Skip to content

Case Detail

[Subscribe to updates]
Case TitleAMERICAN OVERSIGHT v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
DistrictDistrict of Columbia
CityWashington, DC
Case Number1:2019cv00618
Date Filed2019-03-05
Date Closed2020-02-13
JudgeJudge Reggie B. Walton
PlaintiffAMERICAN OVERSIGHT
Case DescriptionAmerican Oversight submitted four FOIA requests to the Department of Defense for records concerning then Deputy Secretary Patrick Shanahan's compliance with ethical requirements, communications with Boeing, his former employer, and calendar entries. After it became likely that Shanahan would be nominated to replace former Secretary James Mattis, AO also requested expedited processing. The agency acknowledged receipt of the requests. The agency provided records in response to AO's request for calendar entries, but then told AO that its search had not been complete and would continue. After hearing nothing further from the agency pertaining to any of the requests, AO filed suit.
Complaint issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy - Search, Litigation - Attorney's fees

DefendantU.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Documents
Docket
Complaint
Complaint attachment 1
Complaint attachment 2
Complaint attachment 3
Complaint attachment 4
User-contributed Documents
 
Docket Events (Hide)
Date FiledDoc #Docket Text

2019-03-051COMPLAINT against U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE ( Filing fee $ 400 receipt number 0090-5983391) filed by AMERICAN OVERSIGHT. (Attachments: # 1 Civil Cover Sheet, # 2 Summons, # 3 Summons, # 4 Summons)(McGrath, Daniel) (Entered: 03/05/2019)
2019-03-052LCvR 26.1 CERTIFICATE OF DISCLOSURE of Corporate Affiliations and Financial Interests by AMERICAN OVERSIGHT (McGrath, Daniel) (Entered: 03/05/2019)
2019-03-06Case Assigned to Judge Reggie B. Walton. (zef, ) (Entered: 03/06/2019)
2019-03-063SUMMONS (3) Issued Electronically as to U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE, U.S. Attorney and U.S. Attorney General. (Attachments: # 1 Notice and Consent)(zef, ) (Entered: 03/06/2019)
2019-03-124RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed as to the United States Attorney. Date of Service Upon United States Attorney on 3/6/2019. ( Answer due for ALL FEDERAL DEFENDANTS by 4/5/2019.), RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed on United States Attorney General. Date of Service Upon United States Attorney General 3/11/2019., RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE served on 3/11/2019 (McGrath, Daniel) (Entered: 03/12/2019)
2019-04-055NOTICE of Appearance by Joshua Charles Abbuhl on behalf of U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE (Abbuhl, Joshua) (Entered: 04/05/2019)
2019-04-056MOTION for Extension of Time to File Answer by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order)(Abbuhl, Joshua) (Entered: 04/05/2019)
2019-04-107NOTICE of Appearance by Christopher Robert Healy on behalf of U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE (Healy, Christopher) (Entered: 04/10/2019)
2019-04-108NOTICE OF WITHDRAWAL OF APPEARANCE as to U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE. Attorney Joshua Charles Abbuhl terminated. (Abbuhl, Joshua) (Entered: 04/10/2019)
2019-04-199ANSWER to Complaint by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE.(Healy, Christopher) (Entered: 04/19/2019)
2019-05-03MINUTE ORDER. Upon consideration of the defendant's 6 Consent Motion for Enlargement of Time to Answer or Otherwise Respond to Plaintiffs' Complaint, and for good cause shown, it is hereby ORDERED that the motion is GRANTED nunc pro tunc. It is further ORDERED that, on or before May 31, 2019, the parties shall submit to the Court a joint status report, proposing a schedule for the filing of, if any, dispositive motions, oppositions thereto, and replies. Signed by Judge Reggie B. Walton on May 3, 2019. (lcrbw3) (Entered: 05/03/2019)
2019-05-06Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 5/31/2019 (hs) (Entered: 05/06/2019)
2019-05-1610GENERAL ORDER FOR CIVIL CASES BEFORE THE HONORABLE REGGIE B. WALTON. Signed by Judge Reggie B. Walton on May 16, 2019. (lcrbw3) (Entered: 05/16/2019)
2019-05-3111Joint STATUS REPORT on Behalf of All Parties by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE. (Healy, Christopher) (Entered: 05/31/2019)
2019-06-11MINUTE ORDER. Upon consideration of the parties' 11 Joint Status Report, and for good cause shown, it is hereby ORDERED that, on or before August 2, 2019, the parties shall file a joint status report updating the Court on the status of the defendant's productions in this case. It is further ORDERED that the defendant shall (1) produce the remaining records responsive to the plaintiff's Ethics Communication Request and Ethics Records Request on or before June 30, 2019; (2) produce all records responsive to the plaintiff's Boeing Communications Request on or before September 31, 2019, with productions occurring at the end of each month on a rolling basis; and (3) produce all records responsive to the plaintiff's calendar entries requests on or before July 31, 2019. Signed by Judge Reggie B. Walton on June 11, 2019. (lcrbw3) (Entered: 06/11/2019)
2019-06-11Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 8/2/2019 (hs) (Entered: 06/11/2019)
2019-06-24ENTERED IN ERROR.....Case directly ressigned to Judge Carl J. Nichols. Judge Reggie B. Walton is no longer assigned to the case. (rj) Modified on 7/3/2019 (rj). (Entered: 06/24/2019)
2019-06-2812Joint MOTION to Modify the Production Schedule by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE (Healy, Christopher) (Entered: 06/28/2019)
2019-07-3113Joint MOTION to Modify the Production Schedule by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE (Healy, Christopher) (Entered: 07/31/2019)
2019-08-19MINUTE ORDER. Upon consideration of the parties' 13 Joint Motion to Modify Production Schedule, and for good cause shown, it is hereby ORDERED that the motion is GRANTED. It is further ORDERED that, on or before August 28, 2019, the defendant shall produce all non-exempt responsive documents remaining in this case. It is further ORDERED that, on or before August 30, 2019, the parties shall file a joint status report updating the Court on the status of the defendant's production and proposing a schedule for further proceedings in this case. It is further ORDERED that the parties' 12 Joint Motion to Modify Production Schedule is DENIED AS MOOT. Signed by Judge Reggie B. Walton on August 19, 2019. (lcrbw3) (Entered: 08/19/2019)
2019-08-20Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 8/30/2019 (hs) (Entered: 08/20/2019)
2019-08-2814Joint MOTION to Modify the Production Schedule by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE (Healy, Christopher) (Entered: 08/28/2019)
2019-09-04MINUTE ORDER. Upon consideration of the 14 Joint Motion to Modify Production Schedule, and for good cause shown, it is hereby ORDERED that the motion is GRANTED. It is further ORDERED that, on or before September 15, 2019, the defendant shall produce all non-exempt responsive documents remaining in this case. It is further ORDERED that, on or before September 20, 2019, the parties shall file a joint status report updating the Court on the status of the defendant's production and proposing a schedule for further proceedings in this case. Signed by Judge Reggie B. Walton on September 4, 2019. (lcrbw3) (Entered: 09/04/2019)
2019-09-05Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 9/20/2019 (hs) (Entered: 09/05/2019)
2019-09-1615Joint MOTION for Extension of Time to Complete Production, Nunc Pro Tunc by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE (Healy, Christopher) (Main Document 15 replaced on 9/17/2019) (ztd). (Entered: 09/16/2019)
2019-10-01MINUTE ORDER. Upon consideration of the 15 Joint Motion to Modify Production Schedule Nunc Pro Tunc, it is hereby ORDERED that the motion is GRANTED NUNC PRO TUNC. It is further ORDERED that, on or before October 15, 2019, the defendant shall produce all non-exempt responsive documents remaining in this case. It is further ORDERED that, on or before October 23, 2019, the parties shall file a joint status report updating the Court on the status of the defendant's production and proposing a schedule for further proceedings in this case. Signed by Judge Reggie B. Walton on October 1, 2019. (lcrbw3) (Entered: 10/01/2019)
2019-10-01Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 10/23/2019 (hs) (Entered: 10/01/2019)
2019-10-2316Joint STATUS REPORT by AMERICAN OVERSIGHT. (McGrath, Daniel) (Entered: 10/23/2019)
2019-10-24MINUTE ORDER. Upon consideration of the parties' 16 Joint Status Report, and for good cause shown, it is hereby ORDERED that, on or before November 21, 2019, the parties shall file a joint status report updating the Court on the status of the case. Signed by Judge Reggie B. Walton on October 24, 2019. (lcrbw3) (Entered: 10/24/2019)
2019-10-25Set/Reset Deadlines: Status Report due by 11/21/2019. (tj) (Entered: 10/25/2019)
2019-11-2117Joint STATUS REPORT by AMERICAN OVERSIGHT. (McGrath, Daniel) (Entered: 11/21/2019)
2019-11-25MINUTE ORDER. Upon consideration of the parties' 17 Joint Status Report, and for good cause shown, it is hereby ORDERED that, on or before February 13, 2020, the parties shall file a joint status report updating the Court on the status of the case. Signed by Judge Reggie B. Walton on November 25, 2019. (lcrbw3) (Entered: 11/25/2019)
2019-11-25Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 2/13/2020 (hs) (Entered: 11/25/2019)
2020-02-1218NOTICE of Voluntary Dismissal by AMERICAN OVERSIGHT (McGrath, Daniel) (Entered: 02/12/2020)
2020-02-13MINUTE ORDER. In light of the parties' 18 Notice of Voluntary Dismissal, it is hereby ORDERED that this case is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE. It is further ORDERED that this case is CLOSED. Signed by Judge Reggie B. Walton on February 13, 2020. (lcrbw3) (Entered: 02/13/2020)
Hide Docket Events
by FOIA Project Staff
Skip to toolbar