Judicial Watch Sues Justice Department for
Records of Ashli Babbitt Killing
January 6 has become a touchstone in the uneven application of justice
aginst those who lean conservative. In particular, the obviously political
secrecy and stonewalling in the police killing of Ashli Babbitt is
undermining the rule of law.
Undaunted by the obstacles thrown our way, we filed a FOIA lawsuit against
the U.S. Department of Justice for records related to the shooting death of
14-year Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt on January 6, 2021, in the U.S.
Capitol Building.
Babbitt
was shot and killed as she climbed through a broken interior
window in the United State Capitol. She was unarmed. The identity of the
shooter was kept secret by Congress as well as federal and local
authorities for eight months until U.S. Capitol Police officer Michael
Byrd went
public to try to defend his killing of Ms. Babbitt.
On April 14, 2021, the Justice Department issued a press
release stating: “The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District
of Columbia and the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice
will not pursue criminal charges against the U.S. Capitol Police officer
involved in the fatal shooting of 35-year-old Ashli Babbitt, the Office
announced today.”
We sued in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after the
Executive Office for United States Attorneys, the Civil Rights Division,
and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (all components of the Justice
Department) failed to provide the records responsive to our April 14,
2021 and May 20, 2021, FOIA requests (Judicial
Watch v. U.S. Department of Justice) (No. 1:21-cv-02462))
for:
- All records, including but not limited to, investigative reports,
photographs, witness statements, dispatch logs, schematics, ballistics, and
video footage, concerning the January 6, 2021 death of Ashli Babbitt in the
Capitol Building.
- All draft and final prosecution declination memoranda related to the
death of Ashli Babbitt.
- All Office of the US Attorney for the District of Columbia
officials’ electronic communications concerning Ashli Babbitt and the
investigation of her death.
- All DOJ Civil Rights Division officials’ electronic communications
concerning Ashli Babbitt and the investigation of her death.
- All FBI officials' electronic communications concerning Ashli Babbitt
and the investigation of er death. The time frame for the requested records
is January 6, 2021 to the present.
This lawsuit is part of our multi-faceted investigation into January 6.
Earlier this month, the District of Columbia asked a court for an additional
delay to respond to our FOIA lawsuit for records related to the
U.S. Capitol Police shooting Babbitt to death.
We recently filed a motion
for discovery in our lawsuit against the United States Capitol
Police (USCP) for emails and videos concerning the Capitol disturbance. The
Capitol Police are trying to shut down the lawsuit by arguing that
the requested records are “not public records.”
On August 3, we announced that we obtained
new documents showing the Washington, D.C. Medical Examiner submitted
a request to cremate Babbitt two days after gaining custody of her body.
The documents also showed that Babbitt’s fingerprints were emailed
to a person supposedly working for the D.C. government, which resulted in
Microsoft “undeliverable” messages written in Chinese characters being
returned.
Also in August, we uncovered records
related to the death of U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick which
show major media representatives pressuring the Office of the Chief Medical
Examiner (OCME) of the District of Columbia over its conclusion that
Officer Sicknick had died of natural
causes.
In July, we announced a lawsuit against
the FBI for records of communication between the FBI and several financial
institutions about the reported transfer of financial transactions made by
people in DC, Maryland and Virginia on January 5 and January 6, 2021. The
FBI has refused to confirm or deny the existence of any such records.
In May, we sued both
the Department of the Interior and the Department of Defense for records
regarding the deployment of armed forces around the Capitol complex in
Washington, D.C., in January and February of 2021.
We also filed a lawsuit for Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s communications with
the Pentagon in the days after the January 6 incident.
And now that the Deep
State leaked that at least one of its (the FBI’s) informants
entered the Capitol that day and told them there was no grand conspiracy,
it shows that the lies about 1/6 are likely to rival the Russiagate hoax.
All the more reason that we’re not going to let this investigation go.
President Trump Keynotes Judicial Watch Roundtable in
Miami
President Donald J. Trump, the 45th President of the United States,
agreed delivered keynote address at our Annual Roundtable at the Trump
National Doral in Miami, Florida, on September 30.
When it comes to exposing government corruption, President Trump has been
the “Whistleblower-in-Chief.” We are honored that he will address our
supporters about the rule of law crisis and unprecedented government abuse
targeting him and other innocent Americans.
He gave an excellent presentation and I hope we’re able to release clips
of his address soon. My colleagues and I were excited to visit with
hundreds of Judicial Watch supporters at the event. We all want action and
we’re all pumped and refreshed to defend our Constitution, the rule of
law, and the American way against the corrupt class trying to destroy our
nation.
(For those of you new to our cause, Judicial Watch is America’s largest
and most effective government watchdog group and the nation’s leading
open records litigator. In recent years, we broke open Hillary Clinton’s
email and Benghazi scandals. We uncovered much of what is publicly known
about the illicit targeting and investigation of President Trump. We are
also a national leader in the fight for clean elections and the enforcement
of immigration law. We have taken the lead in exposing Biden corruption and
the facts behind the COVID pandemic.)
U.S. Gives “Immigrant-Serving Organizations” $10 Million Under
Obama Program
Leftist special interest organizations are too often subsidized with your
tax dollars. Not bad work if you can get it. Our Corruption
Chronicles blog tells
of one such feeding trough.
The U.S. government continues funding a costly initiative established by
former President Barack Obama to offer foreigners free English, history,
and civics courses as well as naturalization legal services. The money
flows through U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the
Homeland Security agency with a staff of around 19,000 that oversees lawful
immigration. Launched in 2009, the program aims to expand citizenship
preparation services nationwide by annually awarding thousands of dollars
to a multitude of leftist groups described by the government as “ immigrant-serving
organizations" in dozens of states and the District of
Columbia.
Officially, it is known as Citizenship and Integration Grant Program, and
since its inception it has doled out $112 million to 513 immigrant-serving
organizations in 39 states, according to USCIS figures.
The investment has helped some 290,500 foreigners prepare for U.S.
citizenship, likely not a pressing issue for most taxpaying Americans. The
citizenship project received its largest single-year allocation, $62
million, when the Obama administration inaugurated it 12 years ago. The
Trump administration kept the taxpayer dollars flowing with substantial
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) grants allocated to open border
groups in chunks of several hundred thousand dollars apiece. In fact, in
2019 Judicial Watch reported on the Trump administration’s $10
million allocation to the immigrant integration program.
Most of this year’s 41 grant recipients received $250,000 each although a
few got several thousand dollars less. The groups are spread throughout the
nation and include nonprofits such as Progreso
Latino in Central Falls, Rhode Island ($250,000 grant), Instituto
del Progreso Latino ($250,000) in Chicago, Illinois and Women
for Afghan Women ($250,000) in Fresh Meadows, New York. One
recipient of multiple integration grants, Los Angeles-based Coalition
for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), led the effort to pass a
California law giving illegal immigrants driver’s licenses and provided
undocumented migrants with free “exam preparation classes.” CHIRLA,
which fought to include illegal immigrants in COVID-19 relief at the local,
state, and federal level, is getting $250,000 from American taxpayers this
round to provide assimilation services.
The groups will use public funds to provide candidates with instruction in
U.S. history and government for citizenship test preparation and activities
that promote civic and linguistic assimilation. That includes English as a
Second Language (ESL) instruction in reading, writing, and speaking by
specialized teachers. Civic assimilation activities will consist of local
trips to sites and landmarks of historical or cultural significance, guest
speakers such as local public servants and other activities that promote
in-depth understanding of government functions, geography, traditions,
symbols, and holidays. Naturalization application services will cover the
preparation and submission of forms required by the federal government and
appearing at naturalization interviews and hearings with applicants.
Similar programs, also funded with USCIS grants, were incredibly popular
during the Obama years and Judicial Watch monitored them closely. It was
part of a broader,
government-wide initiative launched by the former president to
“strengthen federal immigrant and refugee integration infrastructure.”
The mission was to facilitate life in the U.S. for immigrants and refugees
by enhancing pathways to naturalization, building welcoming communities and
providing “mobile immigration services in underserved communities.” To
carry out the mission Obama created a special Task Force on New Americans
chaired by his Domestic Policy Director, Cecilia Muñoz, the former vice
president of the powerful open borders group National Council of La Raza
(recently renamed Unidos
US).
Millions of taxpayer dollars flowed to the task force’s various
enterprises, including multilingual media campaigns promoting immigrant
rights. The goal was to “strengthen civic, economic and linguistic
integration and to build strong and welcoming communities,” according to
a report issued
by the task force. In its final months, the Obama administration doled out
$29 million via USCIS grants to register new immigrant voters that likely
supported Democrats in the presidential election. Officially it was
described as “citizenship integration” aimed at enhancing pathways to
naturalization by offering immigrants free citizenship instruction,
English, U.S. history and civics courses. The money was distributed through
two separate
USCIS grants, the first for $19 million and a second, just five months
later, for $10 million. That grant came in a final push before the
presidential election to prepare approximately 25,000 residents from more
than 50 countries. More than a dozen states—including California, New
York, Florida, Washington. and Ohio—with large resident immigrant
populations were targeted as well as cities with huge immigrant populations
such as Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington
D.C.
Until next week,
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