FOIA News: ICYMI, D.C. Circuit hears FOIA case on transition team records

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit entertained oral arguments on October 6, 2023, in Insider Inc. v. GSA, which concerned records of President Trump’s and Vice President Pence’s 2020 transition teams. The district court upheld GSA’s redactions under Exemption 6.

FOIA News: Leading Right-of-Center Organizations Launch Transparency Coalition

Leading Right-of-Center Organizations Launch Transparency Coalition

Right on Transparency, Oct. 10, 2023

A group of leading right-of-center groups launched the “Right on Transparency” coalition dedicated to comprehensive government transparency reform with an eye to increasing accountability and creating a more engaged citizenry. The coalition is dedicated to the principles of open government, and, to further those principles, will draft model policies at the state level and educate the public on transparency laws and issues.

Visit the coalition website at rightontransparency.org.

Read more here.

FOIA News: State Dep't proactively releases declassified docs using AI

State Department declassifies diplomatic cables using AI assistant

By Justin Doubleday, Fed. News Network, Oct. 9. 2023

A directive to U.S. embassies in India and Pakistan requesting an urgent evaluation of economic and financial vulnerabilities in those countries.

A report from the embassy in Sofia detailing discord in the Bulgarian Socialist Party.

And an internal summary, prepared by the U.S. embassy in Pretoria, of Secretary of State Madeleine Albright’s meeting with President Nelson Mandela in South Africa.

Those messages are among dozens of newly released diplomatic cables from late 1997. The State Department declassified the cables using a machine learning tool developed by the agency over the past year. The cables were not subject to any Freedom of Information Act requests, but State officials determined copies of the documents could be publicly released through the “proactive disclosure” provision of FOIA.

Read more here.

Court opinion issued Sept. 30, 2023

Shtyenshlyuger v. CMS (D.D.C.) -- in a 71-page opinion, concluding that: (1) plaintiff was not required to administratively appeal agency’s response that was issued after he had filed suit; (2) agency failed to explain how it processed approximately 3200 responsive pages, and its search terms and search locations were incomplete; (3) agency failed to establish that all of its Exemption 4 withholdings met the “commercial or financial threshold,” let alone the “confidential” prong, and it wholly ignored the statute’s foreseeable harm requirement; (4) agency properly withheld some but not all records pursuant to Exemption 5’s deliberative process privilege, and it failed to carry its burden with respect to its attorney-client privilege withholdings; and (5) agency could not withhold complaint files under Exemption 6 merely because they were located in a Privacy Act system of records, noting that CMS failed to explain whose privacy interest it sought to protect and “how disclosure would ‘constitute a clearly unwarranted’ invasion of that unspecified interest.”

Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.

Court opinions issued Sept. 29, 2023

Energy Policy Advocates v. EPA (D.D.C.) -- ruling that agency properly relied on Exemption 5’s deliberative process privilege and met the foreseeable harm test in withholding portions of a presentation used “to brief White House officials about potential strategies the EPA was considering for regulating power-plant pollution.”

Putnam v. U.S. Army Reserve Bd. Agency (W.D. Okla.) -- holding that agency’s belated response to plaintiff’s request warranted no after-the-fact remedy, and that the agency demonstrated the adequacy of its search.

Stein v. CIA (D.D.C.) -- concluding that: (1) CIA’s discovery of two additional responsive records did not warrant disturbing court’s initial decision that CIA’s search was adequate; (2) CIA was required to provide actual documents to plaintiff, as ordered in previous ruling, as opposed to a list of names that were not protected by Exemption 6; and (3) neither State Department, FBI, nor ODNI adequately addressed court’s prior concerns about certain withholdings, which necessitated further briefing from the latter two agencies and in camera review of State’s disputed record.

Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.

Court opinion issued Sept. 28, 2023

Cabezas v. Fed. Bureau of Prisons (D.D.C.) -- deciding that: (1) DOJ’s Office of Professional Responsibility failed to prove that it had responded to plaintiff’s request before plaintiff filed suit, and that OPR improperly issued a Glomar response under Exemptions 6 and 7(C) in connection with plaintiff’s request for misconduct records regarding certain law enforcement officers; (2) neither BOP nor plaintiff was entitled to summary judgment on question of whether agency received plaintiff’s request; and (3) EOUSA established that it conducted an adequate search for certain forfeiture records pertaining to plaintiff’s property.

Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.

FOIA News: Washington Post Announces new FOIA Column

New FOIA Column “Reveals” All in The Washington Post

By WashPostPR, Washington Post, Oct. 5, 2023
The Washington Post today announces the first installment of “Revealing Records,” a new column anchored by Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Director Nate Jones. The first-of-its kind column from the investigations desk takes readers behind the scenes in unearthing public records, exposing the countless secrets hidden in government documents, and highlights how the records inform Post reporting.

“The Post’s award-winning investigations are strengthened by Nate’s critical work obtaining local, state and federal records to help our reporters tell better stories,” said Sarah Childress, deputy editor for long-term investigations. “We are thrilled to offer this entertaining and educational window into the work we do every day to scrutinize power and empower people.”

Read more here.

FOIA News: MuckRock Interview with DOJ OIP's Bobak ‘Bobby’ Talebian

Q&A with Justice Department Office of Information Policy’s Bobak ‘Bobby’ Talebian on the future of FOIA

By Albert Serna Jr., MuckRock, Oct. 4, 2023

With the closing of FOIAonline last week, FOIA.gov is now the central hub for FOIA requests and information about federal agencies. As the site sees more traffic and use, users might have questions about how to navigate through the site’s various features.

Bobak “Bobby” Talebian, director of the Department of Justice’s Office of Information Policy, spoke with MuckRock about FOIA.gov, how it works and what’s planned for its future. A new tool, dubbed a “FOIA Wizard,” is set for a beta release this fall and is aimed at helping users better see existing FOIA requests and craft new ones.

Read more here.

FOIA News: FOIA fun on Oct. 4th

Have a Little Fun with FOIA

By Electronic Frontier Found.

October 4, 2023 - 9:00am to 10:00am PDT

FOIA takes itself very seriously, but there are some really interesting public records finds that are a little off the beaten path and can be a fantastic engagement tool. For a few examples, peacoks run amok, the gender of the Secret Service hero dog, and other animal hijinks all make for great stories. Join EFF Investigative Researcher Beryl Lipton, Adrien Salzberg of MuckRock, and Ben Welsh of Reuters for a workshop on finding great FOIA stories, framing them so they resonate, and then following up to build awareness about public records and a stronger transparency community.

This event is part of the National Freedom of Information Coalition 2023 National FOI Summit, which runs from October 3rd to October 5th.

Original post here.

FOIA News: Need a gift?

Proving there’s nothing you can’t put on a t-shirt, here’s something for the FOIA lovers out there. https://tshirtatlowprice.com/products/foia-and-find-out-t-shirt/.

Disclaimer: FOIA Advisor has no connection to this merchant, nor do we endorse its merchandise.