CREW FIGHTS FOR DOJ TOBACCO RECORDS IN U.S. DISTRICT COURT

8 Feb 2006 // Washington, DC – Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) will argue for the release of Department of Justice (DOJ) records relating to the proposed penalty in United States v. Philip Morris, Inc., et al before the Honorable Judge Emmet G. Sullivan Thursday, February 9, 2006, at 12:00 p.m. at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, 333 Constitution Ave., Courtroom 24A.

As a penalty for the tobacco industry’s violations of racketeering laws, the Department of Justice initially sought a $130 billion penalty, at a rate of $5.2 billion per year over 24 years, to fund a smoking cessation program. Suddenly, in June 2005, without explanation, the Department of Justice drastically dropped the proposed penalty to $10 billion at a rate of $2 billion per year for five years.

To learn why DOJ changed its position so dramatically and to discover if there was any wrongdoing involved, CREW filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests with DOJ. On June 28, 2005, CREW sent FOIAs to the Office of Information and Privacy (OIP) and the Civil Division requesting all records in the Offices of the Attorney General, Deputy Attorney General and Associate Attorney General relating to the government’s proposed penalty in the tobacco litigation. CREW also asked for all contacts between DOJ and the White House as well as records of communications between Associate Attorney General Robert McCallum and his former law firm Alston & Byrd. CREW further asked for all records relating to the change in DOJ's position on the tobacco settlement. Given public interest in the case, CREW asked DOJ to process its requests on an expedited basis.

Although DOJ initially agreed to CREW’s request for expedition, seven months later, CREW has yet to receive a single record. Instead, DOJ has fallen back on procedural road blocks to avoid producing the records. For example, DOJ claims that CREW is not entitled to a waiver of fees and refuses to take any further action until CREW makes a commitment to pay for the agency to search for the records. The denial of a fee waiver as well as DOJ’s overall failure to comply with its obligations under the FOIA are the subject of CREW’s lawsuit.

“DOJ is relying on procedural tactics to stop the public from learning the truth about why the Department of Justice dramatically decreased the tobacco settlement,” Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW said today. “This Administration has a pattern of refusing to comply with FOIA requests that might result in the release of embarrassing information. Given the Administration’s record of obfuscation on this and other important issues, it is lucky for the public that matter is now out of the Administration’s hands and into those of a federal court.”

CREW’s FOIAs to DOJ are available at www.citizensforethics.org.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) is a non-profit, progressive legal watchdog group dedicated to holding public officials accountable for their actions.

For more information, please visit www.citizensforethics.org or contact Naomi Seligman at 202.588.5565 or press@citizensforethics.org.