Madison, Wisconsin watchdog group Freedom From Religion Foundation is suing Secretary Ben Carson and the Department of Housing and Urban Development for allegedly dodging open record requests.
The lawsuit is about White House Bible study, believe it or not. According to the Wisconsin Gazette, the foundation alleges that HUD has consistently denied fee waivers on Freedom of Information Act.
It is believed that if the records were released, Carson could be made to look bad. The lawsuit states that HUD has a pattern of denying fee waivers on Freedom of Information Acts "where disclosure of the requested documents is likely to cast the agency or HUD Secretary Ben Carson in a negative light.”
FFRF wanted the documents to see if the Trump administration utilized government resources to host their weekly bible studies. Carson isn't the only major figure in attendance. Other top officials like Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, CIA Director Mike Pompeo and Energy Secretary Rick Perry took part frequently.
However, according to the FFRF news release, "President Donald Trump rarely makes an appearance."
“If this Bible study is legal and aboveboard, as the Trump administration and Fox News have argued, what are they trying to hide by torpedoing the FOIA process?” asked FFRF co-president Annie Laurie Gaylor.
HUD has reportedly said that they have denied requests because the records do not relate to HUD operations or activities and allegedly not in the public interest.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington who are also involved with the lawsuit because they were rejected records pertaining to emails, the role Carson’s son and wife play in HUD.
FFRF said the man leading the bible study sessions, Ralph Drollinger of Capitol Ministries, is a conservative Christian who has called Catholicism the "world’s largest false religion." He has also been vocal about his disdain for the LGBT community by declaring homosexuality an "abomination: and said it’s "sinful" for women with children to serve in Congress.
