FOIA News: Former FBI official Andrew McCabe files FOIA lawsuit against FBI, DOJ, DOJ-OIG

Fired FBI official Andrew McCabe's lawyers file suit against FBI, DOJ, and its watchdog

Elizabeth Zwirz, Fox News, June 12, 2018

Lawyers representing former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe filed a suit against the Justice Department and FBI on Tuesday, alleging that they wouldn't give up files connected to his ouster.

McCabe’s lawyers claimed the Justice Department has denied access to the sought-after information out of concern that the documents could be later used against them, the lawsuit said. The suit also named the office of the DOJ inspector general.

“We don’t create or adjudicate under secret law or procedure,” David Snyder, a lawyer representing McCabe, told The Associated Press.

A representative for the Justice Department did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment.

Read more here.

* * *

With His New Lawsuit, McCabe is About to Learn Himself How Hard It is to Get Info From DOJ

Elura Nanos, Law & Crime, June 13, 2018

Well, we had to expect that there’d be at least some litigation-flavored fallout over that nasty Andrew McCabe firing; ousting the guy a day before his planned retirement and thereby yanking away his health and retirement benefits was a signature Trump display of one-upsmanship.

It looks like David L. Snyder, counsel for McCabe (much like we at Law & Crime), knew that the defamation lawsuit McCabe initially threatened wasn’t really the way to go. As an alternative, he’s trying his hand at a different kind of claim. Instead of suing for some version of “Trump Shouldn’t Have Fired My Client,” Snyder has brought a Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) lawsuit on behalf of McCabe against the Department of Justice and the FBI; in it, Snyder alleges that the agencies have violated FOIA by failing to turn over the documents that purportedly formed the basis for McCabe’s termination. He now seeks court intervention to force the government to turn over various documents from the FBI and the Office of the Inspector General.

The lawsuit demands internal documents, including FBI and OIG manuals and policy implementation guides, alleging that those things are non-exempt “records” within the meaning of FOIA. According to the allegations, the government’s failure to turn over these materials so far, “constitutes a continuing pattern and practice of violating the proactive disclosure requirements of FOIA.”

Read more here.

* * *

A copy of the McCabe complaint can be found here.

FOIA News: Watchdog groups fight to make Kushner's White House office subject to the FOIA

Trump Administration Can't Hide Jared Kushner-led Office From FOIA Requests, Watchdogs Claim in New Court Filing

Jessica Kwong, Newsweek, June 12, 2018

An attempt by the Trump administration to dismiss a lawsuit against its Jared Kushner–led Office of American Innovation (OAI) for failing to respond to public records requests is being challenged by two government watchdog groups.

Democracy Forward and Food & Water Watch filed a brief in a federal district court on Monday, opposing the administration’s motion to dismiss the nonprofit watchdogs’ February lawsuit against the office for ignoring Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.

In its May motion, the administration claimed that the office—despite launching initiatives, implementing programs and imposing duties on government agencies—exists solely to advise President Donald Trump and therefore qualifies for a narrow exception from the rule that all executive branch offices are subject to FOIA.

Read more here.

FOIA News: OIP Publishes Guidance on the Importance of Quality Requester Services

OIP Published Guidance on the Importance of Quality Requester Services

DOJ Office of Information Policy, FOIA Post, June 12, 2018

Today, OIP published guidance on the importance of quality requester services. This new guidance, “The Importance of Quality Requester Services:  Roles and Responsibilities of FOIA Requester Service Centers and FOIA Public Liaisons,” highlights the vital role that FOIA Requester Servicer Centers and FOIA Public Liaisons play in providing helpful and timely explanations of the FOIA process to members of the public.

DOJ has long emphasized the importance of agencies working with FOIA requesters in a spirit of cooperation. In that spirit, today’s guidance details specific roles and responsibilities for FOIA Requester Service Centers and FOIA Public Liaisons, two established ways agencies interact with the public during the FOIA request process.

Read more here.

Court opinion issued Jun 11, 2018

Linder v. Exec. Office for U.S. Attorneys (D.D.C.) -- ruling that agency failed to adequately explain how it conducted search for trial exhibits sought by plaintiff or why its withholdings were justified under Exemptions 6 and 7(C).

Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 available here. 

FOIA News: NARA officially renews charter for FOIA Advisory Committee

The National Archives & Records Administration published a renewal of the charter for the FOIA Advisory Committee in today's issue of the Federal Register.  The charter, which is retroactively effective from May 20, 2018, will be applicable for two years, unless otherwise extended.

FOIA News: DOD's DISA eliminates component-level FOIA regulations

The Department of Defense's ("DOD") Defense Information Systems Agency ("DISA") published a final rule to eliminate its FOIA regulations in today's issue of the Federal Register.  Since February 6, 2018, DOD has eliminated the need for component supplementary FOIA rules and instead has implemented a single departmental-wide regulation.  The DISA rule is effective immediately.

FOIA News: House Democrat accuses Scott Pruitt of delaying FOIA requests by answering Obama-era ones first

House Democrat accuses Scott Pruitt of delaying public-records requests by answering Obama-era ones first

By Dino Grandoni, Washington Post, June 11, 2018

Three former aides to Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt confirmed to congressional investigators that the EPA delayed producing emails and other government documents sought by members of the public through public-records requests by choosing instead to respond to old petitions made during the Obama administration first.

The “first-in, first out” tactic for requests made through the Freedom of Information Act is yet another example of the EPA restricting what records make their way into the public eye since Pruitt has taken office. That public-records policy was described in a letter sent Monday to Pruitt by Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, which requested documents from the administrator.

That committee’s investigation into Pruitt is just one of at least a dozen federal inquiries the EPA chief is facing over his questionable spending and management decisions at the agency.

Read more here.

FOIA News: DOD's Defense Contract Audit Agency rescinds FOIA regulations

The Department of Defense's ("DOD") Defense Contract Audit Agency ("DCAA") published a final rule to eliminate its FOIA regulations in today's issue of the Federal Register.  Since February 6, 2018, DOD has eliminated the need for component supplementary FOIA rules and instead has implemented a single departmental-wide regulation.  The DCAA's rule is effective immediately.

FOIA News: DHS Secretary tells officials to avoid email to deter FOIA requests

John Kelly instructed DHS official to avoid email to deter hackers, FOIA requests: report

John Bowden, The Hill, June 8, 2018

As Secretary of Homeland Security, John Kelly directed at least one official to avoid emailing him about agency business due to fears that his email had been been hacked and was susceptible to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests from journalists and the public, according to an email obtained through a FOIA request.

The email, acquired by BuzzFeed News in response to a FOIA lawsuit, shows correspondence from June 8, 2017, between then-Secretary Kelly and an official whose name was redacted on privacy grounds.

"As we discussed in NYC about the toxic atmosphere here in the D.C. cesspool, my folks are nervous about e-mails you send and ask that you no longer include them on any postings,” Kelly wrote to the official. "FOIA is real and everyday here in the cesspool, and even federal court action on personal accounts is real."

Read more here.

FOIA News: PETA files FOIA lawsuit to obtain USDA records formerly kept online

PETA to sue USDA to obtain records on animal welfare enforcement

Jacqueline Thomsen, The Hill, June 7, 2018

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) will sue the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Animal Health Inspection Service in an effort to obtain records on the enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act.

PETA told CNN that the group plans to file the lawsuit Thursday, after the Trump administration failed to respond to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests filed over the past two years.

The USDA last year pulled thousands of records on the Animal Welfare Act from its website, including those on the enforcement of the act.

The agency said it decided to remove the records after lawsuits accusing the USDA of falsely identifying people as having violated federal laws that prohibit the soring of horses for show. Thousands of the records have been reposted.

Read more here.