ACLU Sues Feds for Records on Deadly Yemen Raid
The ACLU is suing four federal agencies for records related to the Jan. 29 raid in Yemen that killed a Navy SEAL and civilians, including children.
The civil liberties organization filed a freedom of information request for documents in March and then filed a lawsuit in Manhattan federal court on Monday to force the government to respond.
"After conducting an internal investigation, the government released little information about the circumstances surrounding the Raid, the legal or factual justifications for it, and its consequences," the suit said.
Among the information the ACLU wants is an accounting of the civilians killed in the raid, which erupted in a deadly firefight after, as one senior U.S. intelligence official told NBC News, "almost everything went wrong."
The head of U.S. Central Command told Congress between four and 12 civilians were killed, but Human Rights Watch and others have put the toll higher.
The Trump administration has characterized the raid as a huge success. However, NBC News has reported in March that none of the intelligence gleaned from the operation so far has proven actionable or vital.