Judicial Watch: We Want to Know What Senator Cardin Knows

Just days before President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, the Department of State sent a “cache of documents marked ‘Secret'” to U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., that allegedly detailed Russian efforts to intervene in elections around the world.

The documents were sent to Cardin in response to a request he made as the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Those documents were reportedly shared with Republicans on the committee, as well.

Judicial Watch would like to know what was in those documents.

Back in March, the watchdog organization filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the documents, but has received no response from the Department of State. So Wednesday, it sued for access to:

All records provided by any official, employee or representative of the Department of State to Senator Ben Cardin, any member of his staff, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and/or any Senate Foreign Relations Committee staff member regarding, concerning or related to efforts by the Russian government to affect, manipulate or influence any election in the United States or any foreign country from November 8, 2016 to present.

If you’ve lost count, this is now the fourth lawsuit Judicial Watch has been forced to file as it attempts to retrieve documents related to the surveillance, unmasking, and illegal leaking that targeted the president and his associates. The organization’s president, Tom Fitton, said he wants to know if President Barack Obama and his administration shared classified information with Cardin in an effort to influence the election.

“Did the Obama State Department improperly share classified information with a Democrat Senator as part of an anti-Trump scheme?” he asked. “Needless to say, the Senate won’t be investigating Senator Cardin’s role in any potential violations of law, but Judicial Watch is going to federal court to do just that.” {eoa}