WASHINGTON — Accusing the Justice Department of stonewalling, The Associated Press filed a suit Thursday against the FBI for failing to turn over information under the Freedom of Information Act about a criminal sting operation in which it created a bogus news story and impersonated an AP journalist.

The federal suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., also demands that the government catalog all instances since 2000 when it has impersonated the news media and that it disclose its internal policies governing the practice.

The media group says that it learned last October that the FBI had “masqueraded as a member of the news media – specifically, as the AP – in order to deliver surveillance software to a criminal suspect’s computer.”

In investigating a 2007 bomb threat in Lacey, Washington, the FBI emailed a 15-year-old suspect a link to a fake AP news story, according to the suit.

When the teenage suspect clicked on the link, he unwittingly downloaded surveillance software that allowed the government agents to track his whereabouts.

When the tactics were revealed publicly last year, some media officials and lawmakers criticized the Justice Department for using “deceptive” practices, but Justice Department officials defended their actions.

Hoping to learn more about the practice, the AP filed a FOIA request last year, but the government has said it could take 649 days to gather the materials, the AP says.