Judicial Watch is claiming that a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request was blatantly ignored by the current administration. Yesterday, the conservative group made public that it has sued the Obama Department of Justice for allegedly not releasing documents which it has requested under the FOIA which pertained to the 2011 decision for the ability to re-interpret the 1961 Wire Act. This is the act that allowed for various U.S. state lotteries to start offering betting and games online, which also made room for states to legalize and regulate online casino games within their jurusdictions.
As reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the ‘Judicial Watch’ is saying that in October 2014 it had filed a Freedom of Information Act request which concerned the 2011 decision, is is vehemently alleging that the DoJ has been ignoreing their request with no explanation or answer at all.
Judicial Watch alleges in its complaint that:
As of the date of this complaint, July 15, the Justice Department has failed to determine whether to comply with the FOIA request; notify Judicial Watch of any such determination; advise Judicial Watch of the right to appeal any adverse determination; produce the requested records or otherwise demonstrate that the requested records are exempt from production.
These allegations made by Judicial Watch, could implicate the DoJ with misconduct. They made a statement to media;
“The executive action ‘legalizing’ online gambling is another example of the Obama administration’s habit of placing politics above law,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.
“When the Justice Department reverses its own interpretation of a federal statute so quickly and so completely, the American people have a right to know why,” the president of Judicial Watch told the Review-Journal. “And given that the Justice Department is willing to violate federal records law rather than disclose information, Americans can presume corruption behind its decision to unilaterally legalize widespread Internet gambling.”
Ongoing is, the Republican’s mega-donor, Sheldon Adelson’s campaign to ban online casino and online gambling nationwide. He is funding capmpaigns to, at the very least, stop the spread of online gambling beyond the three current states it’s legalized in — Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware.
Earlier on in 2011, the DoJ had indicted operators of three major offshore online poker sites, which over time has come to be known as ‘Black Friday’. PokerStars later on, settled with the federal government for a sum of more than $700 million, but they did not admit to any wrongdoing in the matter.
Due to this settlement, the government garnished enough funds to repay victims of the Full Tilt Poker fraud, a remission process that is still going on since 2011.
