FOIA News: D.C. Circuit Opinion on Non-Responsive Records Case

D.C. Circuit rules DOJ violated #FOIA when it segmented records to avoid disclosure, but declines to invalidate DOJ guidance advising agencies to do just that. A partial solid win in an ongoing battle. @CauseofActionDC @RPMulvey #appellatetwitter https://t.co/TLhDyPalfu

— James Valvo (@JamesValvo) June 1, 2021

FOIA News: Advanced FOIA Litigation for gov't employees

DOJ’s Office of Information Policy has updated its handouts for its Advanced FOIA Litigation course. Query whether Handout D pertaining to non-responsive records will survive Cause of Action v. DOJ, 20-5182 (D.C. Cir.) unscathed.

FOIA News: Gov't FOIA jobs available in DC/MD/VA

Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of Agriculture/FSIS, GS 12-13, Washington DC, closes June 1, 2021

Gov’t Info. Specialist (FOIA appeals), Dep’t of Def./Sec’y, GS 11-12, Alexandria, VA, closes June 1, 2021

Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of the Treasury/HQ, GS 12-13, Washington DC, closes June 2, 2021

Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of Defense/Sec’y, GS 13, Alexandria, VA, closes June 3, 2021

Gov’t Info. Specialist, Dep’t of Health & Human Serv./IHS, GS 14, Rockville, MD, closes June 7, 2021

Attorney-Advisor, Dep’t of Justice/OIP, GS 12, Washington DC, closes June 17, 2021

FOIA News: Get your OIP FOIA training

A reminder that federal employees and contractors can remotely attend FOIA training provided by DOJ’s Office of Information Policy on June 3, 2021 (Exemption 4 and Exemption 5) and one June 10, 2021 (Exemption 1 and Exemption 7).

FOIA News: Three, two, one . . . CREW criticizes DOJ for seeking appeal

Watchdog group suing for Trump obstruction memo blasts DOJ for trying to block release

By Harper Neidig, The Hill, May 25, 2021

The liberal watchdog group that has been fighting in court to obtain internal Department of Justice (DOJ) documents from the Trump era criticized the Biden administration on Tuesday for trying to block the release of a legal memo that was used to clear the former president of wrongdoing after the Mueller investigation.

Read more here.

FOIA News: DOJ seeks partial stay of court’s order to release memo about Mueller investigation

Biden DOJ to appeal court order to release Trump obstruction memo

By Harper Niedig, The Hill, May 24, 2021

The Department of Justice is appealing a judge's decision ordering the release of a 2019 legal memo prepared for then-Attorney General William Barr in the wake of the Mueller investigation.

In a pair of court filings submitted late Monday, the DOJ under Attorney General Merrick Garland said it would fight against the full release of the memo, but would agree to make parts of it public.

The internal legal memo prepared by the DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel is said to provide justifications for Barr's stance that former special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation did not support obstruction of justice charges against former President Trump.

Read full article here.

See DOJ’s motion here.

FOIA News: Message to our email subscribers

Beginning this week, we will be switching our email subscription service from Google—which is retiring its service in July 2021—to Mailchimp. Email will continue be delivered every day after the blog is updated, but at a later time: 10:00 AM instead of 6:00 AM.

FOIA News: EPA Administrator Michael Regan Sends All Staff E-mail on FOIA Operations

.@EPAMichaelRegan in a memo to @EPA staff pushes #FOIA to build public trust, vows to reduce the backlog of requests

The agency reported 1,783 backlogged requests in fiscal 2020

Here's the email

More here 🔒https://t.co/SSibopSXuB pic.twitter.com/LvBFQY5D5D

— Kevin Bogardus (@KevinBogardus) May 20, 2021

FOIA News: Top Interior lawyer nominee quizzed over public records law

Top Interior lawyer nominee quizzed over public records law

By Zack Budryk, The Hill, May 18, 2021

Acting Solicitor of the Department of the Interior Robert Anderson was pressed by members of both parties Tuesday over how he would handle public records requests if confirmed to the position on a permanent basis.

Anderson faced questions from multiple members of the Senate Energy Committee over Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, with lawmakers repeatedly calling for transparency from the administration.

Read more here.

FOIA News: Lawmakers ask DOJ not to appeal court's decision on OLC memo

Senate Democrats urge Garland not to fight court order to release Trump obstruction memo

By Harper Neidig, The Hill, May 14, 2021

A group of Senate Democrats are urging Attorney General Merrick Garland not to fight a court order demanding the release of a 2019 Justice Department (DOJ) memo that essentially cleared former President Trump of criminal wrongdoing following the special counsel's investigation. 

Nine Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter to Garland on Friday, asking the DOJ not to appeal the order from earlier this month, in which District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson ordered the department to release the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) memo and accused former Attorney General William Barr and DOJ lawyers of deception. 

Read more here.