'Unlawfully withheld records': Trump admin violating FOIA by refusing to release documents about Kash Patel's expenses, lawsuit says

The Trump administration is violating the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by refusing to merchandise records astir FBI Director Kash Patel's publically funded travel to Italy earlier this year, according to a suit filed by a transparency-focused watchdog group.

In a 15-page complaint filed Tuesday successful Washington, D.C., national court, the Democracy Defenders Fund accuses the FBI of violating statutory deadlines and unlawfully withholding bureau records.

"The requested records incorporate captious accusation that the American nationalist needs successful bid to measure whether Director Patel, who is the caput of the superior investigative bureau of the United States, is perchance misusing oregon wasting authorities resources successful usurpation of national law," the filing reads.

The suit stems from nationalist reporting connected Patel's travel, "including his attendance astatine the 2026 Winter Olympics," and consequent efforts to get accusation astir the travel by mode of the nation's premier transparency statute, according to the complaint. The plaintiffs, however, accidental their efforts to usage the FOIA strategy person deed a ceramic wall.

The watchdog's FOIA petition was submitted successful precocious February. The eventual plaintiffs asked for the FBI to cod "eleven categories of records" related to Patel's Milan trip, according to the lawsuit.

In emblematic fashion, the watchdog besides asked for expedited processing, a interest waiver, and, failing that, presumption arsenic "news media" successful bid to avail itself of fees that are constricted to accumulation costs alone.

The FBI did not wholly cull oregon adjacent disregard each those requests.

Instead, the instrumentality enforcement bureau "divided Plaintiff's Request into 9 tranches and assigned 9 abstracted petition numbers to Plaintiffs' Request," according to the lawsuit.

But since then, there's mostly been vigor silence, the watchdog says.

"To date, Defendant has failed to marque a determination oregon supply immoderate responsive documents for 8 of these petition numbers," the suit reads. "Defendant failed to comply with the statutory deadline acceptable distant nether FOIA…Plaintiff respectfully asks the Court to compel the expeditious merchandise of the requested bureau records."

Democracy Defenders aims to get "[a]ll question authorizations oregon approvals for the usage of authorities craft and immoderate expenses related to the usage of specified craft successful transportation with" Patel's travel to Italy — with a absorption connected "his attendance astatine the 2026 Winter Olympics."

The FOIA petition besides asks whether "any broad approval" was made nether question expenditure rules and if determination was "any authorization oregon support for immoderate non-federal traveler to question with" Patel.

The watchdog besides wants the bureau to merchandise "[a]ny itinerary oregon agenda" prepared for Patel during his Italian travel — including "official, personal, and governmental meetings."

The FOIA petition further delves into the minutiae of government-subsidized question for national workers and seeks a fig of applicable national forms with alphabet soup-style nomenclature.

The radical additionally wants to uncover "[a]ny briefing books oregon beforehand materials prepared for Director Patel's meetings" with 2 U.S. ambassadors, 1 Italian billionaire and the manager of the men's U.S. Olympic hockey team, according to the lawsuit.

The lengthy FOIA petition goes connected to inquire for a litany of further national records, authorizations, decision-making documents, and communications regarding Patel's nationalist spending and question to Italy.

Notably, the suit contextualizes Patel's out-of-country question against the backdrop of respective high-profile incidents involving national instrumentality enforcement that occurred during Patel's absence.

From the lawsuit:

On February 22, 2026, a trespasser equipped with a shotgun and state vessel breached the information perimeter astatine Mar-a-Lago and was changeable and killed aft pointing the limb astatine Secret Service agents and a sheriff's deputy.

Around the aforesaid time, unit erupted successful Mexico pursuing the decease of Jalisco New Generation Cartel person Nemesio Cervantes, including adjacent the U.S.-Mexico border, and President Trump publically suggested that the United States mightiness onslaught Iran.

"Despite these important nationalist information events, FBI Director Patel was successful Italy attending the 2026 Olympic Games, watching the men's hockey last from what appears to beryllium a skybox and chugging brew successful the locker country of the U.S. men's hockey team," the filing goes on.

The suit besides makes the wealth space explicit.

"Director Patel traveled to and from Italy connected authorities craft astatine a reported outgo of $75,000 to the American taxpayer," the suit continues. "Prices to be Olympic events varied, but tickets to the men's hockey last ranged betwixt $500 and $1,600."

After the FBI parceled retired the watchdog's petition into 9 abstracted tranches with circumstantial petition numbers — by mode of 9 abstracted letters — different 9 letters followed, the suit says.

The 2nd acceptable of 9 letters advised Democracy Defenders that "unusual circumstances" applied to each petition and truthful the FBI's "response to each petition fig would beryllium delayed."

Then, successful April, the FBI closed retired 1 of those requests wholly — saying the bureau had nary responsive records to the petition for Patel's locker country quality with the U.S. men's hockey team.

In May, the FBI denied each petition for expedited processing.

The suit is premised connected 2 causes of action: the alleged wrongful withholding of non-exempt responsive records and the alleged usurpation of mandatory statutory deadlines.

The plaintiffs privation a tribunal bid directing the agencies to "expeditiously and afloat process" the FOIA requests "and disclose each non-exempt records" and "to sphere each records, successful immoderate signifier they exist, perchance responsive" to the requests.

The plaintiffs are besides asking the justice overseeing the substance to support jurisdiction implicit the lawsuit until the FBI "is successful compliance with FOIA and each bid of this Court" and to state that the "FBI unlawfully withheld records responsive to Plaintiff and violated the statutory deadline to respond to" the watchdog's FOIA requests.