WILMINGTON, Del. (Legal Newsline) – Judicial Watch and The Daily Caller are appealing a Delaware verdict that prevented them from finding out who is accessing records donated to a university regarding President Joe Biden’s senatorial career.
Not everything at state-funded University of Delaware is subject to the Freedom of Information Act, Superior Court Judge Mary Miller Johnston wrote on Jan. 4. Judicial Watch and The Daily Caller News Foundation say she reached this decision without providing evidence.
Johnston’s ruling affirmed another by state Attorney General Kathy Jennings to keep the records concealed.
“While FOIA is meant to cover a wide array of information, it does not provide unlimited access to every document that is of interest to the public,” Johnston wrote.
“This is especially true with regard to documents belonging to the University.”
Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton says there is significant public interest in the deal between Biden and UD to keep certain records safe. He also noted Delaware provides UD with $120 million each year but failed to show how public funds are not used to support the papers.
“We have no idea why the University of Delaware is hiding these materials that the public should have every right to see and we are grateful for Judicial Watch and our local counsel for pushing this case hard. When people ask why our institutions are no longer trusted they should look up this case,” said Daily Caller News Foundation President Neil Patel.
Judicial Watch and The Daily Caller last year appealed the denial of FOIA request as they attempted to investigate the nearly 2,000 boxes of archival records donated to the University of Delaware.
These papers will be available to the public after they have been processed and archived.
The Daily Caller sought:
-All modifications, revisions or updates concerning the storage of the records;
-Correspondence between University of Delaware staff and members of Biden’s staffs through the years;
-Logs or sign-in sheets that list individuals who visited the department where the records were stored; and
-All records from Biden’s Senate career that were submitted to the library.
Judicial Watch had had a similar request denied months before The Daily Caller’s, and they combined their appeals after state Attorney General Kathy Jennings ruled against them in May and July 2020.