Case Detail

FOIA Project Annotation: A federal court in Colorado has ruled that Thomas Barrack cannot litigate a denial from a FOIA request submitted to the Department of Justice by his attorney because he was not the original requester. Barrack was indicted in the Eastern District of New York on allegations that he acted as an unregistered agent of a foreign country. A year later, Sohil Khurana, Barrack's attorney, submitted a FOIA request to the National Security Division of the Justice Department, seeking documents related to registrations of foreign agents with the past ten years. The request did not identify Barrack as the requesting party. Khurana contacted the agency to check on the status of his request and asked for expedited processing because the information requested could provide exculpatory information in connection to Barrack's upcoming trial. NSD responded by telling Khurana that because responding to his request would implicate personal privacy concerns, the agency was issuing a Glomar response, neither confirming nor denying the existence of records. After Khurana filed suit in Barrack's name, the agency asked the court to dismiss the case for lack of standing. The court agreed, noting that "the Court finds the single mention of Plaintiff in Mr. Khurana's June 30 email is akin to 'a passing reference that does not sufficiently identify him with the person making the request to confer on him standing to challenge the denial of the request under the FOIA.' That NSD was 'sufficiently aware' the FOIA request was made on Plaintiff's behalf does not noticeably move the needle." The court observed that "under the circumstances presented, the Court concludes Plaintiff lacked standing, and therefore the claims in this case must be dismissed without prejudice."
Issues: Request - Perfected request

Date Filed	Doc #	Docket Text
2022-07-21	1	COMPLAINT for Expedited Declaratory and Injunctive Relief Under the Freedom of Information Act against United States Department of Justice (Filing fee $ 402,Receipt Number ACODC-8565214)Attorney Jason R. Dunn added to party Thomas J Barrack(pty:pla), filed by Thomas J Barrack. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit 1- FOIA Request, # 2 Exhibit 2- DOJ Response, # 3 Exhibit 3- Response, # 4 Exhibit 4- Email, # 5 Civil Cover Sheet, # 6 Summons To the Dept. of Justice, # 7 Summons To the US Attorney, # 8 Summons To the Attorney General)(Dunn, Jason) (Entered: 07/21/2022)
2022-07-21	2	Emergency MOTION for Preliminary Injunction Expedited Motion for Preliminary Injunction by Plaintiff Thomas J Barrack. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit 1- FOIA Request, # 2 Exhibit 2- Request NSD, # 3 Exhibit 3- Update, # 4 Exhibit 4- Request for follow-up, # 5 Exhibit 5- Letter 6-6-22, # 6 Exhibit 6- Email re Appeal, # 7 Exhibit 7- Email re NSD FOIA, # 8 Exhibit 8- Letter 7-8-22, # 9 Exhibit 9- Letter 7-14-22, # 10 Exhibit 10- Letter 7-14-22)(Dunn, Jason) (Entered: 07/21/2022)
2022-07-21	3	Case assigned to Judge Raymond P. Moore and drawn to Magistrate Judge Kristen L. Mix. Text Only Entry (norlin, ) (Entered: 07/21/2022)
2022-07-21	4	SUMMONS issued by Clerk. (Attachments: # 1 Summons, # 2 Summons, # 3 Magistrate Judge Consent Form) (norlin, ) (Entered: 07/21/2022)
2022-07-22	5	NOTICE of Entry of Appearance by Joseph C. Haupt on behalf of Thomas J. Barrack, JrAttorney Joseph C. Haupt added to party Thomas J. Barrack, Jr(pty:pla) (Haupt, Joseph) (Entered: 07/22/2022)
2022-07-26	6	NOTICE of Entry of Appearance by Vinita Andrapalliyal on behalf of United States Department of JusticeAttorney Vinita Andrapalliyal added to party United States Department of Justice(pty:dft) (Andrapalliyal, Vinita) (Entered: 07/26/2022)
2022-07-27	7	MINUTE ORDER: Status Conference set for 8/5/2022 at 01:00 PM in Courtroom A 601 before Judge Raymond P. Moore on the sixth floor of the Alfred A. Arraj United States Courthouse located at 901 19th Street, Denver, Colorado. SO ORDERED by Judge Raymond P. Moore on 7/27/2022. (Text Only Entry) (rmsec ) (Entered: 07/27/2022)
2022-07-29	8	Unopposed MOTION for Order to Hold August 5, 2022 Status Conference Telephonically by Plaintiff Thomas J. Barrack, Jr. (Attachments: # 1 Proposed Order (PDF Only))(Dunn, Jason) (Entered: 07/29/2022)
2022-08-01	9	ORDER granting Unopposed Motion of Thomas Barrack, Jr. Requesting Status Conference Be Held via Teleconference 8 . The Status Conference set for 8/5/2022 at 1:00 PM will be held telephonically. The parties are directed to contact the Court's Courtroom Deputy via email (Cathy_Pearson@cod.uscourts.gov) on or before 4:30 PM on Wednesday, August 3, 2022, for instructions to appear telephonically. SO ORDERED by Judge Raymond P. Moore on 8/1/2022. (Text Only Entry)(rmsec ) (Entered: 08/01/2022)
2022-08-05	10	COURTROOM MINUTES for proceedings held before Judge Raymond P. Moore: Status Conference held on 8/5/2022. 2 Expedited Motion for Preliminary Injunction is denied as to having the Preliminary Injunction heard on an expedited basis; however, the preliminary injunction motion remains pending. Court Reporter: Tammy Hoffschildt. (cpear) (Entered: 08/05/2022)
2022-08-12	11	Unopposed MOTION for Leave to File Excess Pages by Defendant United States Department of Justice. (Attachments: # 1 Proposed Order (PDF Only))(Andrapalliyal, Vinita) (Entered: 08/12/2022)
2022-08-12	12	ORDER granting 11 Motion for Leave to File Excess Pages. SO ORDERED by Judge Raymond P. Moore on 8/12/2022. (Text Only Entry)(rmsec ) (Entered: 08/12/2022)
2022-08-15	13	BRIEF in Opposition to 2 Emergency MOTION for Preliminary Injunction Expedited Motion for Preliminary Injunction filed by Defendant United States Department of Justice. (Attachments: # 1 Affidavit of Kevin G. Tiernan, # 2 Exhibit Exhibits)(Andrapalliyal, Vinita) (Entered: 08/15/2022)
2022-08-24	14	MOTION to Dismiss Plaintiff's Complaint by Defendant United States Department of Justice. (Andrapalliyal, Vinita) (Entered: 08/24/2022)
2022-08-29	15	REPLY to Response to 2 Emergency MOTION for Preliminary Injunction Expedited Motion for Preliminary Injunction filed by Plaintiff Thomas J. Barrack, Jr. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit 1, # 2 Exhibit 2, # 3 Exhibit 3)(Dunn, Jason) (Entered: 08/29/2022)
2022-09-14	16	RESPONSE to 14 MOTION to Dismiss Plaintiff's Complaint filed by Plaintiff Thomas J. Barrack, Jr. (Dunn, Jason) (Entered: 09/14/2022)
2022-09-27	17	ORDER REASSIGNING MAGISTRATE JUDGE. Pursuant to D.C. Colo. L. Civ. R. 40.1(a), and as approved by the Chief Judge of the Court, the undersigned directs that the Clerk of the Court reassign this action to Magistrate Judge Gallagher as the referral judge. All further pleadings in this case shall reflect the case number of 22-cv-01800-RM-GPG. By Judge Raymond P. Moore on 9/27/2022. (sdunb, ) (Entered: 09/27/2022)
2022-09-27	18	ORDER REFERRING CASE to Magistrate Judge Gordon P. Gallagher. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(A) and (B) and Fed. R. Civ. P. 72(a) and (b), this case is referred to the assigned United States Magistrate Judge to (1) convene a scheduling conference under Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b) and enter a scheduling order meeting the requirements of D.C.COLO.LCivR 16.2, (2) conduct such status conferences and issue such orders necessary for compliance with the scheduling order, including amendments or modifications of the scheduling order upon a showing of good cause, (3) hear and determine pretrial matters, including discovery and other non-dispositive motions, (4) conduct a pretrial conference and enter a pretrial order, and (5) conduct hearings, including evidentiary hearings, and submit proposed findings of fact and recommendations for rulings on dispositive motions. Court sponsored alternative dispute resolution is governed by D.C.COLO.LCivR 16.6. On the recommendation or informal request of the magistrate judge or on the request of the parties by motion, this court may direct the parties to engage in an early neutral evaluation, a settlement conference, or another alternative dispute resolution proceeding. By Judge Raymond P. Moore on 9/27/2022. (Text Only Entry) (rmsec ) (Entered: 09/27/2022)
2022-09-27	19	MINUTE ORDER: With the assignment of this matter, the parties are advised that throughout this case they are expected to be familiar and comply with not only the Local Rules of this District, but also Judge Raymond P. Moore's Civil Practice Standards, which may be found at: http://www.cod.uscourts.gov/JudicialOfficers/ActiveArticleIIIJudges/HonRaymondPMoore.aspx. SO ORDERED by Judge Raymond P. Moore on 9/27/2022. (Text Only Entry) (rmsec ) (Entered: 09/27/2022)
2022-09-28	20	REPLY to Response to 14 MOTION to Dismiss Plaintiff's Complaint filed by Defendant United States Department of Justice. (Andrapalliyal, Vinita) (Entered: 09/28/2022)
2022-10-03	21	ORDER : Telephonic Scheduling Conference set for 10/26/2022 at 10:30 AM in Room 323 (Grand Junction) before Magistrate Judge Gordon P. Gallagher. At the time of the hearing, the parties shall call the courtroom at 888-363-4749, Access Code 3136546#. Proposed Scheduling Order is due one week prior. By Magistrate Judge Gordon P. Gallagher on October 3, 2022. Text Only Entry (gpgsec, ) (Entered: 10/03/2022)
2022-10-06	22	ORDER granting 14 Motion to Dismiss and denying as moot 2 Motion for Preliminary Injunction. Entered by Judge Raymond P. Moore on 10/6/2022. (cpear) (Entered: 10/06/2022)
2022-10-06	23	FINAL JUDGMENT pursuant to 22 Order. Entered by the Clerk of the Court on 10/6/2022. (cpear) (Entered: 10/06/2022)
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