Conservative watchdog sues FBI over ‘pattern’ of blocking records requests

Published October 27, 2025 1:33pm ET



A conservative transparency group filed a lawsuit Monday, accusing the FBI of systematically violating federal law by blocking access to public records, a problem the group says has persisted for years across administrations despite President Donald Trump’s pledge to lead the “most transparent” government in history.

The Oversight Project, a nonprofit group formerly affiliated with the Heritage Foundation, filed the complaint in Washington, D.C. federal court, seeking to compel the FBI to fix what it calls a “pattern and practice” of stonewalling Freedom of Information Act requests. The group says the FBI has long used bureaucratic tricks, blanket denials, and unlawful “Glomar” responses — refusing to confirm or deny the existence of records — to conceal politically sensitive information from the public.

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