Judicial Watch suing to see who got an exemption to the federal COVID-19 travel restrictions
I have mentioned a few of the lawsuits Judicial Watch has launched to force release of government documents related to various controversial issues. This is another one - but it is potentially highly poignant, and that is why I decided to cover separately.
What's at issue is, if, when and under what circumstances did people connected to various government officials receive exemptions to COVID pandemic-related travel bans imposed by the Federal government in the US. Specifically, for example, on 25 January 2021 the Biden administration imposed on travel from most European countries due to the region being labeled a COVID hot zone. However, exemptions were allowed for those whose travel was considered to be desirable for the "national interest" of the US. And yes, that does sound quite vague.
I have no idea how many people received this exemption, or how many of those is any way, form or shape deserved it. However, I suspect that that number is not unsignificant as if there was nothing to hide, the lawsuit would likely be unnecessary for Judicial Watch to get answers to their questions.
And - if there was corruption involved, which would be trivial - an important takeaway here is that in this particular case a high number of travel exemptions requested or granted would mean that officials imposing pandemic restrictions largely didn't fear the allegedly terrifying virus themselves.
References
Judicial Watch Sues for Records of COVID-19 Travel Exemptions Granted to Biden Administration Officials
Judicial Watch, 24 March 2022
Why does Judicial Watch have to sue so many in the government for this data?
@borepstein , 6 May 2022
@pixresteemer(9/10) gave you LUV.
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Right. If travelling was banned in that time, everybody had to follow the rules. Sometimes, the health of a nation could be more important than national interest.
I imagine public health is a major part of national interest.
What I decided to focus on is the idea that if government officials sought to massively break this ban they likely never believed in its necessity themselves.
I would consider national interest as foreign affairs.
And economic efficiency? Ecological concerns?
Like protecting borders, cultural values, relationship with other countries according to the goals of a nation etc.