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Case TitleJUDICIAL WATCH, INC. v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DistrictDistrict of Columbia
CityWashington, DC
Case Number1:2020cv00239
Date Filed2020-01-29
Date ClosedOpen
JudgeJudge Ana C. Reyes
PlaintiffJUDICIAL WATCH, INC.
Case DescriptionJudicial Watch submitted a FOIA request to the Department of State for records concerning communications that included State Department Resident Legal Advisor in Ukraine Jeff Cole and U.S. Embassy Kyiv employee Svitlana Pardus and also included National Security Council staffer Eric Ciaramella. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Judicial Watch filed suit.
Complaint issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy - Search, Litigation - Vaughn index, Litigation - Attorney's fees

DefendantU.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
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

2020-01-291COMPLAINT against U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE ( Filing fee $ 400 receipt number ADCDC-6778130) filed by JUDICIAL WATCH, INC.. (Attachments: # 1 Civil Cover Sheet, # 2 Summons U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, # 3 Summons U.S. Attorney General, # 4 Summons U.S. Department of State)(Orfanedes, Paul) (Entered: 01/29/2020)
2020-01-29Case Assigned to Judge Thomas F. Hogan. (adh, ) (Entered: 01/29/2020)
2020-01-292SUMMONS (3) Issued Electronically as to U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, U.S. Attorney and U.S. Attorney General (Attachment: # 1 Notice and Consent)(adh, ) (Entered: 01/29/2020)
2020-02-063NOTICE of Appearance by Paul Cirino on behalf of U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE (Cirino, Paul) (Entered: 02/06/2020)
2020-02-074ENTERED IN ERROR.....RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed as to the United States Attorney. Date of Service Upon United States Attorney on 2/7/2020. (Answer due for ALL FEDERAL DEFENDANTS by 3/8/2020.), RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed on United States Attorney General. Date of Service Upon United States Attorney General 2/4/2020., RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE served on 2/4/2020 (Attachments: # 1 Declaration of Cristina Rotaru)(Orfanedes, Paul) Modified date of service on 2/10/2020 (ztth). Modified text on 2/11/2020 (ztth). (Entered: 02/07/2020)
2020-02-075RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed as to the United States Attorney. Date of Service Upon United States Attorney on 2/7/2020. (Answer due for ALL FEDERAL DEFENDANTS by 3/5/2020.) RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed on United States Attorney General. Date of Service Upon United States Attorney General 2/4/2020. RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE served on 2/4/2020. (Attachments: # 1 Declaration of Cristina Rotaru)(Orfanedes, Paul); Modified on 2/10/2020 (ztth). Modified on 2/11/2020 (ztth). (Entered: 02/07/2020)
2020-02-10NOTICE OF CORRECTED DOCKET ENTRY: re 4 Summons Returned Executed in FOIA as to U.S. Attorney, Summons Returned Executed as to U.S. Attorney General, Summons Returned Executed as to Federal Defendant, was entered in error. Said pleading is a duplicate of Docket Entry 5 . (ztth) Modified text on 2/11/2020 (ztth). (Entered: 02/10/2020)
2020-03-046ANSWER to Complaint by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE.(Cirino, Paul) (Entered: 03/04/2020)
2020-04-10MINUTE ORDER requiring the parties to confer and file a joint status report proposing a schedule for further proceedings. The status report should address the status of the plaintiff's FOIA request, including the anticipated number of documents responsive to the request, and the anticipated date(s) for the release of requested documents that are still being processed, if any. The parties shall file the joint status report on or before April 24, 2020. Signed by Judge Thomas F. Hogan on April 10, 2020. (JK) (Entered: 04/10/2020)
2020-04-13Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 4/24/2020 (hs) (Entered: 04/13/2020)
2020-04-227Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE. (Cirino, Paul) (Entered: 04/22/2020)
2020-05-01MINUTE ORDER: The parties shall file a joint status report no later than May 25, 2020, and every 30 days thereafter, until the defendant is able to process the plaintiff's request. Thereafter, the parties shall file joint status reports every 60 days. Signed by Judge Thomas F. Hogan on May 1, 2020. (SM) (Entered: 05/01/2020)
2020-05-01Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 5/25/2020 (hs) (Entered: 05/01/2020)
2020-05-228Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE. (Cirino, Paul) (Entered: 05/22/2020)
2020-07-219Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE. (Cirino, Paul) (Entered: 07/21/2020)
2020-08-2510NOTICE of Appearance by Meredith Leigh Di Liberto on behalf of JUDICIAL WATCH, INC. (Di Liberto, Meredith) (Entered: 08/25/2020)
2020-09-2211Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE. (Cirino, Paul) (Entered: 09/22/2020)
2020-11-2012Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE. (Cirino, Paul) (Entered: 11/20/2020)
2021-01-1513Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE. (Cirino, Paul) (Entered: 01/15/2021)
2021-03-1914Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE. (Cirino, Paul) (Entered: 03/19/2021)
2021-05-1815Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE. (Cirino, Paul) (Entered: 05/18/2021)
2021-07-1916Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE. (Cirino, Paul) (Entered: 07/19/2021)
2021-09-1717Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE. (Cirino, Paul) (Entered: 09/17/2021)
2021-11-1618Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE. (Cirino, Paul) (Entered: 11/16/2021)
2022-01-1819Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE. (Cirino, Paul) (Entered: 01/18/2022)
2022-03-2120Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE. (Cirino, Paul) (Entered: 03/21/2022)
2022-05-2021Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE. (Cirino, Paul) (Entered: 05/20/2022)
2022-07-1922Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE. (Cirino, Paul) (Entered: 07/19/2022)
2022-09-1623NOTICE OF SUBSTITUTION OF COUNSEL by Derek S. Hammond on behalf of All Defendants Substituting for attorney Paul Cirino (Hammond, Derek) (Entered: 09/16/2022)
2022-09-1924Joint STATUS REPORT by JUDICIAL WATCH, INC.. (Di Liberto, Meredith) (Entered: 09/19/2022)
2022-11-1725Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE. (Hammond, Derek) (Entered: 11/17/2022)
2023-01-1726Joint STATUS REPORT by JUDICIAL WATCH, INC.. (Di Liberto, Meredith) (Entered: 01/17/2023)
2023-02-24Case directly reassigned to District Judge Ana C. Reyes. Judge Thomas F. Hogan is no longer assigned to the case. (rj) (Entered: 02/24/2023)
2023-03-2027Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE. (Hammond, Derek) (Entered: 03/20/2023)
2023-05-1928Joint STATUS REPORT by JUDICIAL WATCH, INC.. (Di Liberto, Meredith) (Entered: 05/19/2023)
2023-07-1229NOTICE OF SUBSTITUTION OF COUNSEL by Bradley Silverman on behalf of U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Substituting for attorney Derek S. Hammond (Silverman, Bradley) (Entered: 07/12/2023)
2023-07-1830Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE. (Silverman, Bradley) (Entered: 07/18/2023)
2023-09-1831Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE. (Silverman, Bradley) (Entered: 09/18/2023)
2023-11-1332Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE. (Silverman, Bradley) (Entered: 11/13/2023)
2024-01-1633Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE. (Silverman, Bradley) (Entered: 01/16/2024)
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by FOIA Project Staff
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