A federal judge on Friday heard arguments in a case to determine whether President Trump’s own tweets could force the government to reveal more information about its efforts to verify information contained in a controversial opposition research dossier, Politico reported.
The arguments stem from a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by Politico reporter Josh Gerstein in conjunction with the anti-secrecy group, the James Madison Project.
According to Politico, the arguments center on whether the president’s statements on Twitter prevent the government from refusing to provide information about its efforts to verify the dossier, particularly whether the tweets should be read to confirm that the government has looked into the claims in the document and found them false or unverifiable.
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Trump has repeatedly claimed that the claims made in the dossier are false and discredited. He has also called on federal investigators to make public information on who funded the research contained in the dossier.
David Glass, a lawyer for the Justice Department, argued that Trump’s public comments about the dossier could be based on information he obtained through media reports or personal knowledge – not necessarily government investigations.
“There’s no inference that is possible,” Glass said, according to Politico. “It could be based on other things.”
The dossier, compiled by former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele on behalf of a private research firm, alleges ties between Trump’s presidential campaign and Russia, and contains salacious, unverified material about the president.