"The Bureau of Land Management missed a key deadline in an ongoing lawsuit over Freedom of Information Act requests due to the agency's response to the COVID-19 outbreaks.
The disclosure, made in internal communications between the Justice Department and the plaintiff, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, raises questions about whether BLM leadership could put access to public documents on the back burner as the federal government attempts to slow the novel coronavirus pandemic.
According to court documents, BLM agreed to review 500 pages of documents in the case per month — including emails involving acting Director William Perry Pendley — and issue its first release of "all responsive, non-exempt records" to PEER on March 12.
But the Justice Department missed that deadline, prompting PEER to contact an assistant U.S. attorney assigned to the case."
Advertisement 
