A government watchdog group is ramping up its ongoing efforts to compel the Bureau of Land Management to release documents related to its failed roundup of cows owned by Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy.
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility today filed a motion for summary judgment in its lawsuit against BLM asking U.S. District Judge Richard Leon to order the agency to turn over documents to the group regarding the April 2014 roundup of cattle illegally grazing on federal lands that was called off after an armed standoff with protesters.
PEER filed the lawsuit in June 2014 after it said BLM failed to respond to the group's Freedom of Information Act request for the documents (Greenwire, June 12, 2014).
...The Washington, D.C.-based group filed the FOIA requests in an effort to find out why BLM called off the high-profile, weeklong roundup of Bundy's cattle on federal lands last spring and what it has done afterward to ensure its employees stayed safe.
The group is also seeking documents on whether the U.S. Attorney's Office declined to criminally prosecute Bundy, which, according to PEER, would make cattle impoundment BLM's only option to bring Bundy to justice.
PEER's motion asks the judge to rule that BLM has "wrongfully withheld the requested agency records" and to order BLM to turn over the requested records within 20 business days.
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