Trump-Linked Organization Initiates FOIA Lawsuit Against Chief Justice Roberts and Former Judge
The organization seeks judicial enforcement of Freedom of Information Act requests pertaining to purported lawfare against Supreme Court Justices Thomas and Alito.
A legal advocacy group established by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller has initiated a lawsuit against Supreme Court Justice John Roberts and former District Judge Robert Conrad over their alleged failure to comply with Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.
Chief Justice Roberts leads the Judicial Conference, while Judge Conrad serves as the director of the Administrative Office. Both are named in the lawsuit in their official roles within these organizations.
The Judicial Conference consists of committees that convene biannually to establish policies for the federal court system; it is always chaired by the sitting Chief Justice. The Administrative Office “manages the nonjudicial administrative tasks of the United States Courts, such as maintaining statistics and overseeing Court budgets,” as per its website.
In court filings, America First claims that Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) consulted with these two agencies in efforts to implicate Justices Thomas and Alito in ethics violations.
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In July 2024, Whitehouse urged former Attorney General Merrick Garland to appoint a special counsel to investigate alleged violations by Justice Thomas, including tax fraud and failure to disclose gifts like sports tickets and airfare from 1991 onward. Previous inquiries had already exonerated Thomas of any intentional misconduct.
America First contends that because the Judicial Conference and the Administrative Office were complicit in these Congressional oversight efforts—belonging to the executive branch—they should be classified as executive agencies and thus subject to FOIA regulations.
The organization filed FOIA requests with the Judicial Conference and the Administrative Office in July 2024 for all documents regarding Justices Thomas and Alito, as well as any communications with Sen. Sheldon, Rep. Johnson, or their staff dating back to April 2023.
Both the Administrative Office and a Supreme Court attorney declined the requests, stating that FOIA applies solely to the executive branch, not to the judicial or legislative branches.
Even if the Administrative Office were subject to FOIA, the Supreme Court’s attorney asserted that the requested documents “would not be releasable,” as they fall under exempt categories from FOIA requests.
