The U.S. Chamber of Commerce filed a lawsuit on Thursday against the Federal Trade Commission that accuses it of unlawfully withholding public records.

"The opacity of commission operations have created a 'black-box environment' that increases uncertainty for businesses," the business group said in a statement.

The Chamber, which speaks for U.S. businesses, has been critical of the FTC under Chair Lina Khan, who has support among progressive Democrats.

In a court filing, the Chamber said that it wanted to compel compliance with Freedom of Information Act requests for public records having to do with "zombie" votes, or those cast by former Commissioner Rohit Chopra. The chamber said that the votes were counted after he left.

It also had requested records about the FTC's communications with foreign jurisdictions about a merger of two U.S. biotechnology companies.

The FTC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.