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Law360, New York (June 4, 2020, 5:08 PM EDT ) A displeased Manhattan federal judge said Thursday she will haul top Trump administration agency lawyers into court if they drag their feet in a freedom-of-information case claiming the president suppressed free speech at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as the COVID-19 crisis set in.
A judge ordered the government Thursday to provide an initial wave of responses in a freedom-of-information suit that says the president directed agencies to coordinate public statements about the COVID-19 pandemic with Vice President Mike Pence's office. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
"I will not tolerate an 'I don't know,'" Judge Torres said. "It's not acceptable. It's not an acceptable answer."
Her comments came in response to a May 8 complaint by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, which says "the White House has restricted the flow of information from the CDC — the nation's public health agency — to the public" and says the CDC "has failed to release records" detailing those restrictions.
In a May 28 update to the court, the Knight institute said that "because defendants have not yet determined whether they will withhold responsive documents in full or in part pursuant to FOIA's exemptions, the parties are not yet in a position to discuss settlement."
President Donald Trump has been displeased by comments from CDC experts about the deadly virus — including one by Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, who in February said it was certain to spread, the suit says.
As a result, the president directed agencies to coordinate public statements with the Office of Vice President Mike Pence, who heads a White House task force addressing the disease, the suit says, asking for information about why that was done and how.
"The CDC continues to wrongfully withhold the requested records," the suit says.
On Thursday, the judge directed the CDC to provide an initial wave of responses by Tuesday and detail why it is withholding any records. Other agencies mentioned in court filings including HHS and Pence's office also are to respond or face being brought to court, a "troubled" Judge Torres said.
The judge said that if she doesn't see adequate cooperation, then "I'm going to have to ask the general counsels of these agencies to appear and they're going to have to answer to me."
Knight Institute lawyer Stephanie Krent told Law360 in an email after the hearing: "We're pleased that the court recognized the urgency of our request. The public needs to know whether the White House is controlling the CDC's communications about the COVID-19 pandemic, and whether it's preventing public health experts at the CDC from speaking out if they disagree with what President Trump or the Task Force says."
The Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office, which is representing the administration, declined comment.
Knight is represented by its counsel Stephanie Krent, Alexander Abdo and Anna Diakun.
The government is represented by Andrew Krause of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.
The case is Knight First Amendment Institute v. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention et al., case number 1:20-cv-02761, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
--Editing by Peter Rozovsky.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
