Judicial Watch Sues State Department for
Hunter Biden Documents
The Hunter/Joe Biden scandal isn’t going away. We just filed a FOIA
lawsuit against the U.S. State Department for messages sent through the SMART
(State Messaging and Archive Retrieval Toolkit) system that mention Hunter
Biden (Judicial
Watch v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:22-cv-01066)).
We sued after State failed to reply to a February 11, 2022, FOIA request
for:
All cables/teletypes and email messages sent via the SMART system that
reference Hunter Biden, excluding any records that consist solely of media
articles or compilations.
In an email dated February 16, 2022, the State Department on February 16,
2022, acknowledged receipt of the request and asserted that the agency was
invoking FOIA’s ten-day extension of time provision due to “unusual
circumstances.” As of April 15, State failed to comply with our
request.
Hunter Biden continues to be the subject of a federal
criminal investigation in Delaware.
Here is the history of our Biden corruption investigation:
In December 2020, we uncovered
Obama-era State Department records showing that the Ukraine prosecutor
general was pitched “high-level” access to Hillary Clinton’s
presidential campaign by a firm linked to Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian
energy firm.
We also uncovered
records showing that former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie “Masha”
Yovanovitch had specifically warned in 2017 about corruption allegations
against Burisma
Holdings. During her November 2019 testimony in the impeachment
proceedings against President Donald Trump, Yovanovitch told lawmakers that
she knew little about Burisma.
In an October production from the State Department, we received
records that included a briefing checklist of a February 2019 meeting
in Kyiv between Yovanovitch and Sally Painter, Burisma’s lobbyist at Blue
Star Strategies, and a Burisma executive. The briefing checklist noted that
Painter also planned to meet with Foreign Commercial Service (FCS) Officer
Martin Claessens “regarding the Burisma Group energy company.”
At the time of the meeting, Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden, was
serving on the board of directors for Burisma
Holdings, despite having no previous experience in the energy industry.
Biden served on the board of Burisma until his term expired in April
2019.
In September 2020, we made
public records that show George Kent, the Obama administration’s
deputy assistant secretary of state in charge of Ukraine policy, which was
copied to Yovanovitch, highlighting Russia-linked media “trolling” Joe
Biden over “his son’s business.” An email
was sent four days prior to the inauguration of President Donald Trump to a
redacted recipient and CCd to Yovanovitch with the subject line
“medvedchuk-linked vesti trolls Biden.” Kent writes: “Burisma –
gift that keeps on giving. (With medvedchuk affiliated Vesti pushing the
troll-like storyline on visit day)”
The State Department is unlawfully ignoring FOIA law to protect Hunter and
Joe Biden. We have no doubt, given our prior finds, that the State
Department has many secrets about Biden corruption tucked away.
University of Pittsburgh Asked NIH for Help with Criticism of Fetal
Organ Experiments
Our work exposing fetal organ experiments and trafficking, using your tax
dollars, has generated national outrage. And those involved in this
barbaric practice are desperate to quell the criticism so they can continue
inhumane experiments.
We obtained 34
pages of new records revealing that the Associate Senior Vice
Chancellor for Science Strategy and Planning in the Health Sciences at the
University of Pittsburgh Dr. Jeremy Berg contacted then-Director of the
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Francis Collins, requesting help to
combat “efforts to undermine important science using fetal tissue.”
Additionally, the records include a scientific report containing
information about grafting human scalp and other tissues onto mice.
(Through a related
FOIA lawsuit in September 2021 we uncovered records and communications
from the FDA involving “humanized
mice” research with human fetal heads, organs, and tissue.)
We obtained the records in response to FOIA suit against the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for records of communication
related to a September 21, 2021, letter
sent by Sen. James Lankford and nearly 100 members of Congress demanding an
investigation into the University of Pittsburgh’s potentially illegal
fetal tissue research (Judicial
Watch v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (No.
1:22-cv-00296)).
We sued in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after HHS
and its component, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), failed to
respond to November 16, 2021, FOIA request for:
All records of communication, including emails and text messages, regarding
the September 21, 2021 letter co-authored by Sen. James Lankford and other
congressmen to Director Francis Collins, demanding an investigation into
the University of Pittsburgh’s program of fetal body parts procurement
and experimentation (copy attached), sent to and from the following NIH
officials: Director Collins, Principal Deputy Director Lawrence A. Tabak,
Acting Chief of Staff John T. Burklow, and Acting Associate Director Renate
H. Myles.
In August 2021, we and the Center for Medical Progress through a separate
FOIA lawsuit uncovered HHS documents that revealed nearly $3 million in
federal funds were spent on the University of Pittsburgh’s quest to
become a “Tissue Hub” for human fetal tissue ranging from 6 to 42 weeks
gestation. Among other findings, the records revealed:
- The aims of the project listed in the original 2015 proposal were to
“develop
a pipeline to the acquisition, quality control and distribution of
human genitourinary [urinary and genital organs and functions] samples
obtained throughout development (6-42 weeks gestation). … [and] generate
an ongoing resource to distribute fresh developmental human genitourinary
samples from various stages (6-42 weeks) to the GUDMAP [GenitoUrinary
Development Molecular Anatomy Project] Atlas projects.”
- In the proposal,
Pitt notes that it has been “collecting fetal tissue for over 10 years
… include[ing] liver, heart, gonads, legs, brain, genitourinary tissues
including kidneys, ureters and bladders.”
- Pitt noted in 2015 “we have disbursed over 300
fresh samples collected from 77 cases. The collections can be
significantly ramped up as material could have been accrued from as many as
725 cases last year.”
- The Health Sciences Tissue Bank at Pitt is “embedded
within the Department of Pathology … thus providing rapid access to very
high quality tissue and biological specimens.”
- Pitt boasts it has a number of internal connections as well as a
“strong working relationship with UPMC [University of Pittsburgh Medical
Center] and the Department of Pathology” as well as three “laboratories
in the flagship UPMC hospitals.” This includes a lab boasting a “ButcherBoy
band saw for sectioning bone,” and a “frozen section room has
digital video feed to and from the operating rooms. This also allows for
instantaneous discussions with the surgeons as well [as] immediate ‘show
and tell’ for them.” The proposal ironically also boasts about the
laboratories at the “Children’s
Hospital of Pittsburgh.”
- Later in the proposal, Pitt states that it records the “warm
ischemic time on our samples and take steps to keep it at a minimum to
ensure the highest quality biological specimens.” [The “warm ischemic
time” refers to the amount of time an organ remains at body temperature
after blood supply has been cut off. Warm ischemic time differs from
cold ischemic time which refers to the amount of time the organ is
chilled. Pitt’s statement suggests the time between the abortion
and collection is minimal.]
The newly obtained records include an
email dated October 16, 2021, from the University of Pittsburgh’s Dr.
Jeremy Berg, associate senior vice chancellor for science strategy and
planning, contacting then-Director of the National Institutes of Health
(NIH), Francis Collins, requesting help with the negative press they were
receiving about their work with aborted human tissue. Dr. Berg specifically
highlights a Fox News report:
Hi Francis:
I write regarding ongoing efforts to undermine important science using
fetal tissue. As you no doubt know, various public universities have been
the subject of rotating attacks about research using fetal tissue,
sometimes citing NIH support for the research. It is now the University of
Pittsburgh turn in the spotlight. The event that triggered this is the
publication of a paper (attached) on grafting fetal skin onto rodents
supported by an R21 from NIAID ( https://reporter.nih.gov/search/cbh4-6MG
UCNgeeBHC15ew/projectdetails/9599671). I provide this only for
background as the details do not matter for the issue I am raising.
We have been discussing these issues and it seems that this is an organized
attempt to delegitimize science based on fetal tissue rather than to
identify misbehavior (although, of course, any misbehavior does create
opportunities for outrage). In light of this, we feel that the scientific
community would benefit if more institutions could stand together to take
some of the power out of the one at-a-time strategy that appears to be
operating.
Our Chancellor Pat Gallagher, former Director of NIST and your Senate
confirmation colleague would like the opportunity to discuss this with you
or other appropriate individuals at NIH via whatever venue would be
preferred (phone, Zoom, in Bethesda).
If this is possible, please let me know the best way to make the
appropriate arrangements.
Also included is a report
published in “Nature” that contains information about grafting human
scalp and other tissues onto mice:
Human skin tissues were obtained from the scalp and dorsum of donors and
were used in developing human skin engraftment with and without hair in the
mouse model, respectively. Full-thickness human fetal skin was processed
via removal of excess fat tissues attached to the subcutaneous layer of the
skin, then engrafed over the rib cage, where the mouse skin was previously
excised.
The new documents include an email
exchange on October 17, 2021, in which Lawrence
Tabak, the acting director of NIH, responds to Berg’s request for a
meeting and work to schedule a time to meet: “Mike [likely Mike
Lauer] indicated that it is arranged (dropping FC to bbc line).”
In February 2022, Chair of the House Pro-Life Caucus, Rep. Chris Smith
(R-NJ) called the investigation a “whitewash”
and added:
A truly transparent and comprehensive assessment would not have evaded the
questions raised by public records, especially and including whether the
University of Pittsburgh used the body parts of babies who were born alive
and died from having their organs harvested, as well as if individuals
procuring the baby body parts for the university altered abortion
procedures to suit their gruesome research.
(In September 2021, Judicial Watch uncovered through a
related FOIA lawsuit records and communications from the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration (FDA) involving “humanized
mice” research with human fetal heads, organs and tissue, including
communications and contracts with human fetal tissue provider Advanced
Bioscience Resources (ABR). Most of the records are communications and
related attachments between Perrin
Larton, a procurement manager for ABR, and research veterinary medical
officer Dr.
Kristina Howard of the FDA.)
These newest documents expose the collusion between the University of
Pittsburgh and the NIH over the fetal organ “chop shop” in the
University of Pittsburgh paid for with federal tax dollars. Here we have
the federal government and a major university seemingly desperate to
continue their barbaric trafficking the organs of human beings killed by
abortion.
Biden Agency That Regulates Credit Unions Promotes Critical Race
Theory
Another federal agency has gone fully woke at your expense.
We received 15
pages of records from the National Credit Union Association (NCUA) in
response to a FOIA request that shows the government agency responsible for
regulating credit unions required “inclusion and unconscious bias
training” for the agency’s employees and contractors and offered advice
on how to recognize and address alleged “microaggressions” in the
workplace.
The NCUA
is, “an independent federal agency that insures deposits at federally
insured credit unions, protects the members who own credit unions, and
charters and regulates federal credit unions.”
A February 25, 2021, email
from the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWI) to “All NCUA
Staff” with the subject line “Inclusion and unconscious bias training
now available” notes that an attached memo provides information about a
“new, required training course” called “Inclusion at Work: Managing
Unconscious Bias at the Office.”
The accompanying memo notes that the training unit was required for “All
employees and contractors” as part of “required annual diversity and
inclusion training.”
The memo states: “The NCUA is committed to building the diversity and
inclusion competencies of employees to advance NCUA’s Strategic Objective
3.1 – to attract, engage and retain a highly skilled, diverse workforce,
and cultivate an inclusive environment.”
In a February 10, 2022, email
to “All NCUA Staff” from the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion
(OMWI), all employees are invited to attend a “virtual OMWI Talk” where
they will “watch a video and discuss the role our institutions and public
policies play in shaping opportunities and one’s ability to accumulate
wealth.” It notes that they will watch the film “Race: The House We
Live In,” which is the “first film about race to focus not on
individual attitudes but on the ways our institutions and policies
advantage some groups at the expense of others. Its subject is the
‘unmarked’ race. We see how benefits quietly and often invisibly accrue
to [the majority], not necessarily because of hard work, but because of the
racialized nature of our laws, courts, customs, and perhaps most
pertinently, housing.” The email describes OMWI Talks as a “safe place
to have difficult conversations about race, identity, privilege,
unconscious bias, cultural appropriation and a host of other
thought-provoking topics.”
A July 12, 2021, OMWI email
to all staff advises them to “Save the date” for the next OMWI Talk,
which is titled “Deconstructing White Privilege.” The talk features a
video from Dr. Robin DiAngelo, author of “What Does It Mean to Be White?
Developing White Racial Literacy.” The email describes DiAngelo as an
“anti-racist educator,” who has “heard justifications of racism by
white men and women in her workshops for over two decades.” It
continues, “This justification, which she calls ‘white fragility’, is
a state in which even a minimal amount of racial stress becomes
intolerable, triggering a range of defensive moves.”
In an internal NCUA newsletter, called VIBE,
sent by OMWI to all NCUA staff on March 1, 2021, the new NCUA Chairman,
Todd M. Harper, writes a message, noting that “I truly look forward to
working with OMWI to VIBE and advance diversity and inclusion not just
within the agency, but also in the entities and communities we serve.” He
notes: “NCUA’s Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan outlines five
additional goals for this work, including one specific to diversity and
inclusion in credit unions and another for diversity in our business
activities. These are not just OMWI’s goals. They are agency-wide
goals.” The newsletter mentions the creation of a new position called
Diversity and Inclusion Specialist, and thanks the departing director of
OMWI who, it notes, created such programs as “the Credit Union Diversity
Self-Assessment,” the “Credit Union Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Summit” and “much more.”
A section of the newsletter titled “Diversity and Inclusion Learning”
includes:
- Take a few minutes to read through these Seven Ways to Be More
inclusive in Your Everyday Life.
- Learn how to Be Inclusive Every Day
- Got your eye on a promotion or a new position? Use the Inclusion Guide
for Interviewees to prepare yourself for diversity and inclusion related
questions that may come up in the interview.
In the issue of the
VIBE newsletter emailed to all NCUA staff on December 1, 2021, under a
section titled “Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Learning,” employees
are told, “A microaggression is defined as an indirect, subtle, or
unintentional form of discrimination against members of a marginalized
group. But for those who experience them, microaggressions are more than
just insults or insensitive jokes – they are painful, powerful, and can
inflict lasting harm.” It offers links to three articles, titled: “What
is a microaggression? 14 things people think are fine to say at work –
but are actually racist, sexist or offensive;” “How to Address
Microaggressions in the Workplace;” and “Microaggressions at work:
Recognizing & overcoming our biases.”
In the first
article, published on March 1, 2021 by Business Insider, types of
“microaggressions” include “telling a new female worker that she
‘looks like a student’ to asking a Black colleague about her natural
hair,” adding “they can make a workplace feel uncomfortable, unsafe,
and toxic.”
The article “Microaggressions at work: Recognizing & overcoming our
biases,” published
by “Culture Amp,” states that “microaggressions” can include
“Asking a lesbian co-worker, ‘Who’s the man in your relationship,’
” “Mispronouncing someone’s name because ‘it’s too difficult to
say,” “Mistaking a Latinx colleague for a service worker,” and
“Naming all the buildings or rooms after White men.”
Americans should be disturbed that the Biden administration is using the
agency responsible for regulating credit unions to subject employees and
the public to an extremist and discriminatory Critical Race Theory ideology
that attacks individuals based on race.
Judicial Watch Sues for FDA Records about Pfizer/BioNTech
Vaccine
We filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) suit against the Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS) for FDA emails and records about the
Pfizer/BioNTech for COVID-19 vaccine (Judicial
Watch v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (No.
1:22-cv-00733)).
We sued after HHS failed to reply to our August 24, 2021, FOIA request
for:
Any and all records submitted by Pfizer and/or BioNTech for the SARS-CoV-2
vaccine known as Comirnaty, which received approval from the FDA on August
23, 2021.
All emails related to the vaccine that became known as Comirnaty sent to
and from the following FDA officials: Acting FDA Commissioner Janet
Woodcock; Deputy Commissioner Andi Lipstein Fristedt; Deputy Commissioner
James Sigg; Chief of Staff Julia C. Tierney, J.D.; Associate Commissioner
Judith A. McMeekin, Pharm.D.; Associate Commissioner Lauren Roth, J.D.; and
Acting Assistant Commissioner Michael Felberbaum.
All internal FDA studies, analyses, memoranda and reports related to the
drug known as Comirnaty.
According to Pfizer’s
website: “Comirnaty [COVID-19 Vaccine, mRNA] is FDA-approved as a
2-dose series for prevention of COVID-19 in individuals 16 years of age and
older. It is also authorized under EUA to provide a two-dose primary series
in individuals 12 through 15 years. Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine has
received EUA from FDA to provide a two-dose primary series in individuals
12 years of age and older and to provide a two-dose primary series to
individuals 5 through 11 years of age.”
In violation of FOIA law the FDA is covering up complete details on its
approval of the controversial Pfizer COVID vaccine. The public deserves to
know everything possible – as soon as possible – about a vaccine that
is currently impacting tens of millions of people.
In January, a federal judge in Texas ordered
the FDA to make the data it relied on to license Pfizer’s COVID-19
vaccine available to the public. The judge imposed a schedule that should
result in the release of all information by September 2020. The court concluded,
“that this FOIA request is of paramount public importance.”
The judge denied
the FDA’s attempt to have 75 years to complete the FOIA request made by a
group of doctors and scientists who asked for information about the
vaccine. The FDA claimed it could only manage to release 500 pages of
records per month of its 450,000 pages that are responsive to the Texas
case.
We recently filed a lawsuit
against HHS for records about its subagency Biomedical Advanced Research
and Development Authority (BARDA) research into COVID-19 boosters, and for
communications related to adverse
events caused by COVID-19 vaccines.
In January through a FOIA lawsuit
we uncovered records from the CDC that show Director Rochelle Walensky’s
request for details about the death of a teenager who died days after
receiving a coronavirus vaccination.
Until next week …
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