On Thursday morning, the U.S. Justice Department admitted to a mistake in a court filing, revealing that it had unintentionally uploaded a confidential letter containing legal advice meant for the Department of Transportation.
The department had been trying to file a different letter related to a court case involving the government’s decision to cancel New York City’s congestion charge plan.
Data engineer Émília Decaudin shared screenshots of the letter after it went live on Wednesday. Lawfare’s Anna Bower highlighted the error, explaining that the Justice Department had likely intended to submit a letter to Judge Liman in the case of MTA v. Duffy.
However, instead, the department accidentally filed a document with legal advice intended for the Department of Transportation.
The letter that was mistakenly posted revealed that the Justice Department had argued that it was unlikely that Judge Liman or other reviewing courts would accept the claim that the CBDTP (Central Business District Tolling Program) was not a legally authorized pilot under the Value Pricing Pilot Program (VPPP).
This argument was part of the legal battle surrounding the scrapping of the New York City congestion charge scheme.
By Thursday, the Justice Department had filed another letter acknowledging the error and requesting that the accidentally uploaded letter, which was protected by attorney-client privilege, be permanently sealed or removed from the public docket.
The department asked the judge to rule that the release of the document had not waived its privilege.
In response, some of the lawyers for the plaintiff-intervenors, including the Riders Alliance and the Sierra Club, expressed concerns about the permanent sealing request.
They noted that the letter had already been widely shared and asked for a discussion on how to proceed with the matter.
The lawsuit at the center of the case is filed by the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (TBTA) against Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
It addresses the federal termination of a New York City toll program designed to reduce traffic congestion.