FOIA News: FBI publishes records about Whitey Bulger and Henry Aaron

FBI’s ‘Vault’ a repository of records on Capone to Einstein

By Joe Dwinnell, Boston Herald, July 19, 2021

“The Vault,” the FBI’s public records repository, is a who’s who of the famous to the infamous the agency has kept records on.

Once a person dies, their FBI files are accessible under the federal Freedom of Information Act — minus any agency redactions. The Herald did just that after Southie mobster James “Whitey” Bulger was killed in October 2018 inside a West Virginia prison.

The first batch of records was just posted to The Vault with the next installments expected soon. The FBI, however, keeps populating the page with new entries weekly from other FOIA requests.

Read more here.

FOIA News: TIGTA audits finds 16% error rate in IRS law enforcement redactions

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration released an audit report on July 8, 2021, that reviewed the IRS’s compliance with FOIA in fiscal year 2020. A statistical sample of 73 cases involving Exemption 7 withholdings revealed a 16 percent error rate. Read the full audit report here.

FOIA News: Judge 'Struggling' With Fight Over Gina Haspel's CIA Docs

Judge 'Struggling' With Fight Over Gina Haspel's CIA Docs

Law360, July 9, 2021

A D. C. federal judge said Thursday he's "struggling" to decide whether the CIA must cough up more documents in a lawsuit accusing the agency of conducting a propaganda campaign in 2018 to promote Gina Haspel, former President Donald Trump's pick to lead the agency, and whitewashing her alleged involvement in torture and abuse during the Bush administration. At the end of an hourlong hearing in the CIA's summary judgment motion to end the American Civil Liberties Union's Freedom of Information Act complaint, U. S. Judge Carl J. Nichols said he'll decide soon whether to order the agency to hand over undisclosed records. . .

Read more here (accessible with free trial subscription)

See case filings here.

FOIA News: Happy Birthday, FOIA

Saluting FOIA on its birthday

By Michael R. Lemov, The Hill, July 4, 2021

For 12 years, Rep. John Moss of California fought for passage of an astonishing new concept: a law that would make all government records available to any “person.”

In this year of government and public division, history shows that this great legislative achievement was accomplished by Democrats and Republicans working together. Moss was a Democrat. President Lyndon Johnson was a Democrat. But, FOIA was enacted only with last minute Republican help.

Read more here.

DOJ, ACLU Spar Over Redacted Documents In Social Media FOIA Case

DOJ, ACLU Spar Over Redacted Documents In Social Media FOIA Case

• Dispute over FOIA Exemptions 7(E) and (b)(5)

• Judge ordered in camera document review

By David McAfee, Bloomberg Law, July 2, 2021, 5:01 PM

The Department of Justice and the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation sparred in federal court Friday over how much disclosure is warranted in a Freedom of Information Act case brought in California over social media monitoring programs.

The ACLU filed the suit in January of 2019, and is seeking records that relate to the U.S. government’s collection and monitoring of social media information for various purposes. In November 2019, Judge Edward M. Chen of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that the FBI couldn’t refuse to confirm or deny the existence of records pertaining to ...

See full article here (subscription required).

See district court’s 2019 decision here.

FOIA News: Ninth Circuit Affirms Denial of Fees re Clinton emails

Ninth Circuit Denies Fees in Hillary Clinton Emails Case

Los Angeles Lawyer Who Was Plaintiff in Seeking Unredacted Documents Is Denied Recompense for Moneys Spent on Legal Representation; Opinion Cites Reasonableness of FBI’s Initial Partial Denial of FOIA Request

MetNews, July 1, 2021

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday affirmed an order denying attorney fees to a Los Angeles lawyer who successfully challenged the FBI’s refusal to provide an Oct. 30, 2016 search warrant and related documents in its investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email practices while secretary of state from 2009-13.

She allegedly discussed classified documents using her personal email account—which emerged as an issue in the 2016 presidential campaign in which she was the Democratic nominee.

Seeking the fees is E. Randol Schoenberg, best known for his litigation efforts to recover artworks looted by the Nazis under Hitler’s regime.

Read more here.

FOIA News: Railroad Retirement Board amending FOIA regulations

The Railroad Retirement Board published an interim final rule with request for comments in this morning’s edition of the Federal Register. Among other things, the proposed amendments are being introduced to comply with the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016, as well as to reflect developments in fee caselaw. The interim rule is effective immediately; public comments are due by August 2, 2021.

FOIA News: ATF's FOIA program assailed by media requesters

The ATF's failure to produce public records keeps the gun industry in the shadows

By Alain Stephens & Daniel Nass, The Trace, June 25, 2021

One gun store had hundreds of firearms missing from its inventory. Another transferred a weapon to a convicted felon in a parking lot. Many more sold guns to prohibited buyers or without properly conducting background checks. 

The sweeping analysis that uncovered these law-breaking gun dealers was possible only because the gun control organization Brady waged a years-long legal fight to compel the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to produce records that by law should be public.

Read more here.

FOIA News: Senate bill targets VA's FOIA backlog

Senators Hassan, Tillis Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Help Veterans by Addressing VA Backlog

Bipartisan Bill Builds on Senator Hassan’s Efforts to Address Delays in Veterans’ Records & Benefits Information

Press Release, Sen. Maggie Hassan, June 23, 2021

U.S. Senators Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Thom Tillis (R-NC), both members of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, introduced a bipartisan bill to improve oversight of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and reduce the backlog of requests from veterans for medical and other VA military records. A companion bill passed the House of Representatives earlier this month.

 Veterans will often request access to their military and VA records through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in order to gain more information on a claim from the VA or receive necessary medical documents, but right now, many veterans do not receive a response to their request within the 20 days that FOIA outlines. Compliance with FOIA requests also impacts the work our local and national Veterans Service Organizations do to support our veterans.

Read more here.

FOIA News: ICYMI, DOJ updates FOIA Guide

In early June, the Department of Justice’s Office of Information Policy posted updated to two sections of the Guide to the Freedom of Information Act: Exemption 3 and Exemption 7(B).