Some concerned Americans have legitimate questions about U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Ronald Clark, President Joe Biden's nominee to command all U.S. Army forces in the Pacific theater, and his public advocacy for controversial and racially divisive things like diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and the renaming of military bases.

Unfortunately, a watchdog group was just forced to file a lawsuit against the Department of Defense after it failed to respond to a Freedom of Information Act request about the general and the major promotion he is in line to receive, the Daily Caller reported.

The suit urged a federal court to intervene and compel the Pentagon to appropriately and swiftly respond with the public release of certain requested records and an explanation for why any requested documents may be withheld.

FOIA lawsuit

Last week, the Center to Advance Security in America, or CASA, filed a five-page lawsuit with a federal district court in Washington D.C. that served as a complaint against the Defense Department's failure to adequately respond to the group's FOIA request about Lt. Gen. Clark that was first filed in August.

Citing the Pentagon's responsibility to respond to FOIA requests in a timely manner under the terms of 5 U.S.C. § 552, CASA reiterated the demands for all relevant records of documents and communications related to Clark and his nomination.

Specifically, the lawsuit named nearly a dozen Pentagon officials, more than a dozen media reporters, and more than a dozen keywords and phrases that may have been involved in any form of recorded discussion of Clark's nomination.

"The release of these documents is in the public interest because it will help the public understand the operations and decision-making of DOD regarding an issue of important public concern," CASA insisted.

No response from DoD to legitimate FOIA requests

However, per the lawsuit, CASA received only an initial acknowledgment of the Pentagon's receipt of the FOIA request but has since "gone silent" about the request and has not issued a formal response or given an estimate of when the request might be fulfilled.

"As the record above indicates, over 117 days have elapsed since CASA submitted its request to DOD, yet DOD still has not made a determination with respect to it," CASA stated. "DOD has not produced responsive documents to CASA, has not communicated to CASA the scope of the documents it intends to produce or withhold -- along with the reasons for any such withholding -- and has not informed CASA of its ability to appeal any adverse portion of its determination."

Given the DoD's failure to abide by its statutory obligations under FOIA, the watchdog group urged the court to order the Pentagon to quickly respond to the initial request with the release of "any and all non-exempt records" as well as an "index justifying the withholding of all or part of any responsive records withheld under claim of exemption," along with the awarding to CASA of "reasonable attorney’s fees and other litigation costs reasonably incurred" during the legal dispute.

Americans deserve to be informed about Gen. Clark

Stars and Stripes reported in July that President Biden had nominated Lt. Gen. Clark, currently a top aide for Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin, to be promoted to receive an additional star and to take over command of the U.S. Army Pacific at its headquarters in Hawaii.

The nomination was a controversial one, given Clark's purported involvement in Austin's secretive hospitalization earlier this year as well as his open advocacy for implementing DEI policies in the military and the renaming of military bases that had originally been named for Confederate generals.

"Ronald Clark is someone who has advocated publicly for DEI programs in the military to be expanded and prioritized by leadership," CASA Director James Fitzpatrick told the Daily Caller. "CASA brings this lawsuit in order to bring transparency to the American public on the records and communications surrounding Clark’s selection for promotion to lead the Army’s largest Service Component Command."

"Radical diversity, equity, and inclusion policies have creeped into almost every facet of military operations and the approval of these policies seems to act as a credential for aspiring military officers to move up the ranks," he added.