Joe Biden’s administration has rejected a claim that Prince Harry’s U.S. visa records should be released because of ‘extraordinary’ comments by the president’s ambassador to the U.K.
It came after Ambassador Jane Hartley recently said that Harry would not be deported from the U.S. while Biden is president.
The Heritage Foundation, a Washington D.C.-based think tank, is currently suing Biden’s Department of Homeland Security under the Freedom of Information Act for access to the royal’s immigration papers.
In a legal salvo earlier this month it said Hartley’s comments undermined the Biden administration’s position that the documents should be kept secret, and backed up the case for disclosing them.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex in Florida at the 2024 Royal Salute Polo Challenge to Benefit Sentebale, on April 12, 2024
The filing of over 100 pages in Washington D.C. included a full transcript of what the think tank called Hartley’s ‘extraordinary’ comments in an interview with Sky News on March 25.
However, in a new response submitted to Judge Carl Nichols in Washington D.C. lawyers for the Department of Homeland Security refused to accept the argument.
They said Hartley had simply been giving her reaction to previous comments by Donald Trump that he might deport Harry if he becomes president again.
And they said, in doing so, the ambassador had not revealed any private information about the royal’s immigration status.
In the filing the U.S. government lawyers also rejected the idea that Hartley had ruled out deportation of Harry regardless of what happened in the future.
Lawyers for the Department of Homeland Security wrote: ‘Plaintiffs argue that Jane Hartley, U.S. Ambassador to the Court of Saint James, revealed information about the Duke’s immigration status during an interview with Sky News.
‘But Hartley’s comment was simply a reaction to former President Donald Trump suggesting that, if he is elected to the presidency again, he would consider deporting the Duke.’
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex kiss as she presents his polo team with the trophy for winning the 2024 Royal Salute Polo Challenge to Benefit Sentebale, Friday, April 12, 2024
US Ambassador Jane Hartley laughed off the suggestion Harry could be deported, telling Sky News: ‘It’s not gonna happen in the Biden administration’
They went on: ‘Contrary to Plaintiffs’ representations, Hartley’s comments did not reveal any non-public information regarding the Duke’s status, and Hartley did not state that the Duke would not be deported “regardless of future circumstances”.
‘If anything, Hartley’s comment that the Duke would not be deported under the Biden Administration is consistent the position that Defendant has taken in this litigation, namely that the Duke’s admission to and residence in the United States suggests no government impropriety.”
The Heritage Foundation wants Harry’s visa records released to see if he confirmed on his application that he had used drugs, and if he was given any special treatment by immigration authorities.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex at the Royal Salute Polo Challenge, to benefit Sentebale, at The USPA National Polo Center in Wellington, Florida on April 12, 2024
In a recent interview for GB News with Nigel Farage, Donald Trump said Harry should not get ‘special privileges’
In his memoir Spare, which was published after he moved to America in 2020, he admitted having previously used drugs including marijuana, cocaine and psychedelic mushrooms.
U.S. visa applicants are required to make a disclosure about any history of drug use, which can impact their application.
In its filing the Heritage Foundation said the Biden administration had always maintained that ‘none of the information that we have can be released without acknowledging what Prince Harry’s immigration status is or tipping our hand as to what it is.
‘But on March 25 2024, the Hon. Jane Hartley, the United States Ambassador to the Court of Saint James’s did just that.
‘Hartley spoke directly not only to the Duke of Sussex’s current immigration status, but HRH’s future immigration status as well.’
District Judge Carl Nichols who is presiding over the case in Washington D.C.
SPARE, the memoir of Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex, was published globally on January 10, 2023
The think tank argued that undermined the Biden’s administration’s argument that the information must be kept secret.
Last month, Donald Trump said if Harry was found to have lied on his visa application about drug-taking he would seek to take ‘appropriate action’ if he becomes president again.
Trump declined to rule out Harry being deported from the United States.
When asked about Trump’s comments Ambassador Hartley said: ‘Well it’s not going to happen in the Biden administration.’