Skip to content

Case Detail

[Subscribe to updates]
Case TitleJUDICIAL WATCH, INC. v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DistrictDistrict of Columbia
CityWashington, DC
Case Number1:2020cv00229
Date Filed2020-01-28
Date ClosedOpen
JudgeJudge Ana C. Reyes
PlaintiffJUDICIAL WATCH, INC.
Case DescriptionJudicial Watch submitted a FOIA request to the Department of State for records concerning cables/teletypes or emails sent by the State Department to the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv containing the term "Burisma." 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

2020-01-281COMPLAINT against U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE ( Filing fee $ 400 receipt number ADCDC-6773113) 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: 01/28/2020)
2020-01-282LCvR 26.1 CERTIFICATE OF DISCLOSURE of Corporate Affiliations and Financial Interests by JUDICIAL WATCH, INC. (Orfanedes, Paul) (Entered: 01/28/2020)
2020-01-29Case Assigned to Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly. (adh, ) (Entered: 01/29/2020)
2020-01-293SUMMONS (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)
2020-01-314ORDER ESTABLISHING PROCEDURES FOR CASES ASSIGNED TO JUDGE COLLEEN KOLLAR-KOTELLY. Signed by Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly on 1/31/20. (DM) (Entered: 01/31/2020)
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 3/8/2020.), 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) (Entered: 02/07/2020)
2020-02-216NOTICE of Appearance by Alan Burch on behalf of U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE (Burch, Alan) (Entered: 02/21/2020)
2020-03-097ANSWER to Complaint by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE.(Burch, Alan) (Entered: 03/09/2020)
2020-03-098ORDER for meet and confer and joint status report. Signed by Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly on 3-9-2020. (lcckk3) (Entered: 03/09/2020)
2020-03-09Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Meet & Confer Statement due by 5/8/2020. (dot) (Entered: 03/10/2020)
2020-05-089Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE. (Burch, Alan) (Entered: 05/08/2020)
2020-05-11MINUTE ORDER. The Court is in receipt of the parties' 9 Status Report. Defendant indicates that it has completed an initial search in response to Plaintiff's FOIA request which yielded approximately 3,600 potentially responsive documents. Defendant has asked Plaintiff to consider further limitations on the scope of its FOIA request. Defendant further indicates that there may be delays in processing Plaintiff's FOIA request due to complications caused by COVID-19. The Court ORDERS the parties to file a further status report by JULY 7, 2020, updating the Court on the status of Defendant's response to Plaintiff's FOIA request. The Court further ORDERS the parties to file further status reports every 60 days thereafter. The parties may file additional status reports if issues arise requiring the Court's attention. Signed by Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly on 5-11-2020. (lcckk3) (Entered: 05/11/2020)
2020-05-11Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 7/7/2020, updating the Court on the status of Defendant's response to Plaintiff's FOIA request. (dot) (Entered: 05/11/2020)
2020-07-0710Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE. (Burch, Alan) (Entered: 07/07/2020)
2020-08-2511NOTICE of Appearance by Meredith Leigh Di Liberto on behalf of JUDICIAL WATCH, INC. (Di Liberto, Meredith) (Entered: 08/25/2020)
2020-09-0812Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE. (Burch, Alan) (Entered: 09/08/2020)
2020-09-3013NOTICE OF SUBSTITUTION OF COUNSEL by Marsha Wellknown Yee on behalf of U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Substituting for attorney Alan Burch (Yee, Marsha) (Entered: 09/30/2020)
2020-11-0914Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE. (Yee, Marsha) (Entered: 11/09/2020)
2021-01-0815Joint STATUS REPORT by JUDICIAL WATCH, INC.. (Di Liberto, Meredith) (Entered: 01/08/2021)
2021-03-1016Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE. (Yee, Marsha) (Entered: 03/10/2021)
2021-05-1017Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE. (Yee, Marsha) (Entered: 05/10/2021)
2021-07-0918Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE. (Yee, Marsha) (Entered: 07/09/2021)
2021-09-0719Joint STATUS REPORT by JUDICIAL WATCH, INC.. (Di Liberto, Meredith) (Entered: 09/07/2021)
2021-10-01Case directly reassigned to Judge Florence Y. Pan. Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly is no longer assigned to the case. (ztnr) (Entered: 10/01/2021)
2021-11-0420Joint STATUS REPORT by JUDICIAL WATCH, INC.. (Di Liberto, Meredith) (Entered: 11/04/2021)
2021-11-22MINUTE ORDER vacating the schedule set by the Court on May 11, 2020. The parties are directed to file another joint status report on or before January 12, 2022, and are ordered to file subsequent status reports every 60 days thereafter. Signed by Judge Florence Y. Pan on 11/22/2021. (lcsw) (Entered: 11/22/2021)
2021-11-23Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 1/12/2022 and every 60 days thereafter. (zacr) (Entered: 11/23/2021)
2022-01-1221Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE. (Yee, Marsha) (Entered: 01/12/2022)
2022-03-1122Interim STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE. (Yee, Marsha) (Entered: 03/11/2022)
2022-05-1023Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE. (Yee, Marsha) (Entered: 05/10/2022)
2022-05-11MINUTE ORDER. Upon consideration of the parties' 23 Joint Status Report, the parties are directed to file another joint status report on or before August 11, 2022, and every 90 days thereafter. Signed by Judge Florence Y. Pan on 5/11/2022. (lcsw) (Entered: 05/11/2022)
2022-05-11Set/Reset Deadlines: Joint Status Report due by 8/11/2022. (zacr) (Entered: 05/11/2022)
2022-08-1124Joint STATUS REPORT by JUDICIAL WATCH, INC.. (Di Liberto, Meredith) (Entered: 08/11/2022)
2022-09-23Judge Florence Y. Pan has been elevated to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. She is therefore no longer assigned to this case, and this matter has been reassigned to the Calendar Committee, which will oversee it until it is assigned to another district judge. Any questions should be directed to Judge Pan's former deputy clerk, Samantha Calloway, at 202-354-3163 or samantha_calloway@dcd.uscourts.gov. (ztnr) (Entered: 09/23/2022)
2022-11-0925Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE. (Yee, Marsha) (Entered: 11/09/2022)
2023-02-0726Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE. (Yee, Marsha) (Entered: 02/07/2023)
2023-02-24Case directly reassigned to District Judge Ana C. Reyes. Circuit Judge Florence Y Pan is no longer assigned to the case. (ztnr) (Entered: 02/24/2023)
2023-05-0827Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE. (Yee, Marsha) (Entered: 05/08/2023)
2023-08-0328Joint STATUS REPORT by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE. (Yee, Marsha) (Entered: 08/03/2023)
2023-11-0129Joint STATUS REPORT by JUDICIAL WATCH, INC.. (Di Liberto, Meredith) (Entered: 11/01/2023)
2024-01-3030Joint STATUS REPORT by JUDICIAL WATCH, INC.. (Di Liberto, Meredith) (Entered: 01/30/2024)
2024-02-1031NOTICE OF SUBSTITUTION OF COUNSEL by Brian P. Hudak on behalf of U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Substituting for attorney Marsha Yee (Hudak, Brian) (Entered: 02/10/2024)
Hide Docket Events
by FOIA Project Staff
Skip to toolbar