Emily Miller: “D.C. mayor was in on David Gregory coverup”

Emily Miller: “D.C. mayor was in on David Gregory coverup”

By way of brief background, Emily Miller has been trying to obtain documents from various branches of government in the District of Columbia regarding the investigation of and decision not to prosecute David Gregory for a clear violation of the D.C. handgun laws.

Legal Insurrection also has been seeking documents, and we were forced to sue the D.C. Attorney General’s Office (Irvin Nathan) and Metropolitan Police Deparment, Legal Insurrection and Judicial Watch file suit to obtain David Gregory gun law violation documents.

We previously wrote about Miller’s quest, Emily Miller uncovers D.C. AG “dirty tricks” in withholding David Gregory docs.  In that post, Miller recounts how a key letter to OAG from Gregory’s attorney which OAG refused to produce to Legal Insurrection on the ground that it was exempt from FOIA already had been given to Miller.  This is bad faith to inconsistently invoke FOIA exemptions depending upon who the requester is.

Now Miller has a follow up, D.C. mayor was in on David Gregory coverup in Part III of investigation.  As Miller recounts, the D.C. Mayor’s Office denied have any documents responsive to her FOIA request, but after she persisted, all of the sudden the Mayor’s office “found” the documents but still refused to produce them:

On April 22, I emailed again: “I’ve waited three weeks for you to respond to  my last email, so I know whether I need to escalate this request.”

Six hours later,  she responded with a second FOIA letter, this one  containing new information that she had attempted to hide on the first  round.

Ms. DeVillier reiterated that the  information I wanted would come from the police and the prosecutor, then added:  “However, at your request, an additional search was conducted within [the  mayor’s office] that yielded electronic mail documents responsive to your  request.”  But, this new discovery was still being withheld from the  public.

The mayor refused to turn over three emails between his spokesman, Pedro  Ribeiro, and the communications office staff due to the “deliberative  process.” Claiming attorney-client privilege, he did not turn over three  email chains between his chief of staff, Christopher Murphy, and D.C. Attorney  General Irvin Nathan and two email chains between Mr. Nathan, Mr. Murphy and the  Mr. Ribeiro.

Now that’s interesting to me.   Because Legal Insurrection’s FOIA request included in its scope the communications being withheld from Miller, but neither OAG nor MPD told us they were withholding those documents.

They also did not tell us they were withholding a Warrant and supporting Affidavit, they just didn’t give it to us but we noticed it referenced in emails. Such have been the tactics. We can only wonder what else has been withheld that we have not been told about.

Miller goes on to quote me:

The Legal Insurrection blog has been trying to get all the documents  surrounding the David Gregory case for almost six months. The blog’s lead author  William A. Jacobson told me that his  FOIA requests have not been fulfilled. Judicial Watch filed a FOIA lawsuit  against the city on behalf of Mr.  Jacobson’s legal blog.

“We want to know who did what and when as to obtaining the illegal ammunition  magazine, the full details of the investigation culminating in the presentation  by MPD of a warrant and supporting  affidavit,” Mr. Jacobson told me. The  Cornell law professor also wants the city to hand over “all communications  internally and with David Gregory’s  attorneys culminating in the decision not to prosecute.”

What’s going on here?  Why is D.C. government hiding the ball on the Gregory documents, and stalling as much as possible?

I think someone on Twitter had it right:

@leginsurrection @washtimes stalling makes the story less potent over time…and allows them to say you’re crazy.

— Lenins Barber (@LeninsBarber) May 20, 2013

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