FOIA News: Union chief raises fists as GOP firm requests emails

Union chief raises fists as GOP firm requests emails

By Kevin Bogardus, Greenwire, Feb. 3, 2017

A top U.S. EPA union official has come under scrutiny from a Republican political opposition research firm.

America Rising LLC filed a Freedom of Information Act request this week for emails sent to or from John O'Grady, president of American Federation of Government Employees Council 238, that mention President Trump. O'Grady's council is made up of all of AFGE's local EPA unions, representing about 9,000 agency employees overall.

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In an interview with E&E News, officials with America Rising emphasized that filing FOIAs is standard operating procedure for the firm and that this request was not meant to suppress dissent among EPA career employees. Instead, they said, the group wants to shed more light on internal government operations.

Read more here (paywall).

FOIA News: USADF revising FOIA regulations

The U.S. African Development Foundation published a final rule implementing new FOIA regulations in today's issue of the Federal Register.  The changes are meant to bring the agency's regulations into accordance with the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016.  USADF did not solicit public comment.  The final rule is effective April 4, 2017.

FOIA News: EPA Employees Are Using Encryption Technology To Hide Resistance To Trump — But Is It Legal?

EPA Employees Are Using Encryption Technology To Hide Resistance To Trump — But Is It Legal?

By Mike Bastasch, Daily Caller, Feb. 2, 2017

Federal employees are turning to encryption technologies to coordinate their resistance to the Trump administration, looking for ways to protect their conversations from hackers or agency overlords.

A small group of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) employees are already “communicating incognito using the app Signal shortly after Trump’s inauguration,” Politico reports. Such apps encrypt communications and make them difficult to monitor or hack.
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Federal law requires agency employees to preserve work-related records on government servers, even if such communications occur over non-government emails, phones or text messages.

Encrypting messages allow employees to create potentially work-related messages as ones they can control. That creates the possibility employees could use encryption to circumvent Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.

Read more here.

Court opinions issued Jan. 31, 2017

Rad v. U.S. Attorney's Office (D.N.J.) -- denying requester's motion for in camera review and granting agency's motion for summary judgment because agency had properly applied Exemption 3, in conjunction with Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e); Exemption 6; and Exemptions 7(C), (D), and (E).

Bothwell v. Brennan (9th Cir.) -- affirming district court decision denying requester's motion for summary judgment on the grounds that he had failed to establish a genuine dispute of material fact as to whether the CIA had waived its application of Exemption 3 or failed to conduct an adequate search for responsive records.

Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Wash. v. DOJ (D.C. Cir.) -- affirming district court decision dismissing plaintiff's suit under the APA to compel DOJ Office of Legal Counsel to meet its disclosure obligations under the "reading room" provision of the FOIA, 5 U.S.C. sec. 552(a)(2). 

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.

FOIA News: NARA publishes direct final rule for new FOIA regulations

The National Archives and Records Administration published a direct final rule implementing revised FOIA regulations in today's issue of the Federal Register.  These amendments are needed to make NARA's regulations consistent with the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 and to make "a few small administrative changes."  The rule is effective March 3, 2017, but the agency is soliciting public comment until February 21, 2017.  If it receives any adverse comment, the agency intends to withdraw the rule.

FOIA News: National Mediation Board issues new FOIA regulations

The National Mediation Board published a final rule implementing new FOIA regulations in today's issue of the Federal Register.  The revisions are primarily intended to comply with the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016. The Board received one comment in response to its November 14, 2016 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, which has not resulted in any changes. The new regulations are effective immediately.

Court opinions issued Jan. 30, 2017

James Madison Project v. Dep't of State (D.D.C.) -- holding that: (1) agency failed to perform  adequate searches for records relating to Hillary Clinton's private attorney; and (2) agency properly relied on Exemption 7(C) to withhold identity of agency's information security chief.  

Davis v. Dep't of Justice (D.D.C.) -- summarily agreeing that five DOJ components had performed adequate searches and justified their withholdings, issues that plaintiff, a pro se inmate, did not dispute.   

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.

FOIA News: FOIA requests on the rise

Surge in information requests, hiring freeze puts pressure on overburdened FOIA offices

By Meredith Somers, Federal News Radio, Jan. 30, 2017

The Environment Protection Agency collected about 200 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests during the first week of the Trump administration, and more than 20 percent of them are about the new president, climate change, and social media.

Larry Gottesman, director of the national FOIA program at EPA, said his agency gets about 12,000 requests per year. According to FOIAOnline, since the beginning of October, the start of fiscal 2017, the EPA has received roughly 3,200 requests.

Gottesman said the uptick is the result of a new administration, and that the FOIA requests his office is collecting range from well wishes of support to questions about the nomination of Rex Tillerson as the new Secretary of State.

Read more here.

FOIA News: Magistrate recommends disclosure of border checkpoints

Judge backs ACLU in lawsuit over border checkpoints

By Howard Fischer, Capitol Media Services, Jan 28, 2017

A federal magistrate is chiding the Border Patrol for trying to hide certain information from the public about its sometimes controversial checkpoints.

In a 55-page recommendation, Bernado Velasco said there is no valid reason for the Department of Homeland Security to refuse to provide records about the location of its checkpoints. The American Civil Liberties Union wants that as part of a broader look into the practices of the Border Patrol in stopping vehicles.

Velasco also rebuffed the contention by Homeland Security that requiring it to divulge information on the nationality and skin complexion of those who are stopped at either fixed checkpoints or roving patrols would be "an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.''

Read more here.

Court opinion issued Jan. 27, 2017

Rocky Mountain Wild v. U.S. Forest Serv. (D. Colo.) -- ruling that certain records maintained by third-party contractor were not "agency records" because Forest Service lacked "control" over them. 

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.