Case Detail

FOIA Project Annotation: Judge Trevor McFadden has ruled that the General Services Administration properly withheld information about expenditures related to President Trump and Vice President Pence's 2020 transition teams under Exemption 6 (invasion of privacy) in response to FOIA requests from media company Insider, Inc. In response to Insider's FOIA requests, GSA disclosed hundreds of pages of records, including a spreadsheet of each transition team, detailing each team members' salary and estimated benefits. However, GSA redacted the names of some team members to protect their privacy. McFadden explained that to carry its burden of proof on Exemption 6, GSA must show that the files qualified as similar files and that disclosure would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. McFadden found GSA had met both standards. He pointed out that "for one thing, other transition staff have been harassed and threatened. Plus, the team members are not public figures." Insider argued that GSA was required to show that the transition members were low-level government employees who had legitimate expectations of privacy. But McFadden indicated that "rather, they are private citizens; GSA merely pays them. And private citizens, like low-level government employees, have a heightened privacy interest." In arguing that disclosure would be in the public interest, Insider claimed that "presidential transitions are important and thus the public has a significant interest in knowing who helps run them." McFadden rejected the claim, noting that "disclosing transition staffs' names, alone, tells the public almost nothing about what GSA is up to. GSA does not hire transition teams. Nor does it decide their pay or job duties. And GSA is not the staffs' employer. It merely supports transition teams by paying their staff and helping with their administrative needs." He added that "GSA has already disclosed practically all responsive information about its involvement with the transition teams. . .Insider got all the information that would help the public know more about GSA's expenditures from presidential transition accounts." McFadden noted that "any public interest here is light. In contrast, the privacy interest weighs heavily. There is a real threat that the team members would be threatened or harassed if their names were disclosed."
Issues: Exemption 6 - Invasion of privacy

Date Filed	Doc #	Docket Text
2021-10-11	1	COMPLAINT against U.S. GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION ( Filing fee $ 402 receipt number ADCDC-8791530) filed by INSIDER INC.. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit Ex A-J, # 2 Civil Cover Sheet, # 3 Summons)(Topic, Matthew) (Entered: 10/11/2021)
2021-10-11	2	NOTICE of Appearance by Matthew Topic on behalf of INSIDER INC. (Topic, Matthew) (Entered: 10/11/2021)
2021-10-11	3	LCvR 26.1 CERTIFICATE OF DISCLOSURE of Corporate Affiliations and Financial Interests by INSIDER INC. (Topic, Matthew) (Entered: 10/11/2021)
2021-10-12		NOTICE OF ERROR re 3 LCvR 26.1 Certificate of Disclosure - Corporate Affiliations/Financial Interests; emailed to matt@loevy.com, cc'd 2 associated attorneys -- The PDF file you docketed contained errors: 1. The disclosure does not state whether there are corporate parents/affiliates or not. Please file an errata correcting the pleading., 2. COMPLIANCE DEADLINE is by close of business today. This case will not proceed any further until all errors are satisfied. (znmg, ) (Entered: 10/12/2021)
2021-10-12		Case Assigned to Judge Trevor N. McFadden. (znmg) (Entered: 10/12/2021)
2021-10-12	4	SUMMONS (3) Issued Electronically as to U.S. GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION, U.S. Attorney and U.S. Attorney General (Attachment: # 1 Notice and Consent)(znmg) (Entered: 10/12/2021)
2021-10-12	5	ERRATA by INSIDER INC.. (Attachments: # 1 Corrected Corporate Disclosure Statement)(Topic, Matthew) (Entered: 10/12/2021)
2021-10-13	6	STANDING ORDER Establishing Procedures for Cases Before Judge Trevor N. McFadden. The parties are hereby ORDERED to read and comply with the directives in the attached standing order. Signed by Judge Trevor N. McFadden on 10/13/2021. (lctnm1) (Entered: 10/13/2021)
2021-11-22	7	NOTICE of Appearance by Daniel Patrick Schaefer on behalf of U.S. GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION (Schaefer, Daniel) (Entered: 11/22/2021)
2021-11-22	8	ANSWER to Complaint by U.S. GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION.(Schaefer, Daniel) (Entered: 11/22/2021)
2021-11-23		MINUTE ORDER. Before the Court are a complaint and an answer in this FOIA case. The parties shall meet and confer and file a Joint Status Report proposing a schedule for proceeding in this matter. The schedule should address, among other things, the status of Plaintiff's FOIA request, the anticipated number of documents responsive to Plaintiff's FOIA request, the anticipated date(s) for release of the documents requested by Plaintiff, whether a motion for an Open America stay is likely in this case, whether a Vaughn index will be required in this case, and a briefing schedule for dispositive motions, if required. The parties shall file the schedule on or before December 30, 2021. SO ORDERED. Signed by Judge Trevor N. McFadden on 11/23/2021. (lctnm1) (Entered: 11/23/2021)
2021-11-23		Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 12/30/2021. (ztg) (Entered: 11/23/2021)
2021-12-22	9	Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION. (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order)(Schaefer, Daniel) (Entered: 12/22/2021)
2021-12-23		MINUTE ORDER: Upon consideration of the 9 Joint Status Report, it is ORDERED that the parties submit summary judgment briefing as follows: Defendant's motion for summary judgment is due on or before April 1, 2022; the Plaintiff's opposition is due on or before April 22, 2022; and the Defendant's reply, if any, is due on or before May 6, 2022. SO ORDERED. Signed by Judge Trevor N. McFadden on 12/23/2022. (lctnm1) (Entered: 12/23/2021)
2021-12-23		Set/Reset Deadlines: Defendant's motion for summary judgment due by 4/1/2022. Plaintiff's opposition due by 4/22/2022. Defendant's reply due by 5/6/2022. (hmc) (Entered: 12/23/2021)
2022-03-29	10	Consent MOTION for Extension of Time to Summary Judgment Briefing Schedule by U.S. GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION. (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order)(Schaefer, Daniel) (Entered: 03/29/2022)
2022-03-30		MINUTE ORDER granting the 10 Motion for Extension of Time. The parties shall adhere to the following briefing schedule: Defendant's motion for summary judgment is due on or before June 1, 2022; Plaintiff's opposition and any cross-motion for summary judgment are due on or before July 1, 2022; Defendant's opposition and reply due on or before July 29, 2022; and Plaintiff's reply, if any, due by August 19, 2022. SO ORDERED. Signed by Judge Trevor N. McFadden on 3/29/2022. (lctnm1) (Entered: 03/30/2022)
2022-03-30		Set/Reset Deadlines: Summary judgment motion due by 6/1/2022; cross-motion and opposition to summary judgment motion due by 7/1/2022; opposition to cross-motion and reply to opposition to summary judgment motion due by 7/29/2022; reply to opposition to cross-motion due by 8/19/2022. (ztg) (Entered: 03/30/2022)
2022-06-01	11	MOTION for Summary Judgment by U.S. GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION. (Attachments: # 1 Memorandum in Support, # 2 Statement of Facts, # 3 Exhibit 1 - Lewis Declaration, # 4 Text of Proposed Order)(Schaefer, Daniel) (Entered: 06/01/2022)
2022-07-01	12	Cross MOTION for Summary Judgment by INSIDER INC.. (Attachments: # 1 Memorandum in Support, # 2 Statement of Facts Response to Statement of Facts, # 3 Text of Proposed Order)(Topic, Matthew) (Entered: 07/01/2022)
2022-07-01	13	Memorandum in opposition to re 11 MOTION for Summary Judgment filed by INSIDER INC.. (Attachments: # 1 Statement of Facts Response to Statement of Facts, # 2 Text of Proposed Order)(Topic, Matthew) (Entered: 07/01/2022)
2022-07-29	14	REPLY to opposition to motion re 11 MOTION for Summary Judgment filed by U.S. GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit 2)(Schaefer, Daniel) (Entered: 07/29/2022)
2022-07-29	15	Memorandum in opposition to re 12 Motion for Summary Judgment filed by U.S. GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit 2)(Schaefer, Daniel) (Entered: 07/29/2022)
2022-08-19	16	REPLY to opposition to motion re 12 Motion for Summary Judgment filed by INSIDER INC.. (Topic, Matthew) Modified on 8/22/2022 to add docket relationship (zed). (Entered: 08/19/2022)
2022-10-16	17	NOTICE OF SUBSTITUTION OF COUNSEL by Anna Davis Walker on behalf of U.S. GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION Substituting for attorney Daniel Patrick Schaefer (Walker, Anna) (Entered: 10/16/2022)
2022-10-18	18	MEMORANDUM OPINION re: Defendant's 11 Motion for Summary Judgment and Plaintiff's 12 Cross Motion for Summary Judgment. Signed by Judge Trevor N. McFadden on 10/18/2022. (lctnm1) (Entered: 10/18/2022)
2022-10-18	19	ORDER. For the reasons explained in the Court's 18 Memorandum Opinion, Defendant's 11 Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED, and Plaintiff's 12 Cross Motion for Summary Judgment is DENIED. The Clerk of Court is requested to close the case. See attached Order for details. Signed by Judge Trevor N. McFadden on 10/18/2022. (lctnm1) (Entered: 10/18/2022)
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