Judge Randolph Moss. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM.

A hearing in a public records lawsuit tied to Roger Stone's sentencing got heated Wednesday, as a federal judge questioned whether the Justice Department was acting in "good faith" in its handling of the records request.

Lawyers with Loevy & Loevy filed the lawsuit on behalf of BuzzFeed News reporter Jason Leopold in April, over a Freedom of Information Act request he submitted to DOJ for records relating to President Donald Trump's tweet criticizing prosecutors' original sentencing recommendation for Stone and the decision to override that initial memo.

DOJ lawyers filed a motion to dismiss the case, saying they agreed to expedite the request and the complaint itself did not center on the actual production of documents. They also argued the complaint itself was filed prematurely, because it landed in federal court only 13 days after Leopold submitted his FOIA request.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss of the District of Columbia sharply criticized the Justice Department for granting the motion to expedite and then seeking to dismiss the case. He questioned why the agency would agree to quick processing, but then not follow through on that action.

"I'm not sure that letter granting expedition was, frankly, provided in good faith and is meaningful in any respect if, as I understand it right now," DOJ is "not going to process the request at all?" Moss asked.

Justice Department lawyer Christopher Lynch denied Moss' suggestion that the agency threw the FOIA request "in the trash." He said the same documents were requested separately and are the subject of a different lawsuit. Leopold also filed that complaint, which covers a wider range of documents tied to Stone's sentencing recommendation.

Lynch also said agency lawyers contacted Leopold's legal counsel and suggested they amend the complaint to avoid the issues raised at Wednesday's hearing, but they declined to do so.

However, Moss went after Lynch's argument that Leopold's lawyers were "engaging in gamesmanship" by not amending their complaint and claiming it did cover the production of documents.

"I'm really unpersuaded by your argument about manipulation here," Moss said. "I'm baffled by it, given what the department has done here."

The judge said Leopold had a proper claim to file a lawsuit over his request for expedition of his records request and could have amended the complaint once the government failed to produce documents by the 20-day deadline set under FOIA. "They didn't get ahead of anybody in the process by doing that," Moss added.

Justice Department attorney Elizabeth Shapiro eventually cut in, saying the department would be willing to accept an amended complaint from Leopold and the case could move forward to discussing a production schedule.

Josh Burday, the Loevy & Loevy attorney arguing on Leopold's behalf Wednesday, denied the government's interpretation of events. He said the legal team did not turn down the suggestion to amend the complaint, but had asked to discuss a production schedule for the documents as well. "That's entirely inaccurate, your honor," Lynch interrupted.

Burday said he was concerned about the production of the documents, adding the Justice Department conceded it had not been processing the request despite agreeing to expedite it.

"We're talking about Roger Stone and potentially alleged illegal conduct related to the president and his campaign," Burday said, adding that "delay is a very real issue."

Moss said he was no longer concerned about past actions in the case and wanted to move it forward in accordance with FOIA law. Burday said an amended complaint would be filed by Thursday, and the judge set a hearing Monday to discuss a production schedule.

Leopold's FOIA request was filed after Main Justice intervened in the sentencing recommendation for Stone, a longtime associate of the president. A jury last year convicted Stone on all charges brought forward by Special Counsel Robert Mueller III, including lying to Congress and witness intimidation.

Stone has appealed his conviction, and is also asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to review his request for a new trial and delay his July 14 surrender date. The Justice Department is set to file a brief with the court on Stone's surrender date by noon Thursday.

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