FOIA News: NPR Discussion on Freedom of Information

The Freedom Of Information And Our Government

By David Folkenflik, NPR, June 13, 2018

The flow of information to the public in the Age of Trump. What do we know about what the government is doing in our name and with our tax dollars?

Guests

Solomon Lartey, worked for over 29 years as a records management analyst at the White House’s Office of Records Management.

Dr. Gretchen Goldman, Research Director, Center for Science & Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists. (@GretchenTG)

Anne Weismann, Chief Counsel for Freedom of Information Act matters at the non-profit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

Alex Howard, writer and open government advocate. Former Deputy Director at the Sunlight Foundation. (@digiphile)

Read and listen here.

FOIA News: DHS Hit With FOIA Suit Over Asylum Practices At Border

DHS Hit With FOIA Suit Over Asylum Practices At Border

By Suzanne Monyak, Law360, June 13, 2018

An immigration advocacy group accused the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in D.C. federal court Tuesday of violating the Freedom of Information Act by withholding documents related to how border patrol agents process asylum requests.

The nonprofit American Immigration Council's complaint asks the court to force the DHS and U.S. Customs and Border Protection to hand over documents on their practices and policies when dealing with noncitizens who ask Border Patrol agents for asylum or express a fear of persecution in their home countries.
 

Read more here (subscription).

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.

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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.

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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.