COLLEEN KOLLAR-KOTELLY, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Carl Oglesby filed suit in 1987 challenging several agencies' responses to a Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA") request Mr. Oglesby submitted in August 1985. Since that time, the case has reached the United States Court of Appeals twice then lay dormant for nearly eleven years. In December 2011, Aron DiBacco and Barbara Webster, the domestic partner and daughter of the now-deceased Mr. Oglesby, to replace Mr. Oglesby as the Plaintiffs in this action, which the Court permitted. Only three issues remain for the Court to resolve: (1) whether the National Security Agency has submitted an adequate Vaughn index; (2) whether the Central Intelligence Agency and United States Department of the Army conducted an adequate search for potentially responsive records; and (3) whether the CIA and the Army properly invoked certain FOIA exemptions. Upon consideration of the
Oglesby v. U.S. Dep't of Army ("Oglesby II"), 79 F.3d 1172, 1175 (D.C.Cir.1996). To that end, between August 21 and September 19, 1985, Carl Oglesby submitted nearly identical Freedom of Information Act requests to the Central Intelligence Agency, the United States Departments of the Army and State, the National Security Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the National Archives and Records Administration ("NARA"). Oglesby v. U.S. Dep't of Army ("Oglesby I"), 920 F.2d 57, 60 (D.C.Cir.1990). "[W]ith minor variations," Oglesby sought the following records from each agency:
Mr. Oglesby filed suit on December 11, 1987. The District Court, per Judge Norma Holloway Johnson, granted summary judgment in favor of the Defendants. 5/22/1989 Mem. Op. & Order. On appeal, the D.C. Circuit found that Oglesby had failed to exhaust his administrative remedies with respect to his requests to the Army, CIA, FBI, NSA, and NARA, but had constructively exhausted his administrative remedies concerning his request to Department of State. Oglesby I, 920 F.2d at 59-60. The court remanded the case, instructing Oglesby to exhaust his remedies, and leaving for the District Court the issue of whether the Department of State conducted an adequate search in response to Oglesby's request. Id.
Following the Oglesby I decision, Oglesby exhausted his administrative remedies, and once again challenged the Defendants' responses. Oglesby II, 79 F.3d at 1176. The District Court granted summary judgment in favor of the Defendants, concluding that each Defendant agency conducted an adequate search for documents and properly withheld information pursuant to various FOIA exemptions. Id. Mr. Oglesby appealed, challenging (1) NARA's refusal to grant Oglesby a fee waiver; (2) the adequacy of the searches conducted by the Army, CIA, FBI, NSA, and State Department; (3) the adequacy of the Vaughn indices submitted by the Army, CIA, and NSA; and (4) the CIA's and Army's withholding of certain responsive documents. Id. at 1175. The D.C. Circuit agreed that the CIA and the Army failed to show they conducted adequate searches, and that the CIA, Army, and NSA failed to adequately justify their withholdings. Id. The court affirmed the District Court in all other respects. Id. Upon remand, the Army, CIA, and NSA eventually filed a renewed motion for summary judgment. 9/25/97 Mot. for Summ. J., ECF No. [129]. Just short of one year later, Oglesby filed an opposition to the Defendants' motion and cross-moved for summary judgment. 9/14/98 Cross Mot., ECF No. [176].
On October 8, 1998, President William Clinton signed into law the "Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act," or "NWCDA." P.L. 105-246, 5 U.S.C. § 552 note. The act "required the U.S. Government to locate, declassify, and release in their entirety, with few exceptions, remaining classified records about war crimes committed by Nazi Germany and its allies." Nazi War Crimes & Japanese Imperial Gov't Records Interagency Working Group ("IWG" or "the working group"), Final Report to the United States Congress 1 (Apr. 2007). To oversee the implementation of NWCDA and the Japanese-Imperial Government Disclosure Act of 2000, the President created an Interagency Working Group, consisting of the Archivist of the United States, designated representatives of the FBI, the CIA, the National Security Council, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the Departments of Defense, Justice, and State, as well as three public members. Id. Although General Gehlen is not considered a Nazi war criminal, "the CIA pledged to acknowledge the intelligence relationship with General Gehlen in records processed for release under the [NWCDA]." Id. at 48. Accordingly, "the CIA approved the release of the 2,100-page Army Gehlen file, and in addition released nearly 2,100 pages of materials
While the parties' cross-motions were pending, the Defendants submitted a declaration from William H. McNair, the Information Review Officer for the Directorate of Operations for the CIA, indicating that the Director of Central Intelligence declassified the relationship between the United States Government and the Gehlen Organization. Pls.' Opp'n, Ex. 1 (McNair Decl.) at ¶ 9. In light of the declassification, the CIA indicated it needed to reprocess its previous releases to Oglesby and its referrals to the CIA from other agencies "because additional information may now be appropriate for release." 10/31/00 Status Report, ECF No. [211], at 3. Unsure of what effect the declassification might have on the Defendants' motion for summary judgment with respect to the NSA and the Army, the Defendants withdrew the pending motion for summary judgment. Id. at 6. Oglesby noted that his cross-motion may also be moot due to the classification. 11/17/00 Order, ECF No. [214], at 2. The Court thus ordered the Defendants to file a status report by no later than December 11, 2000, indicating "how much time is needed to complete its review of responsive material" and "how much time is needed to prepare and file a Vaughn declaration and accompanying motion for summary judgment." Id.
Pursuant to the Court's November 2000 Order, the Defendants submitted a status report indicating that "recent CIA searches conducted in response to the portion of the plaintiff's FOIA request regarding General Gehlen have resulted in locating approximately 251 boxes of material, and 2,901 folders, with documents that likely contain records regarding General Gehlen."
In a further status report submitted on February 5, 2001, the Defendants explained that the CIA had identified "numerous code words associated with Gehlen and the Gehlen Organization, and conducted a search of the applicable records systems using these code words," identifying "a potential universe of over 25,000 responsive documents." 2/5/01 Status Report, ECF No. [216] at 2. The CIA intended to conduct another search "within the next two months" using additional search terms. Id. at 3-4. The agency estimated that the review of all potentially responsive documents, including referrals to other agencies as necessary, would take two years to complete, "but because of the many variables, the CIA suggest[ed] that it provide interim status reports on the CIA's Progress every four to six months." Id. at 4. The Court did not issue any orders in response to the February 2001 status report. In fact, between February 2001 and December 2011, neither party submitted any documentation to the Court, save notice of change of addresses for counsel and notices of substitution of counsel for the Defendants.
Nearly eleven years after the Defendants' last status report, the Plaintiffs filed a motion to substitute Mr. DiBacco and Ms. Webster as Plaintiffs, which Judge James E. Boasberg granted in his capacity as the motions Judge. 12/1/11 Mot., ECF No. [224]; 1/5/12 Minute Order. The Plaintiffs then moved to compel the Defendants to, among other things, describe the searches conducted for potentially responsive documents, provide copies of all draft status reports created after February 2001, provide copies of all Vaughn indices submitted to the Plaintiffs since February 2001, "[l]ist and provide copies of all correspondence which was sent to Carl Oglesby or his attorney regarding this case subsequent to the February 5, 2001 status report," and "[l]ist and provide copies of all records released pursuant to this lawsuit subsequent to the February 5, 2001 status report." Pls.' Mot. to Compel, ECF No. [227]. Once the Plaintiff's motion was fully briefed, the case was randomly reassigned to the undersigned. 5/30/12 Reassignment of Civil Case, ECF No. [237]. The Court promptly denied the Plaintiff's motion to compel, and ordered the parties to submit a proposed briefing schedule for dispositive motions. 5/30/12 Minute Order. The Court adopted the parties' suggested schedule, and the motions are now ripe for consideration by the Court.
Congress enacted the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552, in order to "pierce the veil of administrative secrecy and to open agency action to the light of public scrutiny." Dep't of Air Force v. Rose, 425 U.S. 352, 361, 96 S.Ct. 1592, 48 L.Ed.2d 11 (1976) (citation omitted). Congress remained sensitive to the need to achieve balance between these objectives and the potential that "legitimate governmental and private interests could be harmed by release of certain types of information." Critical Mass Energy Project v. Nuclear Regulatory Comm'n, 975 F.2d 871, 872 (D.C.Cir.1992) (en banc) (citation omitted), cert. denied, 507 U.S. 984, 113 S.Ct. 1579, 123 L.Ed.2d 147 (1993). To that end, FOIA "requires federal agencies to make Government records available to the public, subject to nine exemptions for categories of material." Milner v. Dep't of Navy, ___ U.S. ___, 131 S.Ct. 1259, 1261-62, 179 L.Ed.2d 268 (2011). Ultimately, "disclosure, not secrecy, is the dominant objective of the act." Rose, 425 U.S. at 361, 96 S.Ct. 1592. For this reason, the "exemptions are explicitly made
When presented with a motion for summary judgment in this context, the district court must conduct a "de novo" review of the record, which requires the court to "ascertain whether the agency has sustained its burden of demonstrating that the documents requested ... are exempt from disclosure under the FOIA." Multi Ag Media LLC v. Dep't of Agriculture, 515 F.3d 1224, 1227 (D.C.Cir.2008) (citation omitted). The burden is on the agency to justify its response to the plaintiff's request. 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(B). "An agency may sustain its burden by means of affidavits, but only if they contain reasonable specificity of detail rather than merely conclusory statements, and if they are not called into question by contradictory evidence in the record or by evidence of agency bad faith." Multi Ag Media, 515 F.3d at 1227 (citation omitted). "If an agency's affidavit describes the justifications for withholding the information with specific detail, demonstrates that the information withheld logically falls within the claimed exemption, and is not contradicted by contrary evidence in the record or by evidence of the agency's bad faith, then summary judgment is warranted on the basis of the affidavit alone." Am. Civil Liberties Union v. U.S. Dep't of Defense, 628 F.3d 612, 619 (D.C.Cir.2011) (citations omitted). "Uncontradicted, plausible affidavits showing reasonable specificity and a logical relation to the exemption are likely to prevail." Ancient Coin Collectors Guild v. U.S. Dep't of State, 641 F.3d 504, 509 (D.C.Cir.2011) (citation omitted). Summary judgment is proper when the pleadings, the discovery materials on file, and any affidavits or declarations "show[] that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). With these principles in mind, the Court turns to the merits of the parties' crossmotions for summary judgment.
Over a month after filing their Opposition and Cross-Motion, and three days after submitting their Reply in support of their Cross-Motion, the Plaintiffs filed a motion seeking to compel the Defendants to disclose four ex parte, classified declarations submitted to the Court in support of the Defendants' 1997 renewed motion for summary judgment. Pl.'s Mot. to Compel at 1. The Plaintiffs cite no legal basis on which the Court may order the Defendants to declassify and disclose the declarations. Furthermore, the unclassified declarations submitted by the Defendants in support of the same motion indicate the classified declarations were maintained in the possession of the United States Attorney's Office, but would be available to the Court for review at the Court's request. There is no indication that the Court ever sought to review the declarations or took possession of the classified declarations, and the Court never ruled on the Defendants' motion, which was subsequently withdrawn. On the present record, the unclassified declarations submitted on the issues identified in the Plaintiffs' motion to compel appear sufficient to enable the Plaintiffs to respond to the Defendants' motion for summary judgment. Absent any legal basis for ordering the Defendants to review and possibly disclose classified pleadings, the Plaintiffs' motion to compel is denied.
The Defendants have also moved for leave to file a surreply. The Plaintiffs do not oppose the motion, but have asked for additional time to file a response to the
The Defendants move for summary judgment regarding all outstanding issues as to the responses to Oglesby's FOIA request by the CIA, the Army, and the NSA. The Court begins with the Plaintiffs' objections to a report relied on by the CIA and the Army to explain how records were processed under the NWCDA. Turning to the claims against the CIA, the Court finds the CIA conducted an adequate search for records, and no genuine dispute remains as to the CIA's use of certain FOIA exemptions to justify withholding certain information from the records produced to the Plaintiffs. With respect to the Army, the Court finds the Army's decision to transfer its records to the National Archives and Records Administration as part of NWCDA review process was not suspect, therefore the Army is entitled to summary judgment on the grounds it has not wrongfully withheld any responsive records. Finally, the Plaintiffs fail to raise a genuine dispute as to the adequacy of the Vaughn declaration submitted by the NSA. Accordingly, the Court grants summary judgment in favor of the Defendants on all outstanding claims.
Initially, the Plaintiffs take issue with the Defendants' reliance on the IWG Report to establish the scope of documents reviewed in connection with the NWCDA. Federal Rule of Evidence 803(8) provides, in relevant part, that a record or statement of a public office is not excluded under the rule against hearsay so long as the record (A) sets out the office's activities or a matter observed while under a legal duty to report, and (B) neither the source of information nor other circumstances indicate a lack of trustworthiness." Fed. R. Evid. 803(8)(A)-(B). The Plaintiffs do not dispute that because the IWG Report was created pursuant to the group's legal obligation to report to Congress, the report satisfies the requirements of Rule 803(8)(A). Pub. L. 105-246 § 2(c)(3) (requiring the IWG to "submit a report to Congress ... describing all such records, the disposition of such records, and the activities of the [IWG] and agencies under this section"). However, the Plaintiffs contend the report is unreliable because of the following statement from the cover letter accompanying the report:
IWG Report at v (Apr. 2007 Ltr. from A. Weinstein). Nothing in this statement "raises concerns" regarding the trustworthiness of the report as the Plaintiffs suggest. If an agency or IWG member disagreed with the description of the agency's
Citing Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(e), the Plaintiffs' also suggest the report cannot be used as evidence regarding the adequacy of the Defendants' searches because the report was not made under oath. Pls.' Cross-Mot. at 19-20. It appears the Plaintiffs intended to cite Rule 56(b)(4), which provides that "[a]n affidavit or declaration used to support or oppose a motion must be made on personal knowledge, set out facts that would be admissible in evidence, and show that the affiant or declarant is competent to testify on the matters stated." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(b)(4). Nothing in Rule 56 requires that evidence be submitted only in the form of an affidavit, so long as the evidence can be presented in a form that would be admissible at trial.
"An agency fulfills its obligations under FOIA if it can demonstrate beyond material doubt that its search was `reasonably calculated to uncover all relevant documents.'" Valencia-Lucena v. U.S. Coast Guard, 180 F.3d 321, 390 (D.C.Cir.1999) (citation omitted). "At summary judgment, a court may rely on [a] reasonably detailed affidavit, setting forth the search terms and the type of search performed, and averring that all files likely to contain responsive materials (if such records exist) were searched." Ancient Coin Collectors Guild, 641 F.3d at 514 (citation omitted). "The agency cannot limit its search to only one or more places if there are additional sources that are likely to turn up the information requested." Valencia-Lucena, 180 F.3d at 391 (citation omitted). Ultimately, the adequacy of a search is "determined not by the fruits of the search, but by the appropriateness of [its] methods." Iturralde v. Comptroller of the Currency, 315 F.3d 311, 315 (D.C.Cir.2003) (citation omitted).
A five person team from the CIA conducted a page-by-page review of 1.2 million pages of OSS records, that is, records from the wartime and immediate post-war period. Defs.' Ex. D (IWG CIA Excerpt) at 45. The CIA "opened its OSS records in their entirety," and consulted with foreign governments to clarify the sensitivity of foreign government information rather than automatically withholding such information, as was the CIA's usual practice. Id. Utilizing search terms suggested by historians and staff from the CIA and IWG, as well as interviews with former OSS and CIA personnel, the agency
In order to comply with the NWCDA, the CIA conducted a search for records far more expansive than searches usually undertaken in responding to FOIA requests. All directorates were instructed to search for relevant documents, using both name and codeword searches. For example, with respect to documents concerning General Gehlen, the CIA searched for files retrievable by name, in addition to conducting searches for codewords, aliases, and cryptonyms for Gehlen and his organization. First Lutz Decl. ¶ 16. Ultimately the CIA released approximately 2,100 pages of material relating to Gehlen. Id. ¶ 17. Ms. Lutz avers that, based on the breadth and thoroughness of the CIA's search for responsive documents, the searches performed in response to the NWCDA were reasonably calculated to discover any records responsive to Oglesby's request. Id. ¶ 18.
The Plaintiffs raise a number of objections to the search performed by the CIA, none of which have merit. First, the Plaintiffs note that in its December 11, 2000, status report, the CIA explained that it anticipated locating documents potentially responsive to Oglesby's request that were beyond the scope of the NWCDA. 12/11/00 Status Report at 2. Ms. Lutz explains that this statement was based on CIA's initial, narrow interpretation of its obligations under the NWCDA insofar as the CIA believed it would not be required to produce documents relating to General Gehlen under the NWCDA because General Gehlen is not considered a war criminal. Defs.' Reply Ex. D (Second Lutz Decl.) ¶ 4. In 2005, the CIA elected to review and declassify information regarding all Nazis (not just war criminals), including operational files concerning those Nazis.
Second, the Plaintiffs take issue with the fact that the Lutz Declaration does not explicitly indicate that the records of all directorates were searched. Pls.' Cross-Mot. at 30-31. Ms. Lutz explained in her initial declaration that "[a]ll CIA records are maintained by one of four directorates and the independent offices and other entities under the Director, Central Intelligence Agency (D/CIA): the National Clandestine Service (NCS), Directorate of Intelligence (DI), Directorate of Science and Technology (DS & T), Directorate of Support (DS), and the Director's Area." First Lutz Decl. ¶ 14. "All directorates were tasked to search for such records, with the CIA's Nazi War Crimes Task Force overseeing the search and review of these records." Id. ¶ 15 (emphasis added). Moreover, the NWCDA
Second Lutz Decl. ¶ 7. Thus, the Plaintiffs' argument lacks merit.
Third, the Plaintiffs argue that the CIA's failure to release any documents regarding meetings between the United States and General Gehlen at Fort Hunt demonstrates the CIA's search was inadequate. Pls.' Cross-Mot. at 15-16. To be clear, Oglesby did not request all records concerning Fort Hunt; rather he requested only "records on meetings held at Fort Hunt, Virginia, in the summer of 1945 between General Gehlen and U.S. Army General George Strong and Office of Strategic Services ("OSS") officer Allen Dulles." The D.C. Circuit addressed this precise argument:
Oglesby I, 920 F.2d at 68 n.13. The only new evidence
Finally, the Plaintiffs argue the CIA should be required to conduct additional searches for the terms "Fort Hunt," "P.O Box 1142,"
As the Vaughn index attached to Ms. Lutz's declaration indicates, the CIA withheld certain information pursuant to FOIA exemptions (b)(1) and (b)(3). See Attach. to First Lutz Decl. Counsel for the Plaintiffs objected to the CIA's Vaughn index on the grounds counsel was unable to correlate the entries on the index to the records provided to counsel. Pls.' Cross-Mot. at 40. Although the Defendants argue that the Plaintiffs could have utilized the initial Vaughn index using the letter that accompanied the disks containing the documents provided by the CIA. Defs.' Reply at 16-17. Nevertheless, the CIA provided a revised Vaughn index, including references to the relevant pdf numbers on the disks. Second Lutz Decl. ¶ 9. The CIA also provided a supplemental index addressing the 66 documents discussed by the Plaintiffs for the first time in their motion to compel. Defs.' Opp'n to Mot. to Compel, Ex. A (Fourth Lutz Decl.) ¶ 7. Therefore, the Court considers whether the CIA is entitled to summary judgment in light of the revised and supplemental Vaughn indices.
Exemption (b)(1) provides that agencies may withhold any information "(A) specifically authorized under criteria established by an Executive order to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy and (B) are in fact properly classified pursuant to such Executive order." 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(1). Exemption (b)(3) permits an agency to withhold information "specifically exempted from disclosure by statute (other than section 552b of this title)," if the relevant statute
Id. § 552(b)(3). The Court addresses each of the exemptions in turn.
The CIA identifies four categories of information that it contends is properly
The Plaintiffs contend that Ms. Lutz's declaration is insufficient to justify the agency's use of FOIA exemption (b)(1) because Ms. Lutz does not aver that the information is properly classified under Executive Order 13526. Executive Order 13526, signed by President Barack Obama on December 29, 2009, currently governs classification decisions. This Order defines "classified information" to include "information that has been determined pursuant to this order or any predecessor order to require protection against unauthorized disclosure." E.O 13256 § 6.1(i).
Campbell v. U.S. Dep't of Justice, 164 F.3d 20, 29 (D.C.Cir.1998) (citations omitted). The Campbell court explained that the relevant question is whether the 2009 Executive Order "calls prior classification decisions under the [prior] Order into question." Id. Like the superseding order in Campbell, Executive Order 13256 "does not permit FOIA litigants to reopen classification decisions finalized before the Order's effective date" because the superseding Order "defines classified information to include information classified under prior orders," and "does not contain any provision that requires an agency to reconsider classification decisions in pending FOIA litigation." Id.
The Plaintiffs cite Campbell for the proposition that "D.C. Circuit cases have consistently held that where a case has been remanded to [sic] district court, review should occur under the new executive order." Pls.' Cross-Mot. at 33. The Campbell court rejected the FBI's declaration as insufficient to justify its use of exemption (b)(1), and noted that
Id. at 31 (citing Lesar v. U.S. Dep't of Justice, 636 F.2d 472 (D.C.Cir.1980)). Here, the D.C. Circuit did not instruct the Court to reevaluate the CIA's classification decisions upon remand. To the contrary, the D.C. Circuit upheld the CIA's application of exemption (b)(1) with respect to the documents listed in the Vaughn index, and only remanded the case to the extent the CIA failed to include certain documents in the index in the first place. Oglesby II, 79 F.3d at 1182-83.
For the first time in their Reply, the Plaintiffs suggest that Executive Order 13256 should govern the use of exemption (b)(1) in this case because Ms. Lutz's review of the documents took place while Executive Order 13256 was in effect. The D.C. Circuit explained
Lesar, 636 F.2d at 480. The agency made its ultimate determination regarding the documents at issue in this case between 2005 and 2007. Second Lutz Decl. ¶ 8. Thus, the question for the Court is whether the agency properly determined the information was classified and thus exempt from disclosure under the Executive Order in force during that time frame, namely Executive Order 12958. Ms. Lutz's declarations provides support for the agency's position, but the agency reached a final determination with respect to this information years before the litigation reached this stage.
With respect to the substance of the agency's application of exemption (b)(1), the Plaintiffs proffer only two arguments. First, the Plaintiffs argue that the agency failed to take into consideration "the passage of time."
Oglesby II, 79 F.3d at 1183. The Plaintiffs once again have "merely made the naked assertion that the passage of time renders the national security claims questionable." Id.
Id. This is particularly true in this case, where much of the information withheld under exemption (b)(1) may expose locations and techniques still utilized by the agency. Second, for the first time in their Reply the Plaintiffs argue that the documents were not properly classified under Executive Order 12958 because they do not contain the classification markings required by section 1.7 of that Order. Pls.' Reply at 9. Section 1.7(f) of Executive Order 12958 specifically provides that "[i]nformation assigned a level of classification under this or predecessor orders shall be considered as classified at that level of classification despite the omission of other required markings." The documents at issue in this case were marked according to the requirements in place at the time the documents were initially classified, generally between 1951 and 1954. Third Lutz Decl., ECF No. [254-2], ¶ 9. Ms. Lutz's unrebutted declaration establishes with a reasonable level of specificity that the information at issue was properly classified and marked under Executive Order 12958, and thus was properly withheld under FOIA exemption (b)(1). Therefore, the agency is entitled to summary judgment on this issue.
Invoking FOIA exemption (b)(3), the CIA argues that it properly withheld certain information as provided by the National Security Act of 1947, as amended, 50 U.S.C. § 3024(i)(1), and the Central Intelligence Agency Act of 1949, 50 U.S.C. § 3507. The National Security Act provides that "[t]he Director of National Intelligence shall protect intelligence sources and methods from unauthorized disclosure." 50 U.S.C. § 3024(i)(1). "The Director may only delegate a duty or authority given the Director under this subsection to the Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence." Id. § 3024(i)(3). The relevant provision of the CIA Act provides that the CIA shall be exempt from disclosing "the organization, functions, names, official titles, salaries, or numbers of personnel employed by the Agency." 50 U.S.C. § 3507.
The Plaintiffs argue that because the National Security Act vests the power to protect intelligence sources and methods in the Director of National Intelligence, the CIA cannot rely on this statute to withhold information regarding intelligence sources and methods pursuant to FOIA exemption (b)(3). Judge Beryl A. Howell thoroughly analyzed this issue and ultimately rejected an identical argument in Mobley v. CIA, 924 F.Supp.2d 24 (D.D.C.2013). For the reasons stated by Judge Howell in Mobley, 924 F.Supp.2d at 53, and as recognized by the D.C. Circuit in Larson v. Department of State, 565 F.3d 857, 862 (D.C.Cir.2009), the Court finds that agencies other than the Director of National Intelligence may rely upon the National Security Act to withhold information regarding intelligence sources and methods pursuant to FOIA exemption (b)(3). The Plaintiffs do not otherwise challenge the CIA's use of exemption (b)(3). Based on the detailed description of the information withheld pursuant to this exemption provided in the First Lutz Declaration, the Court finds there is no genuine dispute that the CIA properly invoked FOIA exemption (b)(3) in this case.
During the initial stages of this litigation, the Army produced an estimated 1,240 pages of information to Oglesby. See generally Third Nichols Decl., Attach.
Id. at 54. Between 2000 and 2001, the Army provided NARA with over 20,000 digitized and paper files located in response to searches for individuals on the Names List. Id. "While the vast majority of the files were declassified in full, the Army had redacted limited portions, primarily foreign government information or intelligence sources and methods." Id. "After it finished digitizing its files, IRR staff undertook further searches as the IWG staff, IWG historians, and other participating agencies identified additional relevant names, projects, and operations that came to their attention during the course of their work." Id. The Army eventually transferred copies of all 1.3 million microfilm files to NARA. Defs.' Ex. B (Murphy Decl.) ¶ 12(d). The Army did not retain any copies of the files transferred to NARA. Defs.' Reply Ex. B (Second Dorris Decl.) ¶ 5.
Once the files were transferred to NARA, the NARA staff conducted searches using a variety of keywords, outlined in paragraphs 13, 15, and 16 of the Declaration of Martha Wagner Murphy, the Chief of the Special Access and Freedom of Information Branch, Research Services, for NARA. Murphy Decl. ¶ 1. The searches did not locate any responsive records regarding the relevant meetings at Fort Hunt, id. ¶ 14, but NARA located a number of other responsive documents, which are listed in paragraph 17 of Ms. Murphy's Declaration. Ms. Murphy indicates that "electronic image files identified [in the declaration] are available for public inspection at NARA's headquarters," but if the Plaintiffs agreed to pay duplication fees, the files would be copied and mailed to the Plaintiffs. Id. ¶ 18. INSCOM also searched its remaining hard copy and electronic files but failed to locate any documents responsive to Oglesby's request. Defs.' Reply Ex. B (Second Dorris Decl.) ¶ 6.
The Plaintiffs argue the Army's search was inadequate, for two reasons. First, the Plaintiffs note that the declaration submitted by Bradley Dorris, the Director of the Freedom of Information Act/Investigative Records Repository Office at INSCOM,
Second Dorris Decl. ¶ 7. The Plaintiffs suggest that Mr. Dorris's "credibility is damaged" due to the change in his supplemental declaration. Pls.' Reply at 4. If Mr. Dorris had submitted a new declaration merely parroting the relevant standard, the Court might agree that the supplemental declaration would be insufficient. But Mr. Dorris's second declaration goes beyond mere recitation, and describes why, based on the nature of the information requested by Oglesby, any responsive documents would have been maintained in the IRR files transferred to NARA. The Plaintiffs offer no evidence to contradict or call into question Mr. Dorris's supplemental statement that any documents responsive to the Plaintiffs' request would likely be found in the IRR files.
Second, the Plaintiffs argue that the Army's transfer of documents to NARA violated the Freedom of Information Act. "The FOIA provides a claimant with a remedy only against an agency that has `improperly withheld' a record." SafeCard Servs., Inc. v. SEC, 926 F.2d 1197, 1201 (D.C.Cir.1991) (quoting 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(B)). Thus, "[i]f the agency is no longer in possession of the document, for a reason that is not itself suspect, then the agency is not improperly withholding that document and the court will not order the agency to take further action in order to produce it." Id. (emphasis added). Here, the Army's transfer of documents is anything but suspicious. The NWCDA specifically ordered that agencies make relevant documents available to the public at the National Archives and Records Administration. Pub. L. 105-246 § 2(c)(1). The Army did not transfer only those documents potentially responsive to Oglesby's request, rather it transferred all combat and operational files related to World War II. Second Dorris Decl. ¶ 5. Moreover, NARA conducted an extensive search for responsive documents, and has made those documents available for the Plaintiffs to review or copy (at the Plaintiffs' expense). This is not a situation in which the agency destroyed documents or otherwise made them unavailable to the requesting party. Cf. Chambers v. Dep't of Interior, 568 F.3d 998, 1004 (D.C.Cir.2009) ("Thus, summary judgment is inappropriate, as the Government all but acknowledged, if, viewing all inferences in a light most favorable to Chambers, a triable issue exists as to whether Murphy (or any one [sic] else at
After conducting a search for potentially responsive documents, the National Security Agency identified fifteen documents containing information responsive to Oglesby's Request. See generally Defs.' Ex. G (Grantham Decl.) ¶¶ 14-42. Four of the documents were released in their entirety by the NSA to Oglesby, two documents were withheld in their entireties, one document was referred to the Army for review, and the remaining documents were produced with redactions. Id. In support of its motion for summary judgment following Oglesby I, the NSA submitted two declarations from Michael Smith, then the Director of Policy for the National Security Agency, describing in very general terms the withheld information and the bases for the withholdings. Defs.' Ex. F (NSA Decls.) at 1-6, 13-16. The D.C. Circuit found Mr. Smith's declarations to be inadequate to justify the withholdings, noting that the declarations contain
Oglesby II, 79 F.3d at 1183. The D.C. Circuit remanded the Oglesby's claim against the NSA to this Court, and indicated the Court "should order NSA to submit an index describing the documents to the greatest extent possible without disclosing information that must be protected." Id.
The NSA now submits a detailed declaration executed in February 1997 by Gary L. Grantham who at that time was the Acting Director of Policy for the NSA. Grantham Decl. ¶ 1. Mr. Grantham's declaration describes each of the fifteen documents in detail, including the number of pages, agency responsible for drafting the document, the title of each document (if applicable), and a detailed description of the factual information released and withheld from each document. See, e.g., id. ¶¶ 17-19. Grantham's declaration identifies how many pages were found to be non-responsive, how many pages were withheld in their entirety, and how many pages were released in part. E.g., id. ¶ 17. Finally, where appropriate, Grantham avers that the withheld information was properly classified pursuant to Executive Order 12958, and that release of the information could be expected to lead to the unauthorized disclosure of intelligence sources, methods, and foreign government information. E.g., id. ¶ 19. The NSA also submitted a declaration from Diane M.
The Plaintiffs' opposition and cross-motion omits any reference to the Grantham declaration or the Defendants' motion for summary judgment with respect to the NSA's withholdings, and on that basis alone the Court may grant this portion of the Defendants' motion. Hopkins v. Women's Div., Gen. Bd. of Global Ministries, 284 F.Supp.2d 15, 25 (D.D.C.2003) ("It is well understood in this Circuit that when a plaintiff files an opposition to a dispositive motion and addresses only certain arguments raised by the defendant, a court may treat those arguments that the plaintiff failed to address as conceded."). For the first time in their Reply, the Plaintiffs raise four arguments in opposition to the NSA's motion, none of which are persuasive.
First, the Plaintiffs argue that the Grantham Declaration is inadequate because it does not contain a Vaughn Index. This argument is nonsensical. The Grantham Declaration attached to the Defendants' Renewed Motion for Summary Judgment filed on December 14, 2012, describes in detail each of fifteen documents identified by the NSA as containing information responsive to Oglesby's request. Second, the Plaintiffs further suggest the Grantham Declaration is insufficient because "the NSA has made other releases which appear to consist of documents not part of the [Grantham Declaration]." Pls.' Reply at 22. Specifically, the Plaintiffs point to a letter from the NSA to counsel for Mr. Oglesby dated January 17, 1992, which, as part of Oglesby's administrative appeal of the NSA's response to his request, explains that certain portions of a document have been withheld as non-responsive or as exempt. Pls.' Reply Ex. B (1/17/92 Ltr. & Attach.). The letter attaches eighteen pages with markings indicating certain redactions were for non-responsive information, while other redactions omitted exempt information. See generally id. at 3-20. The pages come from at least two different documents, and on their face correlate with portions of documents 3 and 5 as set forth in the Grantham declaration. Cf. Pls.' Reply Ex. B at 4 (dated June 14, 1954) with Grantham Decl. ¶ 20; cf. Pls.' Reply Ex. B at 8 with Grantham Decl. ¶¶ 26-27. The Plaintiffs failed to proffer a sufficient basis from which the Court could conclude the Grantham declaration failed to reference any of the documents produced (even in part) to Oglesby.
Third, the Plaintiffs contend that the Grantham declaration is inadequate because it was signed in 1997 and thus does not establish that release of the withheld information today could reasonably be expected to cause damage to national security. Pls.' Reply at 22. This argument completely ignores the Janosek Declaration, executed in December 2012, which explains both that the withheld information is properly classified under the Executive Order that has governed classification since 2009, and that release of the information in the present could reasonably be expected to damage national security. Janosek Decl. ¶¶ 3, 20.
Fourth and finally, the Plaintiffs seem to suggest that the "`document-by-document' review performed by Grantham... is [inconsistent] with the rigors of the segregability analysis required." Pls.' Reply at 23. "An agency cannot justify withholding an entire document simply by
In sum, the Grantham declaration adequately describes the documents the NSA determined contained information responsive to Oglesby's request, the nature of the documents, as well as the information released to and withheld from Oglesby. Combined with the Janosek Declaration's averment that the information remains properly classified as of the filing of the Defendants' present motion, and that release of the information reasonably could be expected to harm national security, the Court finds the NSA has adequately justified its withholdings.
For the foregoing reasons, the Court finds the Defendants are entitled to summary judgment on all remaining issues. In the context of complying with the Nazi War Criminal Disclosure Act, the CIA conducted an adequate search for records responsive to Oglesby's FOIA request. The Plaintiffs failed to create a genuine issue of material fact as to the adequacy of the CIA's Vaughn index, including the CIA's use of FOIA exemptions (b)(1) and (b)(3). The Army's decision to transfer all of its World War II related files from the Army's Intelligence and Security Command's Investigative Records Repository to the National Archives and Records Administration was not suspect, and thus the Army did not wrongfully withhold any relevant documents. Finally, the Plaintiffs failed to create a genuine issue of material fact as to the adequacy of the Vaughn declaration submitted by the National Security Agency. Accordingly, the Defendants' [254] Motion for Leave to File Sur-Reply is GRANTED; the Plaintiffs' [249] Motion to Compel Disclosure of Ex Parte Declarations is DENIED; the Defendants' [240] Renewed Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED; and the Plaintiffs' [241] Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment is DENIED. An appropriate Order accompanies this Memorandum Opinion.