FOIA News: Visitor logs available for 4 EOP agencies

By Associated Press, Apr. 11, 2018

WH Starts Making Public Visitor Logs For Four Agencies After Watchdog Lawsuit 

The White House has begun making public visitor logs for four agencies in the presidential complex after a watchdog group sued for access.

Public Citizen filed a suit in August saying the Trump administration was violating the Freedom of Information Act by refusing to release information about visitors to the agencies. The Trump administration and the group agreed to a settlement for the release of the information on Feb. 13.

Read more here.

FOIA News: FOIA Advisory Committee releases draft report and recommendations

The National Archives and Records Administration has posted a draft version of the Final Report and Recommendation of the Freedom of Information Act Advisory Committee.  The committee will vote on the report during its meeting on Tuesday, April 17, 2016.  The full agenda for that meeting is available here.  

FOIA News: FedSmith on EPA IG Report Obtained by Cause of Action Institute

IG Report: No Record Retention Violations Revealed at EPA

By Ralph R. Smith, FedSmith , Apr. 9, 2018

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been the focus of investigations and concern regarding the possibility of employees there attempting to thwart new policies of the Trump administration.

Information has been released under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to  a law firm— the “Cause of Action Institute”.

The organization has recently released an update on the results of the investigation regarding EPA employees and whether and how they have been using a phone application that could be used for transmitting encrypted information.

Read more here.

FOIA News: EPA wins 8th Circuit decision

Agency wins FOIA suit over alleged scientific misconduct

By Amanda Reilly, E&E News, Apr. 9, 2018

Federal appellate judges sided with U.S. EPA today in a dispute over its responses to Freedom of Information Act requests on alleged scientific misconduct.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed a lower-court ruling that EPA adequately responded to the requests filed by law firm Hall & Associates on behalf of a coalition of Northeastern cities. The court also penalized the firm for not modifying its requests to EPA.

"Hall does not identify any reversible error in the court's rulings," the judges said in a four-page judgment and memorandum.

Read more here (subscription required).

FOIA News: EPA IG's provides FOIA tips

Tips Listed for Information Requests from IG Offices

FEDweek, Apr. 9. 2018

The inspector general’s office at the EPA has produced a list of tips for those seeking information regarding that office’s work, advice that could be useful for employees of all agencies who may find themselves in career jeopardy due to an IG investigation.

Read more here.

Court opinion issued Apr. 4, 2018

Frost v. DOJ (N.D. Cal.) -- ruling that Office of Attorney General performed adequate search for records concerning plaintiff, FBI failed to adequately describe search methodology employed by its San Francisco Field Office, and that plaintiff was not entitled to discovery. 

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here. 

FOIA News: FCC withholds "Harlem Shake" video

FCC blocks reveal of emails with conservative news site about 'Harlem Shake' net neutrality video

The denial is one of many from the FCC, which has come under fire for a lack of transparency.

By Ben Collins, NBC News, Apr. 5., 2018 

In December, the day before the Federal Communications Commission voted to repeal its net neutrality rules, the agency’s chairman, Ajit Pai, appeared in a video for conservative news website The Daily Caller.

* * * 

The origins of the video, however, weren’t entirely clear. Whose idea was it? Who wrote the script? Did the other FCC commissioners know about it? So Muckrock, a nonprofit organization that helps request and analyze government documents, filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the FCC four months ago for agency emails about the video, a request that would seem relatively innocuous.

The request was denied this week. The organization is now appealing the denial and considering a lawsuit.

Read more here.

FOIA News: Veterans Affairs to amend FOIA regs

The Department of Veterans Affairs has issued a proposed rule appearing in today's Federal Register that revises the agency's FOIA regulations.  Comments are due one or before June 4, 2018.

Court opinion issued Apr. 3, 2018

Negley v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- determining that FBI conducted adequate search for records concerning its investigation of plaintiff in connection with UNABOMB case, and that plaintiff could not challenge redacted documents that were responsive to his previous FOIA litigation in Western District of Texas. 

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here. 

FOIA News: Immigration agencies put FOIA requests on ice

The Agencies Key To Trump’s Immigration Agenda Keep A Lot Of Secrets

Getting responses through the Freedom Of Information Act can be a serious challenge.

By Dana Liebelson, HuffPost, Apr. 3, 2018

WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump has made his promise of aggressive immigration enforcement the centerpiece of his domestic agenda. But two agencies tasked with enforcing the nation’s immigration laws — U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — have long attracted criticism for failing to release documents and data in a timely manner, if at all. That makes it hard for journalists, advocates, lawyers and the public to keep tabs on what the administration is doing.  

Under the law, the government is supposed to grant or deny Freedom of Information Act requests (which any member of the public can file) within 20 working days, with some exceptions, and provide records unless the information is legally exempt from disclosure.

But if you file a FOIA request with ICE or CBP,  you may find yourself in a bureaucratic morass: Fighting a faceless online portal (with CBP), watching your request ping-pong between agencies or sub-agencies, getting summarily rejected, struggling to talk to a human (ICE switched to an email-only system about two years ago), and waiting months — or more than a year — to get back a document that may be heavily redacted, according to HuffPost interviews with requesters. Some say they must resort to litigation to get any meaningful response.

Read more here.