FOIA Advisor

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Court opinions issued Aug. 20, 2024

Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics In Wash. v. DOJ (D.D.C.) -- in case seeking records about unprosecuted individuals who might have been involved in campaign finance violations committed by Michael Cohen on behalf of Donald Trump, ruling that: (1) portions of portions of DOJ’s declarations related to correspondence between the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and DOJ headquarters were “too conclusory and vague” to justify withholdings under Exemptions 5, 6, or 7(C); (2) DOJ properly relied on Exemptions 6 and 7(C) to withhold search warrant records; and (3) DOJ properly relied on Exemption 5’s attorney-work product privilege to withhold reports and notes of interviews conducted during the SDNY’s investigations into potential campaign finance violations and obstruction of justice.

Pretzman v. Mayorkas (D.D.C.) -- dismissing plaintiff’s FOIA claim concerning the Secret Service’s disclosure of plaintiff’s cellular number to entities investigating the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, because plaintiff’s request—which the agency processed as a request for an accounting of disclosures under the Privacy Act -- sought answers to questions rather than documents and, alternatively, was not reasonably described.

Summaries of all published opinions issued in 2024 are available here. Earlier opinions are available here.