Rolling Stone, LLC v. Department of Justice and 18 other new FOIA lawsuits, plus case descriptions

We have added 183 documents from 19 FOIA cases filed between December 10, 2023 and December 16, 2023. 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. Rolling Stone, LLC v. Department of Justice (filed Dec 10, 2023)
   Rolling Stone submitted a FOIA request to the FBI for records concerning Henry Kissinger. Rolling Stone also requested expedited processing. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Rolling Stone filed suit.
   Issues: Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Failure to respond within statutory time limit
2. INFORMED CONSENT ACTION NETWORK v. CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION et al (filed Dec 10, 2023)
   Informed Consent Action Network submitted a FOIA request to the Centers for Disease Control for records concerning drug product lot numbers for all Janssen COVID-19 vaccines manufactured. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. The agency identified an Excel spreadsheet responsive to ICAN’s request but withheld it under Exemption 4 (commercial and confidential). ICAN filed an administrative appeal of the denial. The agency acknowledged receipt of the appeal but after hearing nothing further from the agency, ICAN filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Vaughn index, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
3. INFORMED CONSENT ACTION NETWORK v. NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH et al (filed Dec 10, 2023)
   Informed Consent Action Network submitted a FOIA request to the National Institute of Health for records concerning emails exchanged between Keri N. Althoff and David Schlueter between June 15, 2020 and June 15, 2021 pertaining to a named article. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request and referred to the National Genome Research Institute for response. The office provided several estimated completion dates but hearing nothing further from the agency, ICAN filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Vaughn index, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
4. INFORMED CONSENT ACTION NETWORK v. FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION et al (filed Dec 10, 2023)
   Informed Consent Action Network submitted a FOIA request to the FDA for records concerning the subclinical myocarditis study discussed in a document submitted by Pfizer. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but after hearing nothing further from the agency, ICAN files suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Vaughn index, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
5. INFORMED CONSENT ACTION NETWORK v. CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION et al (filed Dec 10, 2023)
   Informed Consent Action Network submitted a FOIA request to the Centers for Disease Control for records concerning emails mentioning “covid” and other words from a list of 15 named staff members. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. The agency asked ICAN to narrow the scope of this request as well as other similar ones. ICAN did narrow the number of individuals slightly but after hearing nothing further from the agency, ICAN filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Vaughn index, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
6. AMERICA FIRST LEGAL FOUNDATION v. UNITED STATES FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION et al (filed Dec 11, 2023)
   America First Legal Foundation submitted three FOIA requests to the FDA for records concerning hydroxychloroquine over a specific period of time. AFL also requested a fee waiver for each request. The agency acknowledged receipt of the requests but after hearing nothing further from the agency, AFL filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Vaughn index, Public Interest Fee Waiver, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
7. PUBLIC EMPLOYEES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY v. NATIONAL PARK SERVICE (filed Dec 12, 2023)
   Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility submitted three FOIA requests for records concerning SF-299 applications received by Zion National Park, Glacier National Park, and Bryce Canyon National Park since January 2015. The agency acknowledged receipt of the requests. After hearing nothing further from the agency, PEER filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
8. SERAPHIN MEDIA, LLC v. FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION (filed Dec 12, 2023)
   Seraphin Media submitted a FOIA request to the FBI for records concerning presentation materials and recordings of the presentations that took place during the agency’s All Hands Meeting and Award Ceremony. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. After hearing nothing further from the agency, Seraphin Media filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Vaughn index, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
9. ANGELO v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATE (filed Dec 12, 2023)
   David William Angelo, a comedian, journalist, and television writer, submitted a FOIA request to the Department of State for records concerning the Global Engagement Center. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Angelo filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
10. AMERICAN WILD HORSE CAMPAIGN v. BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT (filed Dec 13, 2023)
    American Wild Horse Campaign submitted two FOIA requests to the Bureau of Land Management for records concerning the Modoc-Washoe Experimental Stewardship Program. The agency acknowledged receipt of the requests but after hearing nothing further from the agency, AWHC filed suit.
    Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
11. CONTE v. FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION (filed Dec 14, 2023)
    Andrea Conte, a journalist, submitted two FOIA requests to the FBI for records concerning Jack Johnson and Warren Hart, both of whom had been members of the Black Panthers in Baltimore in 1970s. The FBI acknowledged receipt of both requests. The FBI told Conte that it found no records about Johnson. Conte filed an administrative appeal and the Office of Information Policy upheld the FBI’s denial. The FBI located records on Hart, who had served as a confidential source to the FBI, disclosed public sources information, but withheld other records under a variety of exemptions. Conte filed an administrative appeal of the denial and OIP upheld the FBI’s denial. Conte then filed suit.
    Issues: Litigation – Vaughn index, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
12. BETANCOURT v. SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION (filed Dec 15, 2023)
    Mark Betancourt, a freelance journalist, submitted two FOIA requests to the Social Security Administration for records. The agency acknowledged receipt of both requests. His first request asked for records concerning the outcome of hearings before administrative law judges. The agency failed to respond further to the first request. His second request asked for focused reviews of ALJs. The agency denied the request in part, citing Exemption 2 (internal practices and procedures) and Exemption 6 (invasion of privacy). Betancourt filed an administrative appeal of the denial. After hearing nothing further from the agency concerning either request, Betancourt filed suit.
    Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
13. Heritage Foundation et al v. Weiss et al (filed Dec 11, 2023)
    The Heritage Foundation submitted a FOIA request to David Weiss, U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware, for records concerning the topics mentioned in a letter from the House Oversight Committee sent to Weiss pertaining to his investigation of Hunter Biden. The request also asked for expedited processing and a fee waiver. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. The agency granted the Heritage Foundation’s request for expedited processing. However, after hearing nothing further from the agency, the Heritage Foundation filed suit.
    Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Expedited processing, Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Vaughn index, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
14. Carranza et al v. Mayorkas et al (filed Dec 15, 2023)
    Yolanda and Manuel Carranza submitted FOIA requests to the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State for records concerning the I-130 petition submitted to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services so that Manuel could become a U.S. citizen based on Yolanda’s U.S. citizenship. The agencies acknowledged receipt of the requests but after hearing nothing further from the agencies, the Carranzas filed suit.
    Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
15. Sherman-Stokes v. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) (filed Dec 13, 2023)
    Sarah Sherman-Stokes, a law professor at Boston University, Laila Hlass, a law professor at Tulane University Law School, and Mary Yanik, a law professor at Tulane University Law School, submitted a FOIA request to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for records concerning Individualized Disaggregated Data regarding each individual detained by ICE/ERO from Fiscal Year 2010 to the present. The requesters asked for the data to be considered as part of an ongoing FOIA request where new responsive records would be disclosed as they became available. The requesters also asked for expedited processing and a fee waiver. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Sherman-Stokes, Hlass, and Yanik filed suit.
    Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Expedited processing
16. Long et al v. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement et al (filed Dec 12, 2023)
    Susan Long, David Burnham and TRAC submitted a FOIA request to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for records concerning field and table information stored in the EID and IIDS databases. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. Long, Burnham and TRAC also submitted a FOIA request to U.S. Customs and Border Protection for records concerning person-to-person data on each individual encountered by CBP. Both requests asked for a fee waiver. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request to CBP. After hearing nothing further from the agency, Long, Burnham, and TRAC filed suit.
    Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
17. Pro Publica, Inc. v. Defense Health Agency (filed Dec 14, 2023)
    ProPublica submitted a FOIA request to Defense Health Agency for records concerning diagnoses given to active and retired military personnel who are beneficiaries of Tricare. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but after hearing nothing further from the agency, ProPublica filed suit.
    Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
18. The Intercept Media, Inc. et al v. National Park Service et al (filed Dec 15, 2023)
    Ryan Devereaux, a reporter for Intercept Media, submitted a FOIA request to the National Park Service for records concerning an investigation of the January 2022 killing of wolves in Yellowstone National Park. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. The agency disclosed a 296-page report with redactions. Intercept Media filed an administrative appeal. The agency upheld the initial response and Intercept Media filed suit.
    Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
19. Chenennou v. Jaddou et al (filed Dec 14, 2023)
    Nouria Chenennou submitted two FOIA requests to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for records concerning her immigration files. The agency acknowledged the requests but told Chenennou that it had no responsive records. Chenennou then filed suit.
    Issues: Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Attorney’s fees