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CREW and the Department of Justice have agreed to dismiss this lawsuit with prejudice. Read the stipulation of dismissal below.

CREW sued the the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) over failure to release documents concerning the legal authority of the president to invoke emergency powers to declare a national emergency to build a wall along America’s southern border.

When President Trump and the White House threatened to use emergency powers to bypass Congress and construct a wall along the southern border, CREW filed Freedom of Information Act requests for relevant communications, including legal opinions from OLC, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Defense. CREW also requested expedited review based on the significant media interest in the matter, and the urgency that the public be assured of the government’s integrity in addressing the situation. OLC denied CREW’s request for expedition on February 12, and at the same time advised CREW that the office was unable to comply with the law’s basic requirement that agencies respond to such requests within 20 working days. So far, CREW has received no documents on the matter.

On February 26, 2019, CREW amended the original complaint to include the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Defense. CREW has still not received documents from those agencies for all opinions written or received by those agencies that discuss the power of the president to invoke emergency powers.

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