JUDICIAL WATCH WEEKLY UPDATE

 

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,