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Case TitleCATHOLICVOTE CIVIC ACTION et al v. FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATIONS et al
DistrictDistrict of Columbia
CityWashington, DC
Case Number1:2023cv01166
Date Filed2023-04-27
Date ClosedOpen
JudgeJudge Rudolph Contreras
PlaintiffCATHOLICVOTE CIVIC ACTION
PlaintiffJUDICIAL WATCH, INC.
Case DescriptionCatholicVote Civic Action and Judicial Watch submitted four FOIA requests to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for records concerning communications of named FBI officials referencing any words on a specific list of keywords. Although the requests were sent to a junk folder, once the FBI learned of their existence, they acknowledged their receipt. The FBI consolidated three requests. CatholicVote then submitted two FOIA requests to the Department of Justice for similar records. DOJ acknowledged receipt of the requests and told CatholicVote that it was aggregating the requests by subject matter. After hearing nothing further from the agencies, CatholicVote filed suit.
Complaint issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy - Search, Litigation - Vaughn index, Litigation - Attorney's fees

DefendantFEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATIONS
DefendantU.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Documents
Docket
Complaint
Complaint attachment 1
Complaint attachment 2
Complaint attachment 3
Complaint attachment 4
Complaint attachment 5
User-contributed Documents
 
Docket Events (Hide)
Date FiledDoc #Docket Text

2023-04-271COMPLAINT against All Defendants ( Filing fee $ 402 receipt number ADCDC-10028711) filed by JUDICIAL WATCH, INC.. (Attachments: # 1 Civil Cover Sheet, # 2 Summons Federal Bureau of Investigations, # 3 Summons U.S. Department of Justice, # 4 Summons U.S. Attorney General, # 5 Summons U.S. Attorney)(Di Liberto, Meredith) (Entered: 04/27/2023)
2023-04-272LCvR 26.1 CERTIFICATE OF DISCLOSURE of Corporate Affiliations and Financial Interests by JUDICIAL WATCH, INC. (Di Liberto, Meredith) (Entered: 04/27/2023)
2023-04-27Case Assigned to Judge Rudolph Contreras. (zljn) (Entered: 04/27/2023)
2023-04-273SUMMONS (4) Issued Electronically as to All Defendants, U.S. Attorney and U.S. Attorney General (Attachments: # 1 Notice and Consent)(zljn) (Entered: 04/27/2023)
2023-05-104RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed as to the United States Attorney. Date of Service Upon United States Attorney on 5/4/2023. ( Answer due for ALL FEDERAL DEFENDANTS by 6/3/2023.), RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed on United States Attorney General. Date of Service Upon United States Attorney General 5/10/2023., RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed. FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATIONS served on 5/10/2023; U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE served on 5/9/2023 (Attachments: # 1 Declaration Brooke Paz)(Di Liberto, Meredith) Modified text on 5/15/2023 (ztth). (Entered: 05/10/2023)
2023-06-055NOTICE of Appearance by Fithawi Berhane on behalf of FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATIONS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (Berhane, Fithawi) (Entered: 06/05/2023)
2023-06-056MOTION for Extension of Time to Respond to Plaintiff's Complaint by FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATIONS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order)(Berhane, Fithawi) (Entered: 06/05/2023)
2023-06-067Memorandum in opposition to re 6 Motion for Extension of Time to filed by JUDICIAL WATCH, INC.. (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order)(Di Liberto, Meredith) (Entered: 06/06/2023)
2023-06-06MINUTE ORDER granting 6 Defendants' Motion for Extension of Time to Respond: upon consideration of the motion and 7 Plaintiffs' Opposition, it is hereby ORDERED that Defendants shall respond to the Complaint on or before July 7, 2023. The Government is cautioned that it should not assume extensions of time will be automatically granted. SO ORDERED. Signed by Judge Rudolph Contreras on 6-6-2023. (lcrc3) (Entered: 06/06/2023)
2023-07-078ANSWER to Complaint by FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATIONS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A, # 2 Exhibit B, # 3 Exhibit C)(Berhane, Fithawi) (Entered: 07/07/2023)
2023-07-10MINUTE ORDER: It is hereby ORDERED that the parties shall meet, confer, and submit a proposed briefing schedule by July 24, 2023. SO ORDERED. Signed by Judge Rudolph Contreras on 7/10/23. (lcrc3) (Entered: 07/10/2023)
2023-07-11Set/Reset Deadlines: Proposed Briefing Schedule due by 7/24/2023 (tj) (Entered: 07/11/2023)
2023-07-249STATUS REPORT (Plaintiffs' Status Report) by JUDICIAL WATCH, INC.. (Di Liberto, Meredith) (Entered: 07/24/2023)
2023-07-2410STATUS REPORT by FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATIONS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order)(Berhane, Fithawi) (Entered: 07/24/2023)
2023-07-25MINUTE ORDER: upon consideration of the competing status reports, it is hereby ORDERED that the parties shall submit a joint status report by August 24, 2023. SO ORDERED. Signed by Judge Rudolph Contreras on 7/25/2023. (lcrc3) (Entered: 07/25/2023)
2023-08-2411Joint STATUS REPORT by JUDICIAL WATCH, INC.. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit (Exhibit 1))(Di Liberto, Meredith) (Entered: 08/24/2023)
2023-08-25MINUTE ORDER: upon consideration of the parties' 11 joint status report, it is hereby ORDERED that the parties shall submit another joint status report by September 25, 2023. SO ORDERED. Signed by Judge Rudolph Contreras on 8/25/2023. (lcrc3) (Entered: 08/25/2023)
2023-09-2512Joint STATUS REPORT by FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATIONS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. (Berhane, Fithawi) (Entered: 09/25/2023)
2023-09-25MINUTE ORDER: upon consideration of the parties' 12 joint status report, it is hereby ORDERED that the parties shall submit another joint status report by November 3, 2023. SO ORDERED. Signed by Judge Rudolph Contreras on 9/25/2023. (lcrc3) (Entered: 09/25/2023)
2023-11-0313Joint STATUS REPORT by JUDICIAL WATCH, INC.. (Di Liberto, Meredith) (Entered: 11/03/2023)
2023-11-06MINUTE ORDER: upon consideration of the parties' 13 joint status report, it is hereby ORDERED that the parties shall submit another joint status report by December 4, 2023. SO ORDERED. Signed by Judge Rudolph Contreras on 11/6/2023. (lcrc3) (Entered: 11/06/2023)
2023-12-0414Joint STATUS REPORT by FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATIONS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. (Berhane, Fithawi) (Entered: 12/04/2023)
2023-12-04MINUTE ORDER: upon consideration of the parties' 14 joint status report, it is hereby ORDERED that the parties shall submit another joint status report by January 22, 2024. SO ORDERED. Signed by Judge Rudolph Contreras on 12/4/2023. (lcrc3) (Entered: 12/04/2023)
2024-01-2215Joint STATUS REPORT by FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATIONS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. (Berhane, Fithawi) (Entered: 01/22/2024)
2024-01-22MINUTE ORDER: upon consideration of the parties' 15 joint status report, it is hereby ORDERED that the parties shall submit another joint status report by February 29, 2024. SO ORDERED. Signed by Judge Rudolph Contreras on 1-22-2024. (lcrc3) (Entered: 01/22/2024)
2024-02-2916Joint STATUS REPORT by FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATIONS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. (Berhane, Fithawi) (Entered: 02/29/2024)
2024-03-01MINUTE ORDER: Upon consideration of 16 the parties' Joint Status Report, it is hereby ORDERED that the parties shall file another joint status report on or before April 1, 2024. SO ORDERED. Signed by Judge Rudolph Contreras on 3-1-2024. (lcrc3) (Entered: 03/01/2024)
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