FOIA News: RCFP Files FOIA Suit Over USCIS "Resistance" Twitter Account

DHS Bid To Reveal Anti-Trump Twitter User Prompts FOIA Suit

Kelly Knaub, Law360, Jan. 25, 2018

A reporters committee launched a Freedom of Information Act suit in D.C. federal court Wednesday seeking documents related to an incident in which the government sought to unmask an anonymous Twitter account critical of the Trump administration’s immigration policies.

The suit, filed against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, alleges that the agencies have withheld the records it requested in violation of FOIA.

Specifically, the RCFP is asking the court to force the agencies to turn over documents concerning demands from either of the agencies that Twitter provide information to identify who is behind the “@ALT_uscis” account, which has criticized Customs.

Read more here (subscription required).

FOIA News: Immigration Lawyers File FOIA Suit Over Haitian TPS Records

Legal Nonprofit Files FOIA Suit Over Haitians' TPS Status

Tiffany Hu, Law360, Jan. 25, 2018

A nonprofit group of lawyers who represent immigrants sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Thursday, after the department failed to respond to the group’s Freedom of Information Act request seeking agency records pertaining to its November decision to end temporary protected status for Haitian immigrants.

The National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild filed a complaint in New York federal court accusing DHS and the U.S. Department of State of failing to produce records in response to two FOIA requests, saying that timely disclosure was “critically important” in clarifying the “relevant conditions undergirding the termination of temporary protected status for Haiti.”

Read more here (subscription required).

FOIA News: MuckRock evaluates FOIA under Trump

Under Trump, a strained FOIA continues to show its seams

Michael Morisy, MuckRock, Jan. 25, 2018

A little over a year ago, I took a look at what FOIA might look like under the Trump administration. Unfortunately for transparency, things have turned out much as we expected.

The slow get slower

When Donald J. Trump took office, our data found that the average federal FOIA request took 162 days to complete from the time it was filed. Now, that average has crept up to 169 days. Things weren’t helped when early on a hiring freeze was put in place across federal agencies: Some agencies we spoke with were at half or even a quarter of their planned staffing, bringing some departments to a virtual standstill.

Read more here.

FOIA News: Ben Carson, HUD Sec'y, Responds to CREW FOIA Lawsuit

HUD's Carson Responds to Lawsuit Over FOIA Requests

Phil Hall, Nat'l Mortgage Prof'l, Jan. 24, 2018

Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Dr. Ben Carson announced on his Facebook page that advocacy groups were targeting him and his department for allegedly using federal funds to promote religion. However, one of the organizations behind the lawsuit is refuting that charge.

In his Facebook posting, Dr. Carson wrote: “The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) are apparently filing a lawsuit against HUD and me, alleging that they are being treated unfairly because they are required to pay a standard fee when requesting information through the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) regarding my participation in the weekly Bible study for cabinet members.” Dr. Carson rejected the premise for the lawsuit, adding that “taxpayer funds are not used to support the ministry, and secondly, no staff are involved in the Bible study.”

Dr. Carson also stated, “I will not stop being a Christian while in service to this country, in fact, it is my faith that helps me serve the nation even better. The relentless attacks on the spirituality of our nation must be resisted.”

Read more here.

FOIA News: DOD, Sikorsky Claims Trimmed in FOIA Data Fight

DOD, Sikorsky Get Claims Trimmed In FOIA Data Fight

Christopher Crosby, Law360, Jan. 24, 2018

California federal judge on Tuesday exempted the U.S. Department of Defense and contractor Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. from having to release the signatures of employees written on a subcontracting plan, handing the parties a partial win but also setting up a showdown with the American Small Business League in its Freedom of Information Act suit.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup’s two-page order found that the signatures did not have to be released under FOIA as the names of the employees were already in the record and no countervailing public interest warranted such a privacy intrusion.

But Judge Alsup also partially denied the DOD and Sikorsky’s joint motion for summary judgment regarding certain information on a copy of Sikorsky’s 2013 comprehensive subcontracting plan. Those redacted portions relate to the internal calculations the company makes when it hires small businesses for large government jobs, according to court records.

Read more here (subscription required).

FOIA News: Judicial Watch Files FOIA Lawsuit Over FBI's Strzok Texts

Conservative watchdog sues DOJ for text messages of ex-Muller team members Peter Strzok, Lisa Page

Diana Stancy Correll, Wash. Exam'r, Jan. 24, 2018

Conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch announced on Wednesday that it filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Justice Department for text messages and other records related to Peter Strzok, a top FBI counterintelligence agent who was part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia inquiry team before being demoted after it was found that he exchanged text messages that were critical of President Trump with FBI attorney Lisa Page.

The Justice Department produced 384 pages of text messages that were sent between the two employees earlier this month, but the FBI said that text messages sent between Dec. 14, 2016 and May 17, 2017 were not preserved due to “misconfiguration issues.” The five-month period includes the presidential transition and the initiation of Mueller’s investigation.

But Judicial Watch doesn’t believe the text messages are unavailable.

Read more here.

FOIA News: CFPB Responds to OGIS's FOIA Compliance Report

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Responds to FOIA Compliance Report

Nat'l Archives & Records Admin., The FOIA Ombudsman, Jan. 24, 2018

On January 19, 2018 we received a formal response from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to our August 2017 CFPB FOIA Compliance Assessment. Like other agencies that have participated in our agency assessment program, CFPB volunteered to go through the process as part of their ongoing efforts to strengthen its FOIA Program.

Our assessment report documented that the CFPB FOIA Program maintains a relatively small backlog and is currently responding to most requests well within the law’s 20-working-day response time. Our report includes three primary findings:

• CFPB faces management challenges that may impact its ability to to maintain its current responsiveness to FOIA requests during the next five years;
• CFPB’s investments in technologies are improving the FOIA process; and
• CFPB communicates well with requesters.

Read more here.

Court opinion issued Jan. 22, 2018

Estevez v. U.S. Attorney's Office for the S. Dist. of Cal. (S.D. Cal.) -- finding that Federal Bureau of Prisons, U.S. Marshals Service, and U.S. Attorney's Office performed adequate searches for records concerning plaintiff-inmate and that all withheld records were protected pursuant to Exemptions 7(C) and/or 7(F).  

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.

FOIA News: DOJ withholds Mueller's proposed budget

DOJ balks at releasing Special Counsel Mueller’s budget

By Staff, World Tribune, Jan. 23, 2018

The Department of Justice has refused to release the proposed budget for special counsel Robert Mueller’s office, according to a government watchdog group which sought the records via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit.

The DOJ, in notifying Judicial Watch on Jan. 19, said “We have determined that this material should be withheld in full because it is protected from disclosure under the FOIA.”

The DOJ said the release of Mueller’s budget information could interfere with “law enforcement proceedings” and the material is protected from disclosure by the “deliberative process privilege.”

Read more here.

FOIA News: Spat between co-plaintiffs in Comey case

An unusual Twitter spat erupted this weekend between co-litigants in Cable News Network v. FBI, 1:2017cv01167 (D.D.C.), a case in which multiple plaintiffs seek access to records authored by former FBI Director James Comey about his meetings with President Trump.  The case docket is available here.  

And in reply, Judicial Watch attorney Michael Bekesha submitted the following comment this morning to FOIA Advisor:    

Amusing. Especially since Zaid's co-counsel told CNN, "It's rather heartening that Judge Boasberg has chosen to review the Comey memoranda himself, instead of just relying upon the descriptions in the agency affidavits. Given the significant public interest value inherent in these documents, the Government's arguments against disclosure of them at all should be addressed with utmost caution." http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/11/politics/comey-memos-lawsuit/index.html