CNN attorney accuses DOJ of 'slow-rolling' FOIA'd Mueller documents: ‘News delayed is news denied’

With President Donald Trump facing an impeachment inquiry in the U.S. House of Representatives because of the Ukraine scandal, the media aren’t focusing on "Russiagate" nearly as much as they were earlier this year. Nonetheless, CNN has continued to pursue sealed records from former special xounsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, and this week, an attorney representing CNN complained that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has yet to hand over all of the records the cable news outlet has requested.

Attorney Charles Tobin, according to Courthouse News, told U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton, “News delayed is news denied.” Tobin noted that the first Mueller-related documents the DOJ gave CNN in response to its Freedom of Information Act request were delivered to CNN’s Washington, D.C. office on November 2. But CNN has yet to receive other Mueller-related documents it requested, Tobin complained.

“We are convinced that the government is slow-rolling these documents,” the attorney told Walton.

Courtney Enlow, an attorney for DOJ, stressed that DOJ had shown CNN the “courtesy of overnighting” some of the records it requested. But delivering the records electronically, Enlow added, is difficult because the files are large and e-mails with attachments can bounce back undelivered.

Tobin, however, told Walton (an appointee of President George W. Bush) that CNN often receives similar quantities of documents electronically in response to Freedom of Information Act requests.

“I do agree that the production day is when you should have them in your hands,” Walton told Tobin.