The Crow Creek Sioux Tribe v. The Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services and 16 other new FOIA lawsuits
We have added 119 documents from 17 FOIA cases filed between May 19, 2024 and May 25, 2024. 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.
- The Crow Creek Sioux Tribe v. The Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services (filed May 23, 2024)
Crow Creek Sioux Tribe submitted a FOIA request to the Bureau of Indian Affairs for records concerning the budget for the Crow Creek Agency BIA-OJS Law Enforcement Service for fiscal years 2018-2023. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. After hearing nothing further from the agency, Crow Creek Sioux Tribe filed suit.
Issues: Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Failure to respond within statutory time limit - Rhodes v. U.S. Internal Revenue Service (filed May 24, 2024)
Gregory Rhodes, an attorney who represented Capital Ship in tax matters, submitted a FOIA request to the IRS for records concerning Capital Ship’s administrative file. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. The agency located 10,000 pages. The agency disclosed 8.100 pages but withheld more than 1,500 pages under Exemption 5 (privileges). Rhodes filed an administrative appeal but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Rhodes filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - Jackson v. U.S. Internal Revenue Service (filed May 24, 2024)
Sidney Jackson, a tax attorney representing Alligator Holdings, submitted a FOIA request to the IRS for records concerning Alligator Holding’ administrative file. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. The agency located 5,239 pages. It withheld about 1300 pages under Exemption 5 (privileges). Jackson filed an administrative appeal. After hearing nothing further from the agency, Jackson filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Vaughn index, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - Pistorino v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (filed May 22, 2024)
James Pistorino submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Health and Human Services for records concerning contracts awarded to United Health Care. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. After hearing nothing further from the agency, Pistorino filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - PROTECT THE PUBLIC'S TRUST v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (filed May 20, 2024)
Protect the Public’s Trust submitted four FOIA requests to the Department of Energy for records concerning communications between Jigar Shah and the Cleantech Leaders. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but after hearing nothing further from the agency, PPT filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - BLOOMBERG L.P. v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY (filed May 20, 2024)
Bloomberg submitted five FOIA requests to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for a variety of data-related records. The agency acknowledged receipt of the requests but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Bloomberg filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS IN WASHINGTON v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (filed May 21, 2024)
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Justice for records concerning the investigation of Rep. Matt Gaetz. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. The agency categorially denied the request under Exempt 6 (invasion of privacy) and Exemption 7(C) (invasion of privacy concerning law enforcement records). CREW filed an administrative appeal of the denial. After hearing nothing further from the agency, CREW filed suit, alleging that DOJ had a pattern and practice of denying records in publicly-disclosed investigations.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - JUDICIAL WATCH, INC. v. CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (filed May 24, 2024)
Judicial Watch submitted a FOIA request to the CIA for records concerning the investigation of Huner Biden. After hearing nothing further from the agency, Judicial Watch filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Vaughn index, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - KELLY v. FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION et al (filed May 24, 2024)
John Kelly, an attorney for Beth Holloway, submitted a FOIA request to the FBI for records of a video the FBI made of an interview between Kelly and Joran Vander Sloot, who admitted killing Natlee Holloway in Aruba in 2005. The FBI acknowledged receipt of the request and asked for authentication that Beth Holloway had requested the records. Kelly provided that verification but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Kelly filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit - WELTY v. U.S. INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE (filed May 24, 2024)
Michael Welty submitted a FOIA request to the IRS for records concerning communications with JLL. RER, and SRK, companies with Welty had a substantial relationship. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. After hearing nothing further from the IRS, Welty filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Vaughn index, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - WELTY v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY (filed May 24, 2024)
Michael Welty submitted a FOIA request to the IRS for records concerning communications with JLL. RER, and SRK, companies with Welty had a substantial relationship. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. After hearing nothing further from the IRS, Welty filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Vaughn index, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - INFORMED CONSENT ACTION NETWORK v. FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION et al (filed May 25, 2024)
Informed Consent Action Network submitted a FOIA request to the FDA for records concerning clinical trial documents relied upon to approve GlaxoSmithKline’s BOOSTRIX. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. 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 - TERMINAL CONSTRUCTION CORPORATION v. OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION et al (filed May 24, 2024)
Terminal Construction Corporation submitted a FOIA request to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for records concerning its investigation of a workplace accident for which Terminal Construction was potentially liable. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request but after hearing nothing further from OSHA, Terminal Construction filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - Access Now v. United States Customs and Border Protection (filed May 23, 2024)
Access Now submitted a FOIA request to U.S. Customs and Border Protection for records concerning automated decisionmaking using CBP One. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. The agency marked the request as closed. After hearing nothing more from the agency, Access Now filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - Access Now v. United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (filed May 23, 2024)
Access Now submitted a FOIA request to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for records concerning the text of any data-sharing agreements between the United States and foreign countries. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. The agency told Access Now that it found no responsive records. Access Now filed an administrative suit. ICE upheld its denial. Access Now then filed suit.
Issues: Adequacy – Search, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - Cowlitz County Fire Protection District No. 5 v. United States Department of Justice (filed May 20, 2024)
Cowlitz County Fire Protection District No. 5 submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Justice for records concerning the benefits award for Vicki Lynn Baso, whose husband had died in a firefighting incident. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request. The agency denied the request. Cowlitz County Fire Protection District filed an administrative appeal. After hearing nothing further from the agency, Cowlitz County Fire Protection District filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees - Animal Legal Defense Fund et al v. US Department of Agriculture et al (filed May 22, 2024)
Animal Legal Defense Fund and Food Watch submitted two FOIA requests to the Farm Service Agency to post online records concerning NEPA reviews. The agency acknowledged receipt of the requests and granted ALDF and Food Watch a fee waiver. After hearing nothing further from the agency, ALDF and Food Watch filed suit.
Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
No comments yet
Recent Tweets
7 days 
30 days 
over 30 days
