20 Windsorgate questions for Obama administration

Officials with the U.S. Department of Justice are expected to make public Monday the first batch of 3,000 of 12,000 "Richard Windsor" emails sought by Competitive Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow Christopher C. Horner.

"Richard Windsor" was the government email non de plume used by former Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson during her tenure from 2009 through 2013.

It is a violation of multiple federal public access and transparency laws for government officials to use fake email names while doing official business.

Horner sued EPA in federal court after the agency refused to provide Jackson emails he requested through the Freedom of Information Act. A federal court sided with Horner and ordered the emails to be made public.

The government is releasing the 12,000 emails in four batches, beginning Monday, in a developing scandal dubbed "Windsorgate."

The EPA Inspector-General opened an investigation in December 2012 on Jackson's use of fake names after Jackson conceded doing so. But Horner and other EPA critics claim the use of fake email names is widespread throughout the agency and may also be elsewhere in the federal government.