FOIA News: Administration agrees to release certain visitor logs

Trump administration agrees to post visitor logs for some White House offices

By Josh Gerstein, Politico, Feb. 15, 2018

The Trump administration has agreed to settle a pending lawsuit by making monthly public postings of details on visitors to some parts of the White House, such as the Office of Management and Budget and the drug czar's office.

However, there is no sign the Trump White House plans to reverse its decision to abandon the Obama administration's policy of releasing information on visitors to the White House's core offices, including the senior officials in the West Wing.

Read more here.

Court opinions issued Feb. 13, 2018

Pulliam v. EPA (D.D.C.) -- in case involving investigation into toxic contamination at former Army base, finding that: (1) DOD's renewed searches were inadequate and plaintiff was entitled to "limited telephonic deposition" regarding agency's search for electronic records; (2) EPA's supplemental searches were adequate except with respect to one office, and that EPA properly withheld certain information pursuant to Exemption 6; and (3) DOJ's renewed search was inadequate in multiple respects and noting that agency's declarant had already "wasted everyone's time the first time around."

Sharkey v. DOJ (N.D. Ohio) -- ruling that FBI performed reasonable search for records concerning plaintiff (who believes federal government has been surveilling him),  and that it properly relied on Exemptions 7(C) and 7(E) to withhold certain information from records generated in response to plaintiff's complaints.  

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here. 

FOIA News: DOJ drops Glomar response re: FBI surveillance

Trump Might Declassify More Info Related to FISA Warrants, DOJ Says

By Ronn Blitzer, Law & Crime, Feb. 15, 2018

The Justice Department was keeping quiet during a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit regarding records related to FBI surveillance of President Donald Trump and his associates. They had claimed that any response to the FOIA request brought by USA Today’s Brad Heath and the James Madison Project would confirm or deny the existence of those records, which itself was sensitive information. Now that the president has declassified some of that information, which was contained in the infamous Nunes Memo, the DOJ recognizes that they can’t hide behind that excuse anymore. They also said that more declassifications could happen in the future.

“Declassification by the President of the existence of the Page FISA applications and orders identified in the Nunes Memo requires the government to carefully review those
materials,” the DOJ said in a Wednesday court filing, “to determine what information contained in them has been declassified and if they are responsive to Plaintiff’s request.”

Read more here.

FOIA News: Mother Jones spotlights Trump lawyer's FOIA lawsuits

Even the President’s Lawyer Can’t Get Responses to His FOIA Requests

He alleged a State Department conspiracy to thwart public records law. A judge ruled against him.

By Pema Levy, Mother Jones, Feb. 14, 2018

It’s a common gripe among reporters and government watchdogs that the federal government seems to ignore, stall on, or wrongly deny their requests for government records. Requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) are piling up at federal agencies, and federal courts are contending with a spike in FOIA litigation as the media and nonprofits turn to the courts in their pursuit of these records. Even President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer has been stymied by the process.

Jay Sekulow, a member of Trump’s personal legal team since last June, has five pending FOIA lawsuits against the Justice Department and State Department. The suits were all filed in 2016 on behalf of the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), an evangelical legal nonprofit where he serves as chief counsel.

Read more here.

Court opinion issued Feb. 12, 2018

Otero v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- determining that FBI properly declined to complete search for responsive records because plaintiff had failed to pay fees in connection with an earlier request.   

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here. 

FOIA News: BLM recommends limiting FOIA requests and collecting more fees

Bureau of Land Management looks to limit the number of FOIA requests organizations can file with the agency

Recommendations appear to target media requests, and raise the cost of already prohibitive processing fees

By JPat Brown, Muckrock, Feb. 13, 2018

According to records obtained by the Washington Post, the Bureau of Land Management is recommending new legislation that would limit the number of FOIA requests individuals and agencies could file with the agency, create stricter criteria for fee waivers, as well as increased fees for “search and redaction.”

For justification, BLM cites the agency’s limited resources, which in turn causes requests to “slow down the agency’s decision-making process.” In Financial Year 2016, the report states, the agency’s FOIA work cost $2.8 million, which was approximately .2 percent of the agency’s total budget of $1.3 billion that year.

Read more here.

FOIA News: OGIS releases tentative Sunshine Week schedule

Monday, March 12, 2018
1:00 pm – 5:00 pm
William G. McGowan Theater

1:00: Welcome by the Archivist of the United States

1:10: Championing the Public’s Right to Know

• Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT)

1:30: Innovation: Transforming Government of and by the People

• Jim Thompson, Director of Innovation, Department of State
• Pam Wright, Chief Innovation Officer, National Archives
• Kate Zwaard, Chief of National Digital Initiatives, Library of Congress
• Miriam Nisbet, former Director of the Office of Government Information Services (moderator)
• Other panelists to be announced

2:30: Break

2:45: Making Sense of Public Comments: Lessons Learned in Congress

• Steve Dwyer, Senior Advisor, Office of Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer
• Seamus Kraft, Executive Director, OpenGov Foundation
• Jessica Seale, Digital Director, Senator John Cornyn (R-TX)
• Jessica Presley, Minority Staff, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
• Daniel Schuman, Policy Director, Demand Progress (moderator)
• Other panelists to be announced

3:45: The Open Data Roadmap

• Hudson Hollister, Executive Director, Data Coalition
• Sunmin Kim, Technology Policy Advisor, Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI)
• Laura Manley, Director of Partnerships & Programs, Center for Open Data Enterprise
• Alex Howard, Deputy Director,  Sunlight Foundation (moderator)
• Other panelists to be announced

FOIA News: More agencies releases annual FOIA reports

• National Aeronautics and Space Administration
• Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
• Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission
• Selective Service System
• Peace Corps

Court opinion issued Feb. 7, 2018

Judicial Watch v. CIA (D.D.C.) -- ruling that agency properly relied on Exemptions 1 and 3 as grounds for refusing to confirm or deny existence of unclassified report assessing Moscow’s interference in foreign elections.

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here. 

FOIA News: FHFA finalizes FOIA regs

The Federal Housing Finance Agency issued a final version of its amended FOIA regulations today.  The amendments, which are effective immediately, incorporate the requirements of the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016.  The FHFA initially proposed the amendments on March 15, 2017, and it received four public comments.