActBlue’s training guide for new fraud-prevention
> employees instructed them to “look for reasons to accept
> contributions,” rather than err on the side of flagging a
> suspicious donation.

***

> Altogether, ActBlue’s internal documents and communications paint
> a damning picture: despite repeated instances of fraudulent
> donations to Democrat campaigns and causes from domestic and
> _foreign_ sources, ActBlue is not demonstrating a serious effort to
> deter fraud on its platform. [Emphasis in original] At best,
> ActBlue’s conduct displays a profound disrespect for the principle
> that only Americans should decide American elections. At worst, it
> may violate the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA), which
> states that persons who “knowingly accept a contribution made by
> one person in the name of another person” may face criminal
> liability.

There are legitimate, grave concerns that ActBlue has enabled illegal
fundraising. By failing to prevent widespread straw-donor schemes and
other tactics, it is likely that fraudulent and even foreign-sourced
contributions have crept into Democrat campaign coffers.

We are a national leader in election integrity and voting rights
litigation, with a record of successful lawsuits
[[link removed]] enforcing
constitutional redistricting standards and cleaning voter rolls
nationwide.



JUDICIAL WATCH SUES GOV. PRITZKER OVER PHOTOS WITH ‘PEACEKEEPER’
CHARGED IN MURDER

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker (D-IL) is stonewalling us on our request
for records about a cozy photo-op with an employee.

We filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit
[[link removed]]
against Pritzker for records regarding a September 2025
“Peacekeeper” event at which Pritzker was photographed with
anti-violence employee Kellen McMiller, who days later was arrested
and charged with first-degree murder (_Judicial Watch Inc. v. Office
of the Governor_
[[link removed] _(No.
2026CH000004)).

Pritzker was photographed
[[link removed]]
with McMiller, a paid employee of the state-funded “Peacekeeper”
program, at the September 5, 2025, event in Chicago’s Englewood
neighborhood. On September 18, McMiller was arrested on first-degree
murder charges arising from a September 11 “smash-and-grab”
robbery at a Michigan Avenue Louis Vuitton store in Chicago that left
one person dead.

We filed the lawsuit in the Circuit Court of Sangamon County,
Illinois, County Department, Chancery Division after Pritzker’s
office failed to adequately respond to a September 22, 2025, FOIA
request for:

> All photographs, images, or visual media depicting Governor JB
> Pritzker and Kellen McMiller (or any individual identified as a
> participant in the peacekeeper program wearing a “peacekeeper”
> vest) taken during the Governor’s visits to Chicago on or around
> September 5, 2025, including but not limited to the event in
> Englewood focused on community violence intervention.

> The original and any edited versions of the press release or
> newsroom posting from September 3-5, 2025, titled or related to
> “Gov. Pritzker Meets with Community Violence Intervention
> Partners” or similar, including metadata showing edits, removals,
> or additions.

> Communications (including emails, memos, text messages, notes, or
> logs) regarding the decision to include, remove, or edit the photo
> of Governor Pritzker and Kellen McMiller from any official state
> website, press release, or social media. This includes
> communications involving the Governor, his staff, and communications
> team, or legal advisors.

> Any background checks, vetting documents, participant lists, or
> selection criteria records related to Kellen McMiller’s
> involvement in the peacekeeper program or the September 5, 2025,
> event, including any knowledge of his criminal history, warrants, or
> prior interactions with state officials.

> All records of communications or interactions between Governor JB
> Pritzker (or his office) and Kellen McMiller, including invitations
> to events, follow-ups, or any other contacts before or after
> September 5, 2025.

> Any reports, evaluations, or data on the peacekeeper program's
> participant vetting processes, including background or other checks.

At the time of the photo with Pritzker, McMiller had four warrants
[[link removed]]
out for his arrest, including in Florida, Indiana, and Wisconsin.

After meeting with McMiller and other Peacekeepers, Pritzker wrote in
a Facebook post [[link removed]],
“It’s folks like these that we need more of doing the hard work of
community violence prevention, not troops on the ground to undermine
efforts fighting crime.”

Pritzker’s office featured the photo with McMiller in a press
release
[[link removed]]
after the governor’s visit but later removed
[[link removed]]
the photo.

The Peacekeeper photographed with Pritzker had four active arrest
warrants at the time. Illinois taxpayers deserve transparency on how
participants in state-funded anti-violence programs are vetted. The
state should prioritize rigorous screening over partisan criticism of
federal crime-fighting efforts.



JUDICIAL WATCH SUES HOMELAND SECURITY FOR IMAGES OF ATTACK ON ICE
DETENTION FACILITY

On July 4, 2025, a mob attacked the U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) Prairieland Detention Facility in Alvarado, TX.

The ambush on the Prairieland ICE facility was a predictable outcome
of years of anti-ICE and anti-border-security rhetoric. The media and
the radical Left repeatedly label ICE agents as “racists” and
“kidnappers” and are creating a climate conducive to domestic
terrorist attacks.

We filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit
[[link removed]]
against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for video footage and
photographs of the attack (_Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of
Homeland Security_
[[link removed] _(No.1:26-cv-0331)).

We sued in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a component of the Department of
Homeland Security, failed to respond to a July 10, 2025, FOIA request
for:

* All video surveillance footage depicting the attack on the
Prairieland ICE detention facility in Alvarado, Texas on or about July
4, 2025

* All body worn camera footage depicting the attack on the
Prairieland ICE detention facility in Alvarado, Texas on or about July
4, 2025

* All photographs depicting the attack on the Prairieland ICE
detention facility in Alvarado, Texas on or about July 4, 2025

Immigration and Customs Enforcement described the incident at its
Prairieland detention facility in Alvarado, Texas, as a “planned
ambush
[[link removed]
A group of suspects began shooting fireworks at the facility while
others damaged vehicles and sprayed graffiti, apparently to lure
officers outside. When officers responded, one was shot in the neck.
Attackers fired 20 to 30 rounds at unarmed detention officers.
Authorities say the suspects intended to kill corrections officers.

A federal grand jury indicted nine
[[link removed]]
individuals identified by prosecutors as members of Antifa, and
charged seven additional people “with offenses including rioting,
using weapons and explosives, providing material support to
terrorists, obstruction, and attempted murder of an Alvarado police
officer and unarmed correctional officers at the Prairieland Detention
Center.”

President Donald Trump in September 2025 issued an executive order
[[link removed]]
designating Antifa as “a militarist, anarchist enterprise that
explicitly calls for the overthrow of the United States Government,
law enforcement authorities, and our system of law.” He designated
it a “domestic terrorist organization,” and directed federal law
enforcement to “utilize all applicable authorities to investigate,
disrupt, and dismantle any and all [Antifa-aligned] illegal
operations.”

In December 2025, we sued
[[link removed]] the
Department of Homeland Security for records on migrants who entered
the United States from 2020–2025, using arrest warrants and removal
orders as proof of identification.

In November 2025, we sued Evanston, IL, Mayor Daniel Biss
[[link removed]]
for records related to obstruction of federal immigration enforcement,
as well as Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs
[[link removed]]
for records regarding her office reportedly ordering state police and
the National Guard to withhold cooperation from federal immigration
enforcement authorities.

In December 2025 we pointed out
[[link removed]]
that in just two states with “sanctuary” policies, nearly 9,000
criminal aliens were released from jails and prisons since January 20,
defying Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainers to deport them.

In October 2025, we reported
[[link removed]] on a
Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF), established by Trump on the day
of his inauguration to tackle a pandemic of transnational organized
crime created by the Biden administration’s “disgraceful” open
border policies, had made thousands of arrests and seized over 1,000
illegal firearms, 91 tons of drugs and $3 million in currency.



Until next week,



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