Alaska News

Nonprofit wins legal fees reimbursement over lawsuit seeking Young documents

The U.S. Justice Department's non-response to an information request about U.S. Rep. Don Young will cost the government $86,000 in legal fees, a Washington, D.C. judge ruled Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler ordered DOJ to pay the legal fees of a nonprofit public interest organization, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which sued to force disclosure of investigative files on Young.

CREW brought the lawsuit after the department in 2011 denied its Freedom of Information Act request for documents related to investigations of Young. CREW said the DOJ denial violated federal law.

CREW got a partial victory in court -- the release in 2012 of some documents and a massive index showing the wide-ranging extent of the FBI investigation of Young.

Young, a Republican from Alaska, was never charged with a crime, but independent of the CREW lawsuit, DOJ turned over some of its files to the House Ethics Committee, which rebuked Young in June over his misuse of campaign contributions for personal benefit.

CREW initially filed its Freedom of Information Act request in January 2011.

"The requested documents would shed light on the conduct of the (Justice Department) and the FBI in conducting the investigation of Rep. Young and the (department's) decision to close the investigation without bringing charges against him," CREW said in its 2011letter. "In addition, while DOJ decided not to prosecute Rep. Young, his activities still may have been illegal or violations of the rules of the House, and the requested records would shed light on them."

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DOJ rejected the request, in part by asserting that releasing the documents would violate Young's right of privacy. CREW responded that as an elected official, Young's privacy rights were limited.

In balancing Young's privacy rights with the public's right to know, Kessler ruled in 2012 that the public's interest in the material "is very strong" and ordered DOJ to at least produce an index.

In seeking legal fees, CREW said that its lawsuit led to news stories in Alaska and national media about Young and the DOJ investigation. Those stories led to a better-informed public about Young's conduct and the FBI investigation of him, CREW said.

Kessler agreed, ruling Tuesday that DOJ had 60 days to turn over $86,076 to CREW to reimburse its expenses in the case.

Richard Mauer

Richard Mauer was a longtime reporter and editor for the Anchorage Daily News and Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2017.

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