DEMOCRACY FORWARD FOUNDATION v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY and 19 other new FOIA lawsuits
We have added 139 documents from 19 FOIA cases filed between February 24, 2019 and March 2, 2019. Note that there can be delays between the date a case is filed and when it shows up on PACER. If there are filings from this period that have yet to be posted on PACER, this FOIA Project list may not be complete.
Click on a case title below to view details for that case, including links to the associated docket and complaint documents.
- DEMOCRACY FORWARD FOUNDATION v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (filed Feb 28, 2019)
Democracy Forward Foundation submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Energy for records concerning discussions of waivers or exceptions relating to the provision of nuclear energy to Saudi Arabia. DFF also requested a fee waiver. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request, but after hearing nothing further from the agency, DFF filed suit.
Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Litigation – Vaughn index, Public Interest Fee Waiver - Friends of Animals v. United States Bureau of Land Management (filed Feb 25, 2019)
Friends of Animals submitted two FOIA requests to the Bureau of Land Management. The first request asked for records concerning the sale of 20 or more wild horses in one transaction on multiple occasions since 2015. The second FOIA request asked for records concerning wild horses that were removed from the Little Book Cliffs Herd Management Area and were adopted and sold in 2018. After hearing nothing further from the agency pertaining to either request, Friends of Animals filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - DEMOCRACY FORWARD FOUNDATION v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATE et al (filed Feb 25, 2019)
Democracy Forward Foundation submitted FOIA requests to the Department of State, the Department of Treasury, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Small Business Administration for records concerning communications between agency officials and Fox News and a number of other conservative media organizations. DFF also requested a fee waiver. All the agencies except the State Department acknowledged receipt of the request. The Treasury Department told DFF that its request was too broad to search. DFF sent a letter to Treasury claiming its request was sufficiently specific. After hearing nothing further from any of the agencies, DFF filed suit.
Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Litigation – Vaughn index, Public Interest Fee Waiver - EQUITY FORWARD v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (filed Feb 25, 2019)
Equity Forward submitted six FOIA requests to the Department of Health and Human Services for records concerning communications between the agency and a number of conservative organizations. The agency acknowledged receipt of the first four requests, but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Equity Forward filed suit.
Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Litigation – Vaughn index - JAMES MADISON PROJECT et al v. CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY et al (filed Feb 25, 2019)
The James Madison Project, investigative reporter Nicky Hager, and New Zealand attorney Richard McLeod submitted FOIA requests to the CIA, the Department of State, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Defense for records concerning Operation Burnham, a 2010 military operation conducted in Afghanistan. The agencies acknowledged receipt of the requests. The CIA told JMP that its request should be sent to DOD instead. JMP filed an administrative appeal of that decision. The FBI told JMP that it found no records. JMP filed an administrative appeal of the FBI’s no records response. However, after hearing nothing further from any of the agencies, JMP, Hager, and McLeod filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - LUKAS v. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (filed Feb 25, 2019)
Russell Lukas, an attorney representing ABS, submitted a FOIA request to the Federal Communications Commission for records concerning an appeal of a decision by Windstream to terminate its dealership agreement with ABS because of conflicts of interest. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. The agency disclosed 45 pages of the Windstream appeal and withheld seven pages under Exemption 7(E) (investigative methods and techniques) and redacted portions of the disclosed pages under Exemption 7(E) and Exemption 6 (invasion of privacy). Lukas later amended his FOIA request to request only Exhibit E of the Windstream appeal decision. After hearing nothing further from the agency, Lukas filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - Statton v. Florida Federal Judicial Nominating Commission et al (filed Feb 25, 2019)
Joshua Statton, director of Florida for Transparency, submitted a FOIA request to the Florida Federal Judiciary Nominating Committee for records concerning the application of Judge Thomas Barber for a vacancy on the Middle District of Florida. Carlos Lopez-Cantera, chair of the committee, told Statton that the records were not subject to FOIA. After hearing nothing further from Lopez-Cantera, Statton filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit - CA Planned Parenthood Education Fund v. U.S. Dept of HHS (filed Feb 26, 2019)
The California Planned Parenthood Education Fund submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Health and Human Services for records concerning proposed changes to the Title X family planning program. HHS acknowledged receipt of the request and asked the Fund to clarify its request. The Fund did so, but after hearing nothing further from the agency, the Fund filed suit.
Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Public Interest Fee Waiver - JUDICIAL WATCH, INC. v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY (filed Feb 26, 2019)
Judicial Watch submitted 26 FOIA requests to the U.S. Secret Service for records concerning travel expenses for a number of trips taken by President Donald Trump and others. The agency acknowledged receipt of the requests, but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Judicial Watch filed suit.
Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Litigation – Vaughn index - JUDICIAL WATCH, INC. v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (filed Feb 26, 2019)
Judicial Watch submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Justice for emails or text messages received by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein between May 8, 2017 and May 22, 2017. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request, but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Judicial Watch filed suit.
Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Litigation – Vaughn index - JUDICIAL WATCH, INC. v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (filed Feb 27, 2019)
Judicial Watch submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Justice for records concerning the declassification of DOJ records ordered by President Donald Trump. Judicial Watch also requested communications sent to or from DOJ attorney Bruce Ohr. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request and told Judicial Watch that it had separated the requests and made two requests with separate tracking numbers. The second request pertaining to Ohr was sent to the National Security Division, which also acknowledged receipt the request. After hearing nothing further from the agency, Judicial Watch filed suit.
Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Litigation – Vaughn index - Zuzindlak v. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (filed Feb 27, 2019)
Chelsea Zuzindlak, an immigration attorney, submitted a FOIA request to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for records pertaining to her client, An Ngoc Ho, including’s Ho’s Alien file. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request, but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Zuzindlak filed suit.
Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Litigation – Vaughn index - American Immigration Council et al v. Executive Office For Immigration Review et al (filed Feb 27, 2019)
The American Immigration Council and Kathryn Greenberg of the Immigration Justice Clinic at Benjamin Cardozo School of Law submitted two FOIA requests to the Executive Office for Immigration Review at the Department of Justice for records concerning EOIR’s current policies on stays of removal and motions to reopen or reconsider removal orders. AIC and Greenberg also requested expedited processing. The agency responded to their first FOIA request with a spreadsheet containing some data on stays of removal. AIC and Greenberg filed an administrative appeal of that decision. DOJ upheld the agency’s decision. The agency acknowledged receipt of the second request but denied AIC and Greenberg’s request for expedited processing. After hearing nothing from the agency pertaining to either request, AIC and Greenberg filed suit.
Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - NATIONAL SECURITY ARCHIVE v. DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (filed Feb 28, 2019)
The National Security Archive submitted a FOIA request to the Defense Intelligence Agency for records pertaining to Lieutenant General Leonard Perroot’s 1989 records on the 1983 Soviet War Scare. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request and told NSA that its request fell into the unusual circumstances category and would take time to process. The agency later told NSA that its request had been placed on the complex track, and further, that told NSA that DIA had 1,167 open FOIA requests and that the NSA’s request was 1,133 within that queue. After hearing nothing further from the agency, NSA filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - JUDICIAL WATCH, INC. v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (filed Mar 1, 2019)
Judicial Watch submitted a FOIA request to the FBI for records concerning communications between the agency and former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele or his company Orbus Business Intelligence. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request, but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Judicial Watch filed suit.
Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Litigation – Vaughn index - JUDICIAL WATCH, INC. v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (filed Mar 1, 2019)
Judicial Watch submitted a FOIA request to the FBI for records concerning communications between former FBI counsel James Baker and Perkins Coie partner Michael Sussman. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request, but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Judicial Watch filed suit.
Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Litigation – Vaughn index - JUDICIAL WATCH, INC. v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE (filed Mar 1, 2019)
Judicial Watch submitted a FOIA request to the Department of State for records concerning communications between Ambassador Victoria Nuland and a number of identified individuals. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request, but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Judicial Watch filed suit.
Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Litigation – Vaughn index - AMERICAN OVERSIGHT v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE (filed Mar 1, 2019)
American Oversight submitted FOIA requests to the Department of Commerce for records concerning Secretary Wilbur Ross’ conflict of interests and ethics agreements. The agency acknowledged receipt of the requests and for one request asked for clarification, which was provided by AO. After hearing nothing further from the agency pertaining to any of its requests, AO filed suit.
Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - People of the State of New York v. United States Department of Labor (filed Mar 1, 2019)
The State of New York submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Labor for records concerning participation in the Payroll Audit Independent Determination program. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request and told New York that it was processing the request. But after hearing nothing further from the agency, New York filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
In addition, we have added 1 document from 1 case, with an earlier filing date, that has recently appeared on PACER.
- Legal Aid Justice Center v. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) (filed Feb 21, 2019)
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