Judicial Watch announced recently that the U.S. Court of Appeals for District of Columbia Circuit ordered a lower court to directly review records withheld by the Justice Department about former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates related to her 2017 refusal to enforce President Donald Trump’s travel ban executive order

“Unfortunately, Democrats in the legislature went beyond politics into abuse of power in setting up Maryland’s gerrymandered congressional maps,” stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “This lawsuit seeks to protect the rights of all voters and citizens. Simply put: politicians shouldn’t get to pick their voters.”

Judicial Watch obtained the records in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the State Department for non-identifying records of U.S. diplomatic personnel being subjected to invasive COVID-19 anal swab tests by the Chinese government (Judicial Watch v U.S. Dept of State (No. 1:21-cvc02111)). This lawsuit was filed after the State Department failed to respond to a June 18, 2021, FOIA request.

While local law enforcement agencies around the United States weather extensive budget cuts, the federal government is dedicating $1.5 million to assist police in El Salvador with challenges and stress created by COVID-19. The goal is to help the Central American nation’s 26,966-member National Civil Police (PNC) asses its role and capacities during a crisis and efficiently provide training to manage a public health emergency like the pandemic.