FOIA News: Trump Agreements With IRS, But Not Tax Returns, Must Be Released

Trump Agreements With IRS, But Not Tax Returns, Must Be Released

Bloomberg Tax, Dec. 6, 2021

Information tied to any compromise agreements that former President Donald Trump made with the IRS over his personal and business tax returns must be released, even though the underlying returns are protected, a federal court ruled.

The decision included partial wins for both the IRS and the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a nonprofit that requested personal and business tax records tied to Trump under the Freedom of Information Act. The center argued that an exception under tax code Section 6103(k)(1) to the general law protecting tax return privacy applied pertaining to return information that is necessary to allow for an inspection of any accepted offer-in-compromise between a taxpayer and federal tax authorities.

Read more here.

Q&A: Who can I FOIA?

Q. Can the House Committee on Oversight and Reform be the subject of a FOIA request?

A. A congressional committee is not required to respond to a FOIA request (if that’s your question), nor must individual lawmakers. The statute requires compliance only from an “agency,” which includes “any executive department, military department, Government corporation, Government controlled corporation, or other establishment in the executive branch of the Government (including the Executive Office of the President), or any independent regulatory agency.” 5 U.S.C. § 552(f).

Q. Can I FOIA a federally chartered hospital?

A. Probably not. An institution is not subject to FOIA merely because it was created or is funded by the federal government. It must function as an agency (e.g., under extensive, detailed, and virtually day-to-day government supervision), as opposed to a private sector operation.

FOIA News: DOJ/OIP updates Exemption 9 of FOIA Guide

On December 1, 2021, the Department of Justice’s Office of Information Policy posted an updated version of the Exemption 9 section of the Department of Justice Guide to the Freedom of Information Act. Earlier this year, OIP updated sections Exemption 1 (Mar. 4, 2021), Exemption 3 (June 2, 2021), Exemption 7(B) (June 3, 2021) and Procedural Requirements (Aug. 20, 2021).

Court opinion issued Dec. 3, 2021

Surgey v. EPA (D.D.C.) -- determining that: (1) EPA likely performed reasonable search for records concerning former Administrator’s trip to 2018 Rose Bowl game, but neglected to invoke the “magic words” that it searched all locations likely to contain responsive records; (2) EPA properly relied on Exemption 6 to withhold records about the former Administrator’s family vacation, and reserving judgment as to whether the agency properly withheld records concerning security personnel’s travel and logistical coordination under Exemptions 7(E) and 7(F).

Elec. Privacy Info. Serv. v. IRS (D.D.C.) -- ruling that the IRS improperly relied on Exemption 3 to withhold tax settlement agreements between the agency and Donald Trump and businesses associated with him, and that plaintiff was precluded from accessing copies of tax returns pursuant to the same exemption.

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

FOIA News: DOJ/OIP hiring staff attorney

The Department of Justice’s Office of Information Policy is looking for an attorney to join its litigation staff at the GS-12 salary level. The application deadline is December 26, 2021. See the vacancy announcement here.

Court opinion issued Nov. 30, 2021

Elec. Privacy Info. Ctr. v. DOJ (D.C. Cir.) -- affirming district court’s decision that DOJ properly invoked Exemption 7(C) to redact the identities of third parties investigated but not charged by Special Counsel Mueller, except with respect to “the information relating to individuals investigated for campaign violations, as the factual circumstances surrounding this portion of the investigation are already publicly available in the unredacted portions” of Muller’s report.

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

FOIA News: Lawmaker seeks expedited disclosure of vaccine data

Rep. Norman demands FDA release COVID vaccine data in 100 days

FDA requested 55 years to hand over data relating to coronavirus vaccine

By Caitlin McFall, Fox News, Dec. 2, 2021

South Carolina Republican Rep. Ralph Norman on Thursday introduced legislation that could force the Food and Drug Administration to release all documents relating to the coronavirus vaccine within the next 100 days. 

The legislation is a direct response to a request made last month by the federal agency to prolong releasing data on COVID vaccines for up to 55 years. 

"How does a vaccine that receives approval in 108 days now require 55 years just to release information?" Norman said to Fox News. "It sounds like the beginning of a very bad joke."

Read more here.

FOIA News: DC Circ. Dubious DOJ Could Block Trump Obstruction Memo

DC Circ. Dubious DOJ Could Block Trump Obstruction Memo

By Khorri Atkinson, Law360, Dec. 1, 2021

The D.C. Circuit appeared unconvinced Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Justice's justification for blocking a legal memo concerning whether former President Donald Trump illegally obstructed justice during former special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Read more here (subscription).

FOIA News: IRS Releases Asset Forfeiture Docs To Libertarian Law Firm

IRS Releases Asset Forfeiture Docs To Libertarian Law Firm

By Theresa Schliep, Law360, Dec. 1, 2021

The Internal Revenue Service released documents on its asset forfeiture program to a nonprofit libertarian law firm that has sought information on the agency's property seizures, according to joint filings in D.C. federal court.

Read more here (subscription).

Court opinions issued Nov. 29, 2021

Nat. Res. Def. Council v. EPA (2nd Cir.) -- reversing in part and vacating in part district court’s decision and holding that: (1) “messaging documents”— i.e., records relating to agency’s decision about how to communicate its policies to people outside the agency—merit protection under Exemption 5’s deliberative process privilege unless they reflect “merely descriptive discussions”; and (2) “briefing documents”—i.e., records “created to brief senior agency staff about various topics”—could qualify under the deliberative process privilege even if they did not relate to a specific decision facing the agency.”

Bolze v. EOUSA (D.D.C.) -- granting summary judgment to government after determining that EOUSA and FBI performed adequate searches for records concerning plaintiff and that plaintiff declined to challenge any withholdings.

Brennan Ctr. for Justice v. ICE (S.D.N.Y.) -- deciding that ICE did not perform adequate search for certain handbooks and training material and that agency properly withheld some portions, but not all, of its National Security Investigation Handbook pursuant to Exemption 7(E).

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