Prince Harry news – live: Heritage Foundation slams ‘zero transparency’ Biden admin over US visa decision
Rightwing Heritage Foundation is seeking Prince Harry’s immigration records after he admitted to past drug use, such as in his memoir Spare
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Your support makes all the difference.Prince Harry’s US visa records continue to stay under lock and key following a decision by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
This week, the DHS rejected a request by conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation to expedite a Freedom of Information Act request seeking the Duke of Sussex‘s immigration records.
DHS Senior Director Jimmy Wolfrey wrote in a letter that “to the extent records exist, this office does not find a public interest in disclosure sufficient to override the subject’s privacy interests,” according to the New York Post.
Heritage lawyer Samuel Dewey slammed the decision to “stonewall” its request saying it “shows an appalling lack of transparency by the Biden Administration”.
“We will be contesting their position,” he added. “We expected to have to fight every step of this case in federal court and will continue to press for transparency and accountability for the American people.”
The think tank has been seeking his visa records after Prince Harry admitted to past drug use, such as in his memoir Spare. Drug use can be a reason to reject a US visa application. Prince Harry moved to Montecito, California, with his wife Meghan Markle in July 2020.
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‘I do find it astonishing that the British press is referenced as obscure'
Mr Bardo argued last week that sufficient coverage from mainstream US media was required for a request to be expedited. He mentioned outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and the TV networks.
Heritage lawyer Samuel Dewey meanwhile argued in front of Judge Carl Nichols that DHS regulations simply say “media” without specifying where the outlets are based.
Mr Dewey told The Independent after the hearing on 6 June that “you can’t define mainstream. That’s almost absurd in this context. So as a policy matter, that is a very alarming statement for the press and for transparency for the administration”.
Nile Gardiner, the director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at the foundation, added: “I do find it astonishing that the British press is referenced as obscure.”
“These are big publications with a wide global reach including millions of Americans who read these newspapers and I find it absolutely astonishing this description today [that there’s] some media that actually count and matter and others that do not. That is an extraordinary statement to make and absolutely unacceptable,” he added.
‘He has waived any privacy interest he has in his drug use'
Mr Dewey argued in court on 6 June that today’s media is global, noting that The Daily Mail had 100 million page views in the US in the month of April.
DHS said in previous legal filings that the US Customs and Border Protection denied the requests because Prince Harry hasn’t consented to the release of the files, with Mr Bardo saying in court that an individual’s visa is “confidential”.
Speaking to reporters outside the DC federal courthouse on 6 June, Mr Dewey said that Prince Harry had foregone his right to privacy after his series of highly publicised interviews and Netflix documentary series.
Mr Dewey argued in court that the case is part of a larger probe into the conduct of the federal government, specifically into DHS supposedly not following the law in other areas of its responsibilities, such as not protecting the US border with Mexico.
“What are we asking for here?” Mr Dewey told reporters outside the courthouse. “We are only asking for the records that are related to this question that has been raised about the drug use and admission ... he’s talked about it, he’s written about it extensively, he has waived any privacy interest he has in his drug use, he has bragged about it in Spare and sold that.”
DHS’s reply to Heritage Foundation in full
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