FOIA News: Transparency Groups Send 2nd Letter About Congressional Interference with FOIA

Read the joint letter to members of the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group of the U.S. House of Representatives here. Release below from Cause of Action Institute.

Signatories:

American Association of Law Libraries
American Society of News Editors
Association of Alternative Newsmedia
Associated Press Media Editors
Cause of Action
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington
Demand Progress
Federation of American Scientists
Government Information Watch
National Security Archive
OpenTheGovernment
Project On Government Oversight
Protect Democracy
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
Sunlight Foundation

***

Cause of Action Institute signed a letter yesterday, joining a broad coalition of government transparency advocates, warning members of the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group of the U.S. House of Representatives about the dangers of mounting congressional interference with the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) and, specifically, continued efforts to expand the definition of “congressional records” not subject to disclosure. The letter comes in the wake of the House Committee on Ways and Means’ motion to intervene in a lawsuit filed by American Oversight, a left-leaning government transparency group.

The letter reiterates much of the argument found in a May 2017 coalition letter urging Jeb Hensarling, the Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, to rescind his directive that federal agencies treat any and all records exchanged with the Committee as exempt from the FOIA. As I have previously discussed, the mere fact that an agency possesses a record that relates to Congress, was created by Congress, or was transmitted to Congress, does not by itself render it a “congressional record.” The law instead requires that Congress manifest clear intent to maintain control over specific records to keep them out of reach of the FOIA.  Chairman Hensarling and the leadership of the Ways and Means Committee are pushing the boundaries of this legal requirement.

Cause of Action Institute continues to investigate Chairman Hensarling’s controversial, and legally dubious, attempt to frustrate public access to records of the Executive Branch’s dealings with Congress, as well as similar efforts undertaken at the Internal Revenue Service. The transparency community and the general public must remain united in protecting the spirit of disclosure and open government promised by the FOIA.

FOIA News: Interior Dept. Sued For Petroleum Institute Meeting Records

Interior Dept. Sued For Petroleum Institute Meeting Records

By Adam Lidgett, Law360, Sept. 27, 2017

A nonprofit government watchdog group on Wednesday hit the U.S. Department of the Interior with a federal lawsuit for allegedly refusing to hand over various records pertaining to a meeting that Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke had with the board of directors of the American Petroleum Institute.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed its complaint in D.C. federal court, saying that the DOI violated the Freedom of Information Act because it didn’t provide the group with all the documents it requested...

Read more here (subscription).

FOIA News: EEOC issues final FOIA regulations

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission published a final rule today in the Federal Register that updates the agency's FOIA regulations in accordance with the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016.  The final rule incorporates changes recommended by the Office of Government Information Services after EEOC issued an interim rule on December 29, 2016.

FOIA News: NCPC Issues Technical Correction for FOIA Regulations

The National Capital Planning Commission yesterday published in the Federal Register a technical correction to its September 20th final rule for revised FOIA regulations.  These new regulations are effective October 20, 2017.

FOIA News: FOIA Advisory Committee Meeting on 10/19/17

FOIA Advisory Committee to Meet on October 19th

Nat'l Archives & Records Admin., The FOIA Ombudsman, Sept. 27, 2017

This Friday, September 29th, registration will open for the next meeting of the FOIA Advisory Committee in the McGowan Theater at the National Archives. The event is open to the public and can also be watched via livestream on the National Archives YouTube Channel.

Read more here.

FOIA News: 2018 Chief FOIA Officer Report Guidelines Available

Agency 2008 Chief FOIA Officer Report Guidelines Now Available

Dep't of Justice, Office of Info. Pol'y, Sept. 27, 2017

The FOIA requires agency Chief FOIA Officers to report to the Attorney General on their performance in implementing the law.  Accordingly, since 2009, the Department of Justice has directed agency Chief FOIA Officers to “review all aspects of their agencies’ FOIA administration” and to report annually to the Department of Justice on the efforts undertaken “to improve FOIA operations and facilitate information disclosure at their agencies.”  Every year, OIP provides specific guidance to agencies on the content and timing of agency Chief FOIA Officer Reports and today we have issued the guidelines for agency 2018 Chief FOIA Officer Reports.

Read more here.

Court opinions issued Sept. 25, 2017

Judicial Watch v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- holding that government properly relied on Local Civil Rule 84 to withhold settlement-related documents exchanged between congressional committee and DOJ relating to "Fast and Furious" program.

Lockett v. Wray (D.D.C.) -- finding that local law enforcement agency, not FBI, maintained records of plaintiff's DNA profile.   

Urban Air Initiative. v. EPA (D.D.C.) -- determining that agency failed to adequately search for records concerning gasoline fuel study, but that it properly withheld records pursuant to Exemptions 4, 5, and 6.  

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here. 

Court opinions issued Sept. 21 & Sept. 22, 2017

Sept. 22, 2017

Cable News Network v. FBI (D.D.C.) -- ruling that plaintiff's request for records "relating in any way" to memos issued by former FBI Director James Comey was not reasonably described.   

Sept. 21, 2017

Taylor Energy v. U.S. Dep't of the Interior (D.D.C.) -- concluding that: (1) Department performed reasonable search for records underlying statements it issued about 2004 incident at plaintiff's oil platform in Gulf of Mexico; (2) Department properly relied upon deliberative process and attorney-client privileges to withhold five disputed documents.

MacLeod v. DHS (D.D.C.) -- determining that: (1) DHS demonstrated that it did not maintain records concerning plaintiff's application for "diplomatic status" card; (2) plaintiff failed to appeal CIA's Glomar response regarding himself, and his request concerning "Russia" and the "Cold War" was not reasonably described; and (3) National Security Administration and the General Services Administration demonstrated that it never received requests from plaintiff.

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here. 

FOIA News: A new requester's (long) read on the FOIA process

My Journey to the Heart of the FOIA Request

Fifty years ago, the Freedom of Information Act gave the public access to government secrets — all you had to do was ask.  How a simple request became a bureaucratic nightmare.

By Spenser Mestel, Longread, Sept. 2017

* * * *

The executive branch currently employs over 4,000 full-time employees to receive, process, and fulfill FOIA requests. To better understand the costs involved in maintaining such a massive bureaucracy, I decided a few months ago to submit requests for information about spending on FOIA fulfillment to the 14 offices of the most requested department: the Department of Homeland Security, which in 2016 received 325,780 FOIA requests. Expecting a maze of arcane terms, legal citations, and byzantine postal requirements, I gave myself a few hours. When I visited FOIA.gov, though, I found an FAQ section complete with videos, a primer on how to file a request, and a full directory of government agencies. On the directory page, when I clicked the logo for the DHS, a drop-down menu appeared giving the names of its component offices, and I chose the first one listed, the Headquarters and Privacy Office. Up popped the corresponding FOIA officer’s name, mailing address, phone and fax numbers, and email address, which I copied into Gmail. Then I was stuck.

Read more here.

Court opinion issued Sept. 20, 2017

Lindsey v. FBI (D.D.C.) -- denying without prejudice agency's Glomar response concerning request for records of interaction between government and Imad Hage, because FBI interpreted request too narrowly, Mr. Hage publicly acknowledged (to some degree) his contacts with U.S. officials, and agency failed to acknowledge any public interest in subject matter of request.

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.