BRYANT v. DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY and 15 other new FOIA lawsuits, plus case descriptions

We have added 81 documents from 15 FOIA cases filed between June 30, 2019 and July 6, 2019. Note that there can be delays between the date a case is filed and when it shows up on PACER. If there are filings from this period that have yet to be posted on PACER, this FOIA Project list may not be complete.

Click on a case title below to view details for that case, including links to the associated docket and complaint documents.

1. BRYANT v. DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY (filed Jul 5, 2019)
   James Bryant submitted a FOIA request to the Department of the Navy for records regarding the investigation of the sinking of the submarine Thresher. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. After the agency failed to respond, Bryant filed an administrative appeal. After hearing nothing further from the agency, Bryant filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
2. PHILLIPS v. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY (filed Jul 1, 2019)
   Joshua Phillips, an investigative reporter, submitted three FOIA requests to the Department of Homeland Security for records concerning domestic terrorism in the United States. Phillips also requested a fee waiver. The agency acknowledged receipt of the requests. Several components asked Phillips to narrow the scope of his request, which he did. However, after hearing nothing further from the agency, Phillips filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Public Interest Fee Waiver
3. BUZZFEED INC. v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE et al (filed Jul 2, 2019)
   Buzzfeed submitted a FOIA request to the FBI for records concerning communications between the FBI field staff in Los Angeles and FamilyTreeDNA, Gene By Gene, MyHeritage or Parabon Nanolabs. Buzzfeed asked for both investigative and non-investigative files. The FBI acknowledged receipt of the request and told Buzzfeed that the estimated search time would be 1,289 days. Buzzfeed then filed suit.
   Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
4. LAWYERS' COMMITTEE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS UNDER LAW v. CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU (filed Jul 2, 2019)
   The Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law submitted four FOIA requests to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau pertaining to changes in fair lending policies. The Lawyers Committee also requested fee waivers. The agency provided thousands of pages in response to several of the requests, but the Lawyers Committee was ultimately unsatisfied with the agency’s responses and filed suit.
   Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Public Interest Fee Waiver
5. Southeastern Legal Foundation, Inc. v. United States Department of Justice (filed Jul 2, 2019)
   The Southeastern Legal Foundation submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Justice for records concerning communications between the intelligence community and the FBI pertaining to the Steele dossier. SLF also requested a fee waiver. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. The FBI split SLF’s request into two requests. After hearing nothing further from the agency, SLF filed suit.
   Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Litigation – Vaughn index
6. McKenzie-El v. Internal Revenue Service et al (filed Jul 2, 2019)
   Riker McKenzie-El filed suit against the IRS challenging its attempt to collect $95,729 in back taxes. This is not a FOIA case.
   Issues: FOIA not mentioned
7. SCOVILLE v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE (filed Jul 3, 2019)
   Ryan Scoville, an academic researcher, submitted three FOIA requests to the Department of State. His first request asked for records concerning presidential reports submitted to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee pursuant to statute since 1980. His second FOIA request asked for Chief of Mission Leadership Surveys since 2012. His third FOIA request was for the number of agreements withheld from publication since 1994. The agency acknowledged receipt of Scoville’s requests, but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Scoville filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
8. EDDINGTON v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (filed Jul 3, 2019)
   Patrick Eddington, a researcher at the Cato Institute, submitted a FOIA request to the National Security Division of the Department of Justice for records concerning Amir Mohamed Meshal, a U.S. citizen who was held captive by both Kenya and Ethiopia. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request and told Eddington that it would not process his request without an authorization from Meshal and if Eddington did not provide such a waiver it would close his request. Eddington then filed suit.
   Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
9. WILD HORSE FREEDOM FEDERATION v. BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT (filed Jul 3, 2019)
   The Wild Horse Freedom Foundation submitted a FOIA request to the Bureau of Land Management for records concerning emails sent to or from Brian Steed for the first week of August 2018. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. WHFF contacted the agency several times for status checks, but after hearing nothing further from the agency, WHFF filed suit.
   Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
10. EDDINGTON v. U.S. NORTHERN COMMAND (filed Jul 3, 2019)
    Patrick Eddington, a researcher at the Cato Institute, submitted a FOIA request to U.S. Northern Command for records concerning policies to surveil or detain Muslims under a national emergency or use of military force. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request, but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Eddington filed suit.
    Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
11. EDDINGTON v. UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE (filed Jul 3, 2019)
    Patrick Eddington, a researcher at the Cato Institute, submitted a FOIA request to U.S. Postal Service for records concerning possible implementation of registration or detention of citizens of Arab/Persian descent in case of a national emergency or use of military force. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request and asked Eddington to narrow the scope of the request. Eddington filed an administrative appeal and the agency ultimately told him it would administratively close his request as too broad to allow for a search. Eddington then filed suit.
    Issues: Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
12. CENTER FOR FOOD SAFETY v. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (filed Jul 3, 2019)
    The Center for Food Safety submitted a FOIA request to the EPA for records concerning communications between acting administrator Andrew Wheeler or other officials and Monsanto regarding XtendiMax. CFS also requested a fee waiver. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request and granted CFS’s request for a fee waiver and asked CFS to clarify its request. CFS did so. The agency indicated that its search had yielded 2,849 pages of potentially responsive records. After hearing nothing further from the agency, CFS filed suit.
    Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
13. Southeastern Legal Foundation, Inc. v. Central Intelligence Agency (filed Jul 3, 2019)
    The Southeastern Legal Foundation submitted a FOIA request to the CIA for records concerning communications between the agency and the FBI pertaining to the Steele dossier. SLF also requested a fee waiver. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. However, after hearing nothing further from the agency, SLF filed suit.
    Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Litigation – Vaughn index
14. TROTTER v. CENTERS FOR MEDICARE AND MEDICAID SERVICES (filed Jul 5, 2019)
    Frederick Trotter submitted a FOIA request to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for records concerning email addresses for the contact person for an individual or organization of eligible providers. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. The agency told Trotter that it had identified responsive records but would not disclose them. Trotter then filed an administrative appeal. After hearing nothing further from the agency, Trotter filed suit.
    Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
15. Citizens of the Ebey's Reserve for a Healthy, Safe and Peaceful Environment et al v. United States Department of the Navy (filed Jul 5, 2019)
    Citizens of the Ebey Reserve submitted two FOIA requests to the Department of the Navy for records concerning sampling for chemical components of aqueous film-forming foam adjacent to Naval Air Station Whidbey Island. The agency acknowledged receipt of the requests, but after the agency failed to respond, Citizens of the Ebey Reserve filed administrative appeals. The agency told Citizens of the Ebey that it was closing their appeals so that the agency could process and respond to their original requests. After hearing nothing further from the agency, Citizens of the Ebey filed suit.
    Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees

In addition, we have added 1 document from 1 case, with an earlier filing date, that has recently appeared on PACER.

• LAVICTOR v. TRUMP et al (filed Jun 24, 2019)