By Jennie Taer
America First Legal Foundation sued the Biden administration Wednesday for allegedly concealing information regarding an FBI investigation into Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, according to a copy of the complaint first obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The lawsuit against both the FBI and the Department of Justice (DOJ) asks that the agencies release the documents related to the Mayorkas probe, according to the complaint. The conservative group was previously denied a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for the records regarding the FBI’s investigation into Mayorkas’ background.
“The American people deserve to have access to the files we requested to understand the extent to which Secretary Mayorkas disclosed his foreign ties and contacts, among other things. Disclosing these records is consistent with what the FBI did during the Trump Administration when it released portions of the SF-86 for then Attorney General Jeff Sessions, so there is simply no reason why they should not provide the same information for Secretary Mayorkas,” Gene Hamilton, America First Legal Vice President and General Counsel, said in a statement to the DCNF.
The lawsuit’s timing coincides with increasing calls from Republicans in Congress to impeach Mayorkas, mainly for his handling of the security of the southern border.
One of the issues the group cites is an inspector general’s report from 2015 that found that Mayorkas, while serving as the director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), had personally intervened “outside the normal adjudicatory process” to help foreign investors in the EB-5 visa program who were connected to top Democrats.
“Secretary Mayorkas’s abysmal performance has led to the introduction of several impeachment resolutions in Congress,” America First Legal said in a statement shared with the DCNF. The Secretary’s dereliction of duty regarding our immigration system has turned America into a borderless nation, and every state is feeling the consequences of allowing millions of illegal immigrants to flood into the United States. While Americans are dying at the hands of illegal aliens that should never have been allowed to enter America, the Biden Administration and Secretary Mayorkas have turned a blind eye.”
America First Legal submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the FBI on January 6 for “the FBI background investigation, Form SF-86, and any supporting security clearance documentation, including waiver forms [completed] by Alejandro Mayorkas or his designees for the purpose of allowing the FBI to conduct a background investigation as part of his nomination[s].”
The FBI responded on January 13, denying the request. America First Legal appealed the denial for the reason that the records were submitted to Congress, but the FBI reiterated its denial.
