Judicial Watch Victory: Federal Court Rules FBI’s Search of Records about Peter Strzok’s Removal from Mueller Investigation Inadequate; Orders New Search
‘[T]he Court sides mainly with Judicial Watch and will order the FBI to conduct a broader search’
(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that United States District Court Judge Christopher R. Cooper for the District of Columbia agreed with Judicial Watch that the FBI did not adequately search for records related to the removal and reassignment of Peter Strzok, a former deputy to the assistant director for counterintelligence at the FBI, from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigative team. In granting Judicial Watch’s request, Judge Cooper ordered the FBI to further search their records. (The original, deficient search had only returned 14 pages.)
The order comes in a December 2017 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed by Judicial Watch after the DOJ failed to respond to and August 17, 2017, request (Judicial Watch, Inc. v. Federal Bureau of Investigation (No. 1:17-cv-02682)). Judicial Watch seeks:
All records regarding the assignment of FBI Supervisor Peter Strzok to the special counsel’s investigation led by former Director Robert Mueller.
All records related to the reassignment of FBI Supervisor Peter Strzok from the special counsel’s investigation to another position within the FBI.
All SF-50 and/or SF-52 employment forms, as well as all related records of communication between any official, employee, or representative of the FBI and any other individual or entity.
In his decision, Judge Cooper called the FBI’s search “overly cramped:”
Notwithstanding that Judicial Watch’s request referred to Mueller by name … the Bureau searched only for the term “special counsel.” But surely one would expect that Agent Strzok and other FBI personnel might use the Special Counsel’s name — “Mueller” — rather than his title when discussing Strzok’s assignment to the Russia investigation, especially in informal emails. Another logical variation on “special counsel” is its commonly used acronym “SCO,” which appears to be used within the Special Counsel’s Office itself, as reflected by documents that the FBI uncovered and produced to Judicial Watch.
https://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-victory-federal-court-rules-fbis-search-of-records-about-peter-strzoks-removal-from-mueller-investigation-inadequate-orders-new-search/