CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS IN WASHINGTON v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, plus case descriptions

We have added 77 documents from 12 FOIA cases filed between November 24, 2019 and November 30, 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. CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS IN WASHINGTON v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY (filed Nov 25, 2019)
   Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Homeland Security for records concerning Katherine Gorka and her role as an advisor to the DHS Office of Policy. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. Nearly two years later, the agency told CREW that it had located 693 responsive pages but disclosed only eight pages in their entirety, citing Exemption 5 (privileges), Exemption 6 (invasion of privacy), Exemption 7(C) (invasion of privacy concerning law enforcement records), and Exemption 7(E) (investigative methods or techniques). CREW filed an administrative appeal of the agency’s decision. The agency acknowledged receipt of the appeal, but after hearing nothing further from the agency, CREW filed suit.
   Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Litigation – Vaughn index
2. IMPACT JOURNALS, LLC v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (filed Nov 27, 2019)
   Impact Journals, publisher of a journal on biomedical research on oncology, submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Health and Human Services for records concerning a recommendation by the Literature Selection Technical Review Committee to the National Library of Medicine to no longer include Impact Journal’s oncology journal on MEDLINE. NLM provided records to Impact Journals which Impact Journals believed were incomplete. Impact Journals filed an administrative appeal but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Impact Journals filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
3. Bunecke v. United States Air Force Academy et al (filed Nov 25, 2019)
   Joseph Buneke, a retired Air Force veteran who had taught at the U.S. Air Force Academy, submitted two FOIA requests to the Air Force Academy for records concerning sexual assault guidelines and policies. The agency acknowledged receipt of his requests. The agency disclosed 1,307 pages but withheld records under Exemption 5 (privileges) and Exemption 6 (invasion of privacy). Buneke filed an administrative appeal of the decision. The agency acknowledged receipt of his appeal but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Buneke filed suit.
   Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Public Interest Fee Waiver
4. AMERICAN OVERSIGHT v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (filed Nov 25, 2019)
   American Oversight submitted four FOIA requests to the Department of Justice for records concerning communications pertaining to Rudy Giuliani, Joseph diGenova, Victoria Toensing, and other named individuals, with a variety of key words. American Oversight also requested expedited processing. The agency acknowledged receipt of the requests and granted American Oversight’s request for expedited processing as to several requests but denied expedited processing as to the others. After hearing nothing further from the agency, American Oversight filed suit.
   Issues: Adequacy – Search, Expedited processing, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
5. CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS IN WASHINGTON v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY (filed Nov 25, 2019)
   Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington submitted a FOIA request to the IRS for records concerning instances in which the agency disclosed or refused to disclose tax return information to the Ways and Means Committee, the Committee on Finance, or the Joint Committee on Taxation. CREW also requested a fee waiver. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request and granted CREW’s request for a fee waiver. The agency also requested an extension to process the request. After hearing nothing further from the agency CREW filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
6. NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY et al v. OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET (filed Nov 26, 2019)
   The New York Times submitted a FOIA request to OMB for records concerning email correspondence between Michael Duffey and Robert Blair from May 2019 to the present. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but after the New York Times heard nothing further, it filed an administrative appeal of the delay in responding. After hearing nothing further from the agency, the New York Times filed suit.
   Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
7. JUDICIAL WATCH, INC. v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE (filed Nov 26, 2019)
   Judicial Watch submitted a FOIA request to the Department of State for records concerning any actual or proposed investigation by the Ukrainian government of the Anti-Corruption Action Centre, the International Renaissance Foundation, or Transparency International. Judicial Watch also requested any records concerning meetings or communications between former U.S. Ambassador Marie Yonavitch and former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Judicial Watch filed suit.
   Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Litigation – Vaughn index
8. JUDICIAL WATCH, INC. v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE (filed Nov 26, 2019)
   Judicial Watch submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Defense for records concerning calendar entries for James Baker, director of the Office of Net Assessment and communications between Baker and reporter David Ignatius from May 2015 to the present. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request and took a 10-day extension. After hearing nothing further from the agency, Judicial Watch filed suit.
   Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Litigation – Vaughn index
9. JUDICIAL WATCH, INC. v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (filed Nov 26, 2019)
   Judicial Watch submitted a multi-part FOIA request to the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys for records concerning the attendance of two Assistant U.S. Attorneys at a Hillary Clinton fundraiser in La Jolla in August 2015. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request and invoked unusual circumstances. Judicial Watch agreed to modify some parts of its request but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Judicial Watch filed suit.
   Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Litigation – Vaughn index
10. JUDICIAL WATCH, INC. v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (filed Nov 27, 2019)
    Judicial Watch submitted a FOIA request to the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys for records concerning the attendance of two Assistant U.S. Attorneys at a Hillary Clinton fundraiser in La Jolla in August 2015. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request and invoked unusual circumstances. Judicial Watch agreed to modify its request but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Judicial Watch filed suit.
    Issues: Adequacy – Search, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Litigation – Vaughn index
11. MEINDERTSMA v. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE (filed Nov 27, 2019)
    Ben Meindertsma, a journalist for the Dutch Broadcast Foundation, submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Defense for records concerning the investigation of a 2015 air strike in Hawijah, Iraq. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. Meindertsma then sent a letter to DOD asking for expedited processing. The agency denied his request for expedited processing. Meindertsma renewed his request for expedited processing, providing new evidence. The agency denied his renewed request for expedited processing. After hearing nothing further from the agency, Meindertsma filed suit.
    Issues: Adequacy – Search, Expedited processing, Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
12. Xanthopoulos et al v. Internal Revenue Service (filed Nov 29, 2019)
    Attorney Nicholas Xanthopoulos and Harvard Law Professor T. Keith Fogg submitted a FOIA request to the IRS for records concerning redacted portions of Section 21.1.3.3 of IRS Internal Revenue Manual which explains the policies, procedures, and guidelines for authenticating the identity of third-party representatives. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request and told Xanthopoulos and Fogg that a redacted version of the section was on the agency’s website and that the redactions had been made under Exemption 7(E) (investigative methods and techniques). Xanthopoulos and Fogg filed an administrative of the denial. The agency upheld its original decision. Xanthopoulos and Fogg then filed suit.
    Issues: Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Public Interest Fee Waiver

In addition, we have added 5 documents from 5 cases, with earlier filing dates, that have recently appeared on PACER.

1. FLIPPIN v. US CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION et al (filed Nov 22, 2019)
2. EMERY v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE et al (filed Nov 21, 2019)
3. EMERY v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE et al (filed Nov 21, 2019)
4. FLIPPIN v. FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION et al (filed Nov 19, 2019)
5. BEGAY v. FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION (filed Nov 18, 2019)