FOIA News: Interior issues final FOIA regs

On November 14, 2019, the Department of Interior published the final version of amendments to its FOIA regulations, which will become effective on December 16, 2019. The Department first proposed the revisions on December 28, 2018, which drew more than 60,000 public comments and were criticized by congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle.

FOIA News: Court urges FBI to release Mueller docs quickly

Federal judge presses Justice Department to release Mueller interview summaries in CNN lawsuit

By Katelyn Polantz, CNN, Nov. 13, 2019

After CNN's major win getting access to witness memos from the Mueller investigation earlier this month, a federal judge has prioritized CNN's request for Mueller interview summaries over BuzzFeed News' lawsuit asking for millions of Mueller documents.

Judge Reggie Walton indicated at a court hearing Wednesday morning that he wants the Justice Department to release some of the most newsworthy FBI narratives of witness interviews as soon as possible, such as those related to the prosecution of Roger Stone.

Read more here. Story updated here following objections by Jason Leopold of BuzzFeed News via tweets he has since deleted.

FOIA News: FOIA Advisory Committee meeting on Dec. 6

The FOIA Advisory Committee will next meet on December 6, 2019 from 10am to 1pm. The Committee will hear about “the work of the FOIA Advisory Committee's three subcommittees, focusing on records management, FOIA vision, and time/volume.” Additional information is available here.

FOIA News: Dem Senators FOIA for more Ukraine info

Democratic senators seek documents on Trump's alleged call for Barr press conference

By Tal Axelrod, The Hill, Nov. 9. 2019

Three Democratic senators sent a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to Attorney General William Barr on Friday seeking documents regarding President Trump’s alleged request that Barr hold a press conference saying no laws were broken during a July phone call with Ukraine.

Read more here.

FOIA News: Annual reporting instructions now available to agencies

OIP announced today that “detailed instructions for accessing and using the new FOIA.gov Annual Report tool are now available in the Department of Justice Handbook for Agency Annual FOIA Reports.”

FOIA News: OGIS available for dispute resolution training

The Office of Government Information Services is taking requests now for dispute resolution training in fiscal year 2020. Details here.

FOIA News: POGO conducting survey of "FOIAonline" users

The Project on Government Oversight is surveying FOIA requesters about their experience with the government’s FOIA portal FOIAonline. See the survey here.

FOIA News: OIP seeking litigation attorney

The Office of Information Policy is seeking a government attorney for a “six-month extendable non-reimbursable detail to the Initial Request Staff (IR Staff) Litigation Team.” See announcement here.

FOIA News: Meet OIP's acting director

On Monday, November 4, 2019, the Office of Information Policy announced the Bobak Talebian has been serving as Acting Director following the departure of Melanie Pustay in early October.

FOIA News: FOIA case against CIA argued in D.C. Cir.

On Monday the D.C. Circuit heard oral argument in National Security Counselors v. CIA, No. 18-5047 (D.C. Cir.). See the underlying opinions here. Listen to the argument here.