AFL Files Lawsuit Against DOD to Uncover Obama-Era Presidential Committee Secrets

A plaque of the Department of Defense seal is seen at the Pentagon in Washington, on Jan. 26, 2012. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

A right-leaning nonprofit has sued the Department of Defense (DOD), claiming it “unlawfully” concealed records about an Obama administration-era order. According to the suit, those records could change the presumptions used to prosecute former President Donald Trump.

America First Legal (AFL) took the action against the DOD on April 4, seeking the release of documents related to the Presidential Information Technology Committee (PITC) established during the Obama administration.

The lawsuit, filed under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), aims to uncover information regarding the secretive nature of the PITC and its potential implications for the prosecution of President Trump.

Dan Epstein, vice president for AFL, offered a statement on the move in a press release by the group, saying, “America First Legal’s suit today raises significant legal questions the Biden Administration must confront. First, the President’s Information Technology Committee presumes that all information received by the President is within his control.

“That principle complicates the indictment by the Special Counsel’s Office, particularly on the question of what President Trump was authorized to access and retain.”

Mr. Epstein went on, saying, “Alternatively, if the Court finds that records subject to PITC are agency records, not presidential records, and were separately preserved by the Department of Defense, then it raises serious questions about the National Archives’ decision to refer Trump to the Department of Justice as that referral would be based on the false claim that President Trump removed presidential records.”

In January, AFL submitted a FOIA request to the Defense Information Systems Agency within the DOD, seeking clarity on the operations and scope of the PITC.

A spokesperson for the Office of the Secretary of Defense told The Epoch Times by email that they don’t comment on FOIA requests.

According to AFL’s press release regarding the lawsuit, the committee’s significance lies in its establishment of a presumption that the President maintains control over all information received, raising questions about what a sitting president may legally believe regarding information in their possession.

Of particular interest is the potential impact of the PITC on legal proceedings involving former President Trump. AFL suggested that if the information stored on the PITC network played a role in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s prosecution of President Trump, it should have been disclosed to the former president and may be relevant to his defense.

This assertion gains traction in light of the ongoing legal case in Florida, where Trump faces allegations related to the retention and destruction of certain documents.

The lawsuit asserts concern that records allegedly destroyed by President Trump may still be preserved within government systems overseen by the PITC. AFL argues that the existence of such records could challenge the claims made in the indictment against the former president, suggesting that accusations of document removal or destruction may lack a factual basis.

On the same day AFL announced the suit, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon denied President Trump’s motion to dismiss an indictment alleging he mishandled classified documents, based on the Presidential Records Act.

“Bound by the four corners of the Superseding Indictment,” the charges in the indictment “make no reference to the Presidential Records Act, nor do they rely on that statute for purposes of stating an offense,” the judge wrote in an April 4 order.

In March, the judge heard oral arguments on two of the four petitions to dismiss charges in this case filed by President Trump on various grounds. Hours after the hearing, she denied the motion to dismiss on the grounds of unconstitutional vagueness.