FOIA News: Federal pensions might become subject to FOIA

Legislation Would Make Retired Federal Employee Pensions Public Information

By Ian Smith, FedSmith, July 15, 2017

Legislation has been introduced in the House to make the pension information of retired federal employees public information subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

The Taxpayer Funded Pension Disclosure Act (H.R. 3200) was introduced in the House this week by Ron DeSantis (R-FL).

In an editorial in the Washington Examiner, DeSantis said that the cost of providing pensions to retired federal workers is over $100 billion, yet there is currently little transparency to the information.

Read more here.

Court opinions issued July 12, 2017

Baker v. FBI (7th Cir.) -- affirming district court's decision that names of FBI agents and Chicago police officers involved in an investigation were protected from disclosure pursuant to Exemption 6 and 7(C).

N.Y. Legal Assistance Grp. v. U.S. Dep't of Educ. (S.D.N.Y.) -- ruling that agency properly withheld certain records, but not others, concerning repayment of student loans pursuant to Exemptions 5 and 7(E).  Notably, the court opined that records concerning the enforcement of contracts did not meet the "law enforcement" threshold of Exemption 7(E).

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.  

FOIA News: Clinton's State Department FOIA Expert Goes After Trump

Hillary Clinton's State Department FOIA Expert Goes After Trump White House

Betsy Woodruff, Daily Beast, July 13, 2017

The Justice Department turned over paperwork Thursday morning showing that Attorney General Jeff Sessions didn’t tell the FBI about his conversations with the Russian ambassador when he applied for his security clearance.

The revelation came because a new watchdog group successfully sued for Sessions’ clearance application under the Freedom of Information Act—though the document they got was heavily redacted.

The Justice Department says Sessions wasn’t obligated to tell the FBI about his conversations with the Russian ambassador because he had them in his capacity as a U.S. senator. But Austin Evers, executive director of American Oversight, the watchdog group that got the DOJ to release the document, said Sessions should have revealed the meetings.

“We are not talking about the ambassador from the Vatican or from Canada,” he said. “We are talking about the ambassador from Russia, about whom there is common knowledge there are significant espionage concerns. You should not get cute with questions from the FBI related to national security.”

Evers would know. After all, he helped the State Department manage FOIA requests on Benghazi and Hillary Clinton’s emails.

Read more here.

FOIA News: Casual Friday at the CIA

It took the CIA four years to release its policy on casual Friday

JPat Brown, MuckRock, July 13, 2017

Back in 2013, MuckRock’s Mara Berg requested office apparel guidelines from several federal agencies, including the CIA. One by one, these agencies responded, and we even wrote about their respective acceptance of short pants, but true to form, the CIA kept delaying, and delaying, and delaying …

Read more here.

FOIA News: FEC has withheld documents concerning Lois Lerner and others for years

FEC Has Kept Documents About Democrats Secret For Years

Ethan Barton, Daily Caller, July 12, 2017

Federal Election Commission (FEC) officials have withheld public documents for years, some of which would expose details about Democrats’ taxpayer- and foreign-funded travel, The Daily Caller News Foundation’s Investigative Group has learned.

The FEC — which includes three commissioners each from Democratic and Republican parties — has withheld records related to 17 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests filed more than three years ago, according to an agency document obtained by TheDCNF. Of the 17, 10 have been pending for nearly four years, another will be five this year and the oldest turned six in June.

The requested documents span a variety of topics, ranging from communications regarding former FEC official Lois Lerner, the central figure in the IRS targeting scandal, to internal communications and commission policy documents.

Read more here.

FOIA News: DOJ releases redacted page of Sessions' SF-86 form

DOJ releases portion of Sessions' security clearance form sought in FOIA lawsuit

By Laura Jarrett & David Shortell, CNN, July 13, 2017

The Justice Department released a section of Attorney General Jeff Sessions' security clearance form in response to a federal lawsuit Thursday, resurfacing questions surrounding his contacts Russian officials that the former Republican senator has previously tried to put to rest.

Read more here

Court opinion issued July 11, 2017

Gerhard v. BOP (D.D.C.) --  finding that Federal Bureau of Prisons performed an adequate search and provided plaintiff with all requested records, but awarding plaintiff litigation costs due, in part, to agency's dilatory search.

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.

FOIA News: OGIS looks at proactive disclosure requirement

FOIA Improvement: Proactive Disclosure

OGIS Blog, July 12, 2017 

On June 30th we passed the one-year anniversary of the enactment of the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016. Over the past year we have published blog posts suggesting ways agencies can implement some of the amendments, including the requirement to update FOIA regulations and notify requesters about our dispute resolution services.

Today, we want to provide an update on agencies’ efforts to put another one of the bill’s provisions into action: a requirement that agencies identify records that are of general interest or use to the public that are appropriate for public disclosure

Read more here.

FOIA News: USDA sued for not expediting request about Tony the Tiger

Animal Legal Defense Fund sues USDA for denying Tony the Tiger as 'individual'

By KALB (ALDF press release), July 11, 2017

The Animal Legal Defense Fund filed a lawsuit against the United States Department of Agriculture for refusing to recognize a captive tiger as an “individual” whose physical safety is at risk and refusing to expedite the organization’s public records request.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund is seeking records under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) related to the health and well-being of Tony the Tiger, who has been confined at the Tiger Truck Stop in Grosse Tete for 16 years.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund sought expedited processing, which FOIA requires when delayed disclosure “could reasonably be expected to pose an imminent threat to the life or physical safety of an individual,” namely Tony the Tiger. The USDA denied the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s request, asserting that Tony is not an “individual” because the term applies only to humans. The Animal Legal Defense Fund does not agree.

Read more here.

Court opinions issued July 10, 2017

Singh v. U.S. Postal Serv. (W.D. Wash.) -- determining that agency performed a reasonable search for plaintiff's employment records and granted him access to all documents located.  

Smart-Tek Serv. Solutions Corp. v. IRS (S.D. Cal.) -- ruling that: (1) IRS failed to demonstrate that it performed reasonable search for responsive records; (2) IRS properly withheld records pursuant to Exemptions 3 (in conjunction with 26 U.S.C. 6103(e)(7)), 5, 7(A), and 7(D); (3) IRS failed to address whether records withheld under Exemption 7(E) revealed techniques unknown to public; and (4) judgment would be reserved as to Exemption 3 (in conjunction with 26 U.S.C. 6103(a)) and Exemption 6 until record was further developed.

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.