FOIA News: Trump tweet may lead to more Mueller Report disclosures

Judge orders DOJ to say whether Trump declassification tweets mean full Mueller report should be disclosed

By Jerry Dunleavy, Wash. Exam’r, Oct. 9, 2020

The federal judge handling a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit seeking access to an unredacted version of former special counsel Robert Mueller’s report ordered the Justice Department to speak with the White House about whether President Trump’s recent tweets about Russia-related declassifications mean the 448-page report should be released in full.

Read more here.

FOIA News: OIP is hiring FOIA attorneys

The Department of Justice’s Office of Information Policy (OIP) is looking to hire “multiple FOIA Attorneys to work on OIP’s Administrative Appeals Staff,” according to a vacancy announcement issued on October 8, 2020. The application deadline is October 29, 2020.

FOIA News: OIP announces agency reporting deadlines

ANNOUNCING UPCOMING FOIA REPORTING DEADLINES

DOJ/OIP, FOIA Post, Oct. 7, 2020

October marks the end of Fiscal Year 2020 and the beginning of the FOIA reporting season.  Today, the Office for Information Policy (OIP) is announcing the deadlines for the submission of agencies' Fiscal Year 2020 Annual FOIA Reports, Fiscal Year 2021 Quarterly FOIA Reports, and 2021 Chief FOIA Officer Reports, along with updated resources. 

These three reports serve a vital role in illustrating the steps taken and the progress made by agencies in administering the FOIA, and provide valuable information about how agencies promote efficiency, make more information available proactively, and use technology to improve FOIA administration.

Read more here.

FOIA News: DOJ-OIP Releases Updated List of Exemption 3 Statutes

The Department of Justice Office of Information Policy has published an updated list of statutes found to qualify under FOIA Exemption 3 as grounds for withholding.

FOIA News: FDA wins Exemption 4 case

FDA Redactions Upheld in FOIA Suit for Drug Approval Documents

Maeve Allsup, Bloomberg Law, Oct. 6, 2020

• Journalist sued for information on accelerated drug approval

• High court ruling outlined requirements for confidential documents

The Food and Drug Administration correctly redacted documents regarding the approval of a drug based on a Supreme Court ruling regarding the application of the Freedom of Information Act, a federal judge in New York said Tuesday.

Charles Seife, a science writer and journalism professor sued the agency under FOIA in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, seeking records related to the accelerated approval of eteplirsen, a drug created by Sarepta Therapeutics Inc. for the treatment of a rare neuromuscular disease.

Read more here (accessible with subscription).

FOIA News: OSHA to pay $120k to settle cases involving injury & illness reports

OSHA Agrees to Pay $120,000 to Settle Employer Data FOIA Cases

By Bruce Rolfsen, Bloomberg Law, Oct. 2, 2020

• Agency forced to release records in two cases

• Agreement with plaintiff still needs court approval

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s failed court battle to prevent the public release of employers’ annual injury and illness reports could cost taxpayers $120,000, with another litigation bill expected in a similar case.

An Oct. 1 stipulation filed at an Oakland, California, U.S. court by Department of Labor and the Center for Investigative Reporting says the government has agreed to pay the nonprofit news organization $120,000 to cover litigation costs for two lawsuits against OSHA. Neither settlement has received court approval.

Read more here (accessible with subscription).

FOIA News: WaPo looks at COVID-related FOIA delays

Public records requests fall victim to the coronavirus pandemic

By Nate Jones, Wash. Post, Oct. 1, 2020

With most government employees still working from home because of the coronavirus pandemic, the disclosure of public records by many federal agencies and local government offices nationwide has worsened or even ground to a halt.

When the pandemic was declared in early March, many employees at local, state and federal agencies abandoned their offices and began working remotely. Employees tasked with answering open-records requests have been forced to rely on telework computer systems that are often incompatible with the software used to process records requests.

Read more here.

FOIA News: OGIS examines performance measures for non-FOIA professionals

The Office of Government Information Services has issued an assessment of FOIA performance measures for non-FOIA professionals. The assessment was undertaken in response to a recommendation from the 2016-2018 term of the FOIA Advisory Committee.

FOIA News: DOJ must release more Mueller report info, court rules

Judge orders DOJ to publish info redacted as privileged from Mueller report

By Harper Neidig, The Hill, Sept. 30, 2020

A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the Department of Justice (DOJ) to publish information redacted from the Mueller report that had been designated as privileged.

District Judge Reggie Walton said the Trump administration had failed to justify certain redactions from the report on the special counsel's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

The specific redactions he took issue with cover the decisionmaking process within former special counsel Robert Mueller's team over whether to charge certain people with crimes during the probe.

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FOIA News: FCC withdraws 2nd Circuit appeal about net neutrality commentators

FCC Drops Appeal, Will Provide Data About Net Neutrality Commenters To New York Times

By Wendy Davis, Media Post, Sept. 29, 2020 

The Federal Communications Commission has withdrawn its appeal of an order requiring it to provide The New York Times with metadata about web users who who submitted comments to the agency during its 2017 net neutrality proceeding, which resulted in a rollback of the Obama-era rules.

The move brings an end to a lawsuit brought by the New York Times in 2018, when the newspaper sued the FCC for more information about users who weighed in on the proposed revocation of the agency's prior net neutrality rules. Those rules prohibited broadband providers from blocking or throttling traffic and from charging higher fees for fast-lane service.

Read more here.