Pickard v. Dep't of Justice (N.D. Cal.) -- concluding that the DEA properly relied on Exemption 7(D) to withhold a confidential informant's name and any information he publicly released, and that the agency properly withheld the informant's NADDIS number pursuant to Exemption 7(E).
Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.
By Luke Rosiak, Daily Caller, Nov. 16, 2016
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) officials blocked the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by charging made-up, exorbitant fees such as $30,000 for documents staffers admitted were “easy to find,” according to internal emails obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation Investigative Group.
A VA hospital used the technique to get watchdogs and activists to drop their requests after a lone FOIA officer there helped expose corruption by the facility’s director. The director paid the FOIA officer to stay home without access to sensitive information, leaving the facility without anyone to process the requests.
The efforts at VA to block FOIA requests are reminiscent of those at the Department of State that torpedoed Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. As secretary of state, Clinton’s desire to keep her emails from being discovered by reporters prompted the use of a private server located in her New York mansion.
Read more here.
Nat'l Sec. Counselors v. CIA (D.D.C.) -- see DOJ summary here.
No, you still can’t FOIA Donald Trump’s tax returns, and other things to consider in the coming months
By Michael Morisy, MuckRock, Nov. 15, 2016
Previously, we took a look at what you could FOIA about Donald Trump and what you couldn’t. While at the time he had a relatively light public records trail, savvy requesters could still find ways to get a lot of material.
In fact, after that story ran, the New York Times had a great piece that used public records to raise serious questions about Donald Trump’s claimed income.
Now that Donald Trump is President Elect of the United States, a whole new world of FOIA possibilities begins to open up. But first, some bad news.
Read more here.
Q. A friend of mine obtained some information through FOIA and has no problem sharing it with me and letting me use it. May I use it for my benefit? Or do I need to obtain the same FOIA information myself? I am a resident of New York.
A. A recipient of records through FOIA -- or the Freedom of Information Law in New York -- may disseminate those records as he or she pleases; the government does not impose any restrictions. Therefore, unless you and your friend have a contractual agreement to the contrary, you need not make a duplicate FOIA request; you may lawfully use the information as you choose.
Q. Where should abuse of responding to FOIA be reported?
A. If you have a complaint about a state or local agency in your state of residence (Maryland), you might consider contacting the Maryland Attorney General. If you are concerned about a federal agency, the Office of Government Information Services helps requesters and agencies to resolve FOIA disputes.
Q. Are city governments in Texas subject to FOIA?
A. State and local governments in Texas are subject to the Texas Public Information Act, not the federal Freedom of Information Act.
By Nolan D. McCaskill, Politico, Nov. 14, 2016
A Democratic super PAC is filing public records requests with government agencies for documents involving President-elect Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and transition team, according to copies of the requests provided exclusively to POLITICO on Monday.
American Bridge 21st Century is asking the General Services Administration, Office of Government Ethics and Office of Personnel Management for a trove of documents involving dozens of people, including Trump’s key aides, advisers, surrogates and even his adult children.
Read more here.
Hoeller v. SSA (7th Cir.) -- affirming district court's decision to dismiss case because plaintiff failed to exhaust his administrative remedies at the time he filed suit.
Earle v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- dismissing suit because the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys demonstrated that the records requested -- specifically, a grand jury's "tax number" for a particular criminal case in the District of Columbia -- have never existed.
McCash v. CIA (N.D. Cal.) -- ruling that: (1) the NSA, CIA, and FBI performed reasonable searches for records concerning plaintiff; (2) the CIA and NSA properly refused to confirm or deny existence of classified records pursuant to Exemption 1; and (3) the FBI properly redacted third-party information pursuant to Exemptions 6 and 7(C), but failed to explain why any non-exempt, segregable portions of the withheld pages could not have been released.
Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.
Steven Aftergood, Secrecy News, Nov. 10, 2016
The future of transparency in the Trump Administration is uncertain. It will ultimately be determined in practice as the new Administration embarks on its programs, determines its priorities, appoints its personnel, engages with Congress and confronts the public.
On his first full day in office, President Obama famously pledged to conduct the most transparent Administration in history. Though it was imperfectly executed and suffered some reversals, I think that pledge was fulfilled to an impressive extent. More government information was made more easily available to more people than ever before. The reported volume of new national security secrets created in the past two years dropped to historically low levels. Whole categories of information that had previously been off-limits — the size of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile, the President’s Daily Brief, the size of the annual intelligence budget request, among others — were newly subject to declassification and disclosure during Obama’s tenure. If this was not the most transparent Administration in history, then which Administration was?
Read more here.
[Note: In 1988, DOJ issued this guidance on transition team records]
Brown v. Perez (10th Cir.) -- on petition for panel rehearing, reversing district court's decision that the names and business addresses of workers compensation physicians were properly withheld under Exemptions 4 or 6; affirming district court's decision that agency was not required to input information into computer program in order to recreate requested screen images.
Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.
Q. Concerning the election of 2016, how do I submit a FOIA request to Lee County, Florida for the ballot images of the election? Actually I would like a copy of the ballot images for the whole state of Florida, but Lee County is where I reside.
A. You might consider submitting your request to Lee County's public records request center. Alternatively, you might consider contacting the Lee County Supervisor of Elections and asking for a sample ballot.