A lawsuit from two right-wing groups arguing that the University of Delaware should release documents from President Joe Biden's time as a senator has been heard at the state's Supreme Court.
Judicial Watch and the Daily Caller News Foundation, whose Daily Caller news site was co-founded by Fox News' Tucker Carlson, are suing the university after they refused to release papers from Biden's 30-year career in the Senate.
The lawsuit was filed after the state Supreme Court rejected their appeal to have the papers released under Delaware's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
Biden gave his senatorial papers to the University of Delaware as a gift in 2012. They contain 1,850 boxes and 415 gigabytes of electronic records, according to the Delaware News Journal.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard arguments that the documents should be made available via an FOIA request.
"How the University of Delaware is storing, maintaining, processing, and releasing President Biden's Senate records is of concern to the citizens of Delaware and all Americans," said Tom Fitton, president of the Judicial Watch nonprofit, in a statement to the Daily Caller foundation.
"During today's hearing, it seemed as though the Delaware Supreme Court is skeptical of the unusual secrecy in the handling of these records by the university."
The university has argued that the papers are not public record because it is not using public funds to manage the collection so they don't fall under FOIA requirements.
The institution has previously said it would not release the papers publicly until two years after Biden retires from public life.
Speaking to radio station WHYY, Judicial Watch attorney Bill Green said: "The inference is almost tautological that a public university accepting a massive gift that requires substantial funds to keep up would use public funds to help support the public university."
The demands to have the papers released stems from accusations by Tara Reade that Biden sexually assaulted her when she worked in his office more than 30 years ago.
Biden strenuously denied the allegations in May 2020. "They aren't true. This never happened," he said.
In a statement, Daily Caller News Foundation President Neil Patel said: "The University of Delaware's argument that a public university housing public records is not subject to public disclosure requirements would be comical if all this weren't so serious.
"We are hopeful that the court will not allow this attempt to hide President Biden's rightfully public information to stand."
It is unclear when the Supreme Court will make its decision on the suit.
When contacted by Newsweek, the University of Delaware said it did not comment on pending litigation.
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Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, domestic policy ... Read more
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