FOIA News: 2022 nominations open for worst open records responses

Have an Open Records Horror Story? Shine a Light by Nominating an Agency for The Foilies 2022

By Dave Maas, Elec. Frontier Found., Dec. 14, 2021

We are now accepting submissions for The Foilies 2022, the annual project to give tongue-in-cheek awards to the officials and institutions that behave badly—or ridiculously—when served with a request for public records.

Compiled by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and MuckRock, The Foilies run as a cover feature in alternative newsweeklies across the U.S. during Sunshine Week (March 13-19, 2022), through a partnership with the Association of Alternative Newsmedia.

Read more here.

This article is crossposted at MuckRock and was co-written by Michael Morisy.

FOIA News: FDA offers to release 12k pages of vaccine data by end of January

We'll all be dead before FDA releases full COVID vaccine record, plaintiffs say

By Jenna Greene, Reuters, Dec. 13, 2021

In advance of a court hearing before a federal judge in Fort Worth, Texas, Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration has offered by the end of January to make public 12,000 pages of data that it relied on to license Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine.

At first glance, that sounds like a lot of material.

Except a group of scientists and doctors who’ve sued the agency under the Freedom of Information Act is seeking an estimated 400,000-plus additional pages of information about the vaccine’s approval. Under the FDA’s proposed schedule – the agency pledges to release “a minimum” of 500 pages a month after the initial dump – the full trove might not be made public until the year 2097.

Read more here.

FOIA News: FOIA Advisory Committee meeting on Dec. 9, 2021

The Freedom of Information Act Advisory Committee will meet remotely on Thursday, December 9, 2021, from approximately 10am to 1pm. The meeting agenda is available here. A livestream link is here.

FOIA News: Trump Agreements With IRS, But Not Tax Returns, Must Be Released

Trump Agreements With IRS, But Not Tax Returns, Must Be Released

Bloomberg Tax, Dec. 6, 2021

Information tied to any compromise agreements that former President Donald Trump made with the IRS over his personal and business tax returns must be released, even though the underlying returns are protected, a federal court ruled.

The decision included partial wins for both the IRS and the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a nonprofit that requested personal and business tax records tied to Trump under the Freedom of Information Act. The center argued that an exception under tax code Section 6103(k)(1) to the general law protecting tax return privacy applied pertaining to return information that is necessary to allow for an inspection of any accepted offer-in-compromise between a taxpayer and federal tax authorities.

Read more here.

FOIA News: DOJ/OIP updates Exemption 9 of FOIA Guide

On December 1, 2021, the Department of Justice’s Office of Information Policy posted an updated version of the Exemption 9 section of the Department of Justice Guide to the Freedom of Information Act. Earlier this year, OIP updated sections Exemption 1 (Mar. 4, 2021), Exemption 3 (June 2, 2021), Exemption 7(B) (June 3, 2021) and Procedural Requirements (Aug. 20, 2021).

FOIA News: DOJ/OIP hiring staff attorney

The Department of Justice’s Office of Information Policy is looking for an attorney to join its litigation staff at the GS-12 salary level. The application deadline is December 26, 2021. See the vacancy announcement here.

FOIA News: Lawmaker seeks expedited disclosure of vaccine data

Rep. Norman demands FDA release COVID vaccine data in 100 days

FDA requested 55 years to hand over data relating to coronavirus vaccine

By Caitlin McFall, Fox News, Dec. 2, 2021

South Carolina Republican Rep. Ralph Norman on Thursday introduced legislation that could force the Food and Drug Administration to release all documents relating to the coronavirus vaccine within the next 100 days. 

The legislation is a direct response to a request made last month by the federal agency to prolong releasing data on COVID vaccines for up to 55 years. 

"How does a vaccine that receives approval in 108 days now require 55 years just to release information?" Norman said to Fox News. "It sounds like the beginning of a very bad joke."

Read more here.

FOIA News: DC Circ. Dubious DOJ Could Block Trump Obstruction Memo

DC Circ. Dubious DOJ Could Block Trump Obstruction Memo

By Khorri Atkinson, Law360, Dec. 1, 2021

The D.C. Circuit appeared unconvinced Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Justice's justification for blocking a legal memo concerning whether former President Donald Trump illegally obstructed justice during former special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Read more here (subscription).

FOIA News: IRS Releases Asset Forfeiture Docs To Libertarian Law Firm

IRS Releases Asset Forfeiture Docs To Libertarian Law Firm

By Theresa Schliep, Law360, Dec. 1, 2021

The Internal Revenue Service released documents on its asset forfeiture program to a nonprofit libertarian law firm that has sought information on the agency's property seizures, according to joint filings in D.C. federal court.

Read more here (subscription).

FOIA News: Derivative public benefits should be weighed in FOIA, asserts law student

The University of Virginia’s law review has published a Note that argues that “courts must consider derivative benefits as part of the public interest” when employing Exemptions 6 and 7(C) of the FOIA. Read the article here.