A team of lawyers will challenge the US government in a Washington DC federal courtroom today over its decision not to disclose why Prince Harry was admitted into the country despite admissions of illegal drug use.
The Heritage Foundation, a conservative political research group, has filed a lawsuit against the Department for Homeland Security (DHS) in a bid to determine whether the correct procedure was followed in the decision to allow the Duke of Sussex into the US.
Under US law, admission of drug taking can be grounds to dismiss a visa application. The prince admitted to taking cocaine, marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms in his memoir, Spare.
The Heritage Foundation will argue that ‘widespread and continuous media coverage’ has brought into question whether the duke was properly vetted by the government. But the DHS said the swift release of the documents would not be in the public interest and questioned how ‘widespread’ the media coverage of the issue had been.
Both parties are set to argue the case in a federal court for the first time in Washington DC today.
It is unclear when the court will make a decision on whether the documents can be released.
Lawyers will be interested in two questions on the US DS160 visa form.
One asks: ‘Have you ever been a drug abuser or addict?’
The other asks: ‘Have you ever violated, or engaged in a conspiracy to violate, any law relating to controlled substances?’
In his memoir, the duke said cocaine ‘didn’t do anything for me’, adding: ‘Marijuana is different, that actually really did help me.’
He also admitted to hallucinating during a celebrity-filled event in California and smoking cannabis after his first date with Meghan.
And the duke has also spoken about his ‘positive’ experience of psychedelic drug ayahuasca, saying it ‘brought me a sense of relaxation, release, comfort, a lightness that I managed to hold on to for a period of time’.
Harry made the comments in an interview with therapist Dr Gabor Maté, a supporter of decriminalising drugs who has allegedly used Amazonian plant ayahuasca to treat patients suffering from mental illness.
The Heritage Foundation’s lawsuit argues that US law ‘generally renders such a person inadmissible for entry’ to the country.
Sam Dewey, representing the Heritage Foundation, told Sky News ahead of the hearing: ‘The government has taken the position that “there’s nothing to see here”.
‘We’ve taken the position that no, if you look through all the details of his admissions, you look at the drug laws, you look at the laws on admissions, there’s a real serious question as to whether or not he should have been admitted.’