New Jersey sues DoJ over Wire Act FOIA request

The State of New Jersey has filed a lawsuit against the US Department of Justice (DoJ), after it failed to respond to a demand for documentation related to its revised interpretation of the Wire Act. In January, the DoJ revised its 2011 ruling on the Wire Act to state that the law’s prohibition applies to all forms of gambling and not just sports betting, much to the frustration of states such as New Jersey that run legal igaming markets. New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal and his Pennsylvania counterpart Josh Shapiro hit out at the decision, demanding assurances that existing state-regulated gaming would not be impacted by the stance. Grewal also filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, seeking documents that would prove or disprove reports that the decision was taken following intensive lobbying efforts by Sheldon Adelson. Adelson, founder, chair and CEO of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, has long been a critic of the expansion of online gaming in the US. He has invested heavily in lobbying against the industry. The DoJ in March informed New Jersey that it would process its FOIA request, but the state is yet to receive any documents in relation to the case. Grewal noted that with the revised stance to be enforced from June 14, it was particularly important for the request to be expedited. Filed in US District Court in New Jersey, the new lawsuit notes that an expedited FOIA request must be fulfilled within 20 days, according to DoJ’s FOIA guide. It also points out despite a claim by DoJ that “unusual circumstances” surrounded the New Jersey request, the DoJ is yet to explain what this actually means. “Online gaming is an important part of New Jersey’s economy, and the residents of New Jersey deserve to know why the Justice Department is threatening to come after an industry we legalised years ago,” Grewal said. “It’s especially important that we figure out whether this federal crackdown is the result of a lobbying campaign by a single individual seeking to protect his personal business interests.” New Jersey legal online gambling revenue totalled $298.7m (£229.3m/€266.8m) in 2018, with online casino revenue at $277.3m and poker $21.4m. The revised opinion on the Wire Act has caused some level of confusion in the US, with the DoJ yet to fully clarify the ruling. After the initial January decision, the DoJ last month said that this revised stance does not address the legality of interstate and online lotteries. Last week, NeoPollard Interactive, the vendor for the New Hampshire Lottery, hit out at the DoJ over this uncertainty, calling for the “charade to end”.