LAS VEGAS — A federal judge is ordering the U.S. Justice Department to begin cataloging and releasing records of an ethics investigation of former U.S. Sen. John Ensign of Nevada.
U.S. District Judge John Bates in Washington, D.C., rejected a government request to process a 1 percent sample of more than 210,000 pages produced.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that Bates’ order was issued Friday in a freedom of information lawsuit brought by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
The group wants to know why the government didn’t prosecute Ensign.
The Justice Department, FBI and Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys rejected CREW’s request for documents, citing broad Freedom of Information Act exemptions.
Ensign, a Republican, resigned from the Senate in May 2011. He has resumed a veterinary practice in Las Vegas.
