FOIA Advisor

Court opinion issued Nov. 28, 2023

Court Opinions (2015-2023)Allan BlutsteinComment

Huddleston v. FBI (E.D. Tex.) -- concluding that: (1) the FBI failed to justify its reliance on Exemption 7(D) and 7(E) to withhold information from the images of Seth Rich’s personal laptop; (2) FBI failed to show that records concerning Seth Rich’s work laptop were not “agency records,” rejecting the use of the four-factor Burka test and adopting the Ninth Circuit’s opinion in Rojas v. FAA; and (3) FBI properly withheld newly found records concerning the work laptop pursuant to Exemption 7(A), citing a criminal prosecution and governmental action against various Russian nationals who have been indicted by a grand jury in the District of Columbia.

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