WASHINGTON (CN) - A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the Trump administration to show more evidence that a new commission tasked with investigating election fraud is complying with public-disclosure laws.
The order this morning came as part of a demand by the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law for limited discovery after the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity failed to release all of the materials it used during its first meeting on July 19.
Despite having promised to release all materials before the meeting even occurred, the commission explained in a July 31 opposition brief that it could not do so because certain commission members did not submit their materials in advance.
U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly skewered attorneys for the commission on this point at a hearing this morning, saying she found it "hard to believe" that commission members would show up to a meeting not fully informed of what they would discuss.
"You didn't completely live up to your representations," she said.
Under fire by Kollar-Kotelly about what steps were taken to inform commission members of their obligation to disclose materials under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Justice Department attorney Elizabeth Shapiro apologized immediately.
Expressing "sincere regret" to the court, Shapiro said not all commission members understood their disclosure obligations.
Training about the Federal Advisory Committee Act occurred on the day of the commission's first meeting, prior to its start, Shapiro explained. She said commission members were told their documents and materials would be made public, but the timing of the disclosure was not discussed.
Commission members also lacked clarity about whether they could bring materials, and were under the impression that one member might have had a PowerPoint presentation.
"It was a chaotic start to the commission - a little bit of unknown and disorganization in terms of how the meeting would happen," Shapiro said.
When asked what the commission has done since then, Shapiro said a letter was sent to members stipulating submission deadlines for their materials prior to their second meeting next month.
Saying she needs more than the commission's assurances, Kollar-Kotelly closed this morning's hearing with an order for the commission to compile a Vaughn index — a document that has been a fairly standard requirement of all Freedom of Information Act cases since the 1973 decision Vaughn v. Rosen.
Ordinarily these indices merely itemize any information that an agency withheld, along with an explanation of why disclosure would damage its interests.