FIRST ON FOX: A top Georgia official said Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) documents should show a “coordinated effort” between the Department of Justice (DOJ) and “liberal activists” to use the state’s voting law as a “scapegoat for political losses.”
On Tuesday, a federal judge ordered the DOJ to fulfill Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for documents related to a lawsuit looking to strike certain provisions of the law.
The Georgia secretary of state requested any communications that may have played an influencing role in the DOJ’s decision to sue the Peach State over the law after it was passed.
Raffensperger, the top elections official for the Peach State, said the documents turned over should reveal a “coordinated effort” between the DOJ and “liberal activists” to use the voting law for the blame game.
“These documents should show the coordinated effort between liberal activists and the United States Department of Justice to use Georgia’s election reforms as a scapegoat for political losses,” Raffensperger said in the release first obtained by FOX News Digital.
“Considering how blatantly political the Biden lawsuit against Georgia’s commonsense election law was from the beginning, it’s no surprise they would stonewall our request for basic transparency,” the Georgia secretary of state continued.
“I’m gratified that the court agreed that there should be no secrecy between the Biden Justice Department and liberal activists, and I will continue to fight for truth and integrity in Georgia’s elections,” he added.
In the order, the District Court for the District of Columbia wrote that soon after the Georgia voting law was enacted, the DOJ “began working with private organizations and individuals to block the changes through multifaceted litigation.”
“Concerned, Georgia submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to understand the depth [of] the Department’s collaboration with third parties,” the order reads. “DOJ produced many documents but withheld some under an exemption to FOIA that protects certain internal agency records from disclosure.”
“This case does not concern the merits of Georgia’s election laws. Rather, it presents the narrow question of whether FOIA’s internal deliberation privilege extends to documents shared with non-governmental litigants. Because DOJ has not met its burden to show that the withheld emails fall within an exemption to FOIA, the Court will grant Georgia summary judgment.”
Georgia’s new voting law has been the subject of many debates and lawsuits from left-wing groups who claim the law is racist and suppressive.
Following the law’s enactment, Georgia saw a record turnout of voters in the 2022 midterm elections.
The DOJ declined to comment.