The Trump administration is under scrutiny for allegedly breaching the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by withholding “environmental and occupational-safety” records related to the recent demolition of the White House’s East Wing, as claimed by an asbestos victims’ advocacy group.

The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) has taken legal action, filing a 21-page complaint on Wednesday. The complaint targets the National Park Service and other related agencies, accusing them of repeatedly violating FOIA by not providing requested details on health, environmental, and safety regulations.

This legal move is in response to President Donald Trump’s widely reported White House renovation, aimed at building a new ballroom. The demolition work commenced in September 2025.

“ADAO firmly believes that the White House should exemplify transparency and safety in the removal of asbestos and other hazardous materials, particularly during the renovation of historic federal buildings,” the complaint states. “When an Administration skips essential safety protocols or withholds relevant documentation, it damages public trust and undermines the legal protections designed to ensure the safety of Americans and preserve public resources.”

The lawsuit references various media reports about the renovation, highlighting that asbestos was a common material in construction at the time the original White House was built.

The complaint goes on to ring alarm bells over a specific request by Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey, a Democrat, as to “whether the construction debris from the demolition had been tested for the presence of asbestos.” The Trump administration, however, did not respond to Markey’s asbestos-related inquiry, the lawsuit alleges.

The focal points of the group’s concerns are a series of asbestos-related federal laws and regulations issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the General Services Administration (GSA). The group is also concerned about the project’s compliance with a homegrown asbestos safety statute in Washington, D.C.

To that end, ADAO in October penned a letter to Trump himself which requested “comprehensive records on the presence of asbestos and other hazardous substances in the East Wing, all abatement activities, and procedures employed to protect construction workers,” according to the lawsuit.

“No response to the letter was received,” the lawsuit says.

In November, the group filed a series of formal FOIA request with nine separate agencies, according to the lawsuit.

The litany of ADAO’s requests spans nearly two pages in the complaint. The requests broadly concern hazardous material “abatement” procedures – if such procedures occurred and documentation thereof.  The complaint also demands records for “[a]ll actions taken” to comply with the aforementioned district and state laws and regulations.

To date, only the GSA responded to the FOIA requests, the group says.

“That response, a letter dated November 10, 2025, stated that GSA did not ‘locate records responsive to your request’ and added that ‘GSA is not involved with the current renovation or construction activity at the White House,’” the lawsuit reads. “Although ADAO received notices of receipt for the remaining FOIA requests, no responses had been received as of the date of the filing of this Complaint.”

After waiting a statutorily required 20 working days envisioned by the federal FOIA law, the group filed its FOIA lawsuit.

“Defendants’ failure to make determinations on or to produce documents requested in plaintiff’s FOIA requests within the time limits set by FOIA is a denial of those requests and wrongful withholding of records,” the lawsuit goes on.

The plaintiffs are asking the judge to order the agency defendants to “immediately produce the records responsive to plaintiff’s FOIA requests, including all material that is not properly subject to a FOIA exemption” and to identify “all documents withheld under a FOIA exemption and specify why the exemption applies.” The group also wants the court to issue a declaration that the defendants are “wrongfully withholding agency documents” in violation of FOIA.