United States District Court For The District of Columbia
United States District Court For The District of Columbia
United States District Court For The District of Columbia
submits this Motion for Summary Judgment pursuant to Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure.
In support of this motion, Defendant respectfully refers the Court to the accompanying
Statement of Material Facts Not In Genuine Dispute, Memorandum of Points and Authorities in
Support and declarations from the agency. A proposed Order consistent with this Motion is
Case 1:10-cv-01712-RMC Document 7 Filed 02/16/11 Page 2 of 25
attached hereto.
Respectfully submitted,
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1 The Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA") Service Center ("FSC") of the U.S.
Information request from Plaintiff CREW on July 23, 2010. (Cook Dec. ¶ 4). The request asked
for "any and all records of or reflecting communications from April 20, 2009, to the present to,
from, and/or between officials at Education regarding for-profit education and any and all of the
(6) Any or all individuals identified as officers, directors, or employees of the Institute for
College Access and Success;
( 10) Any or all individuals identified as officers, directors, or employees of The Alliance
for Economic Stability;
2 On October 25, 2010, CREW’s Chief Counsel, Ms. Weismann, clarified the scope of the
request by informing the Department that "to the extent that [her] request seeks internal
Departmental communications regarding for-profit education, [she is] seeking only internal
communications regarding any Departmental communications with the outside entities listed in
3 The request was assigned to the following Departmental offices for processing on August
18, 2010: the Office of Communication and Outreach ("OCO"), the Office of Legislative and
Congressional Affairs ("OLCA"), the Office of Postsecondary Education ("OPE"), and the Office
of the Undersecretary ("OUS"). OUS sent the request to the Office of Planning, Evaluation and
4 On November 23, 2010, the Defendant provided CREW with an interim response to its
FOIA request, comprised of 42 pages of records from OPEPD and 8 pages of records from OCO.
These records were provided to CREW in full. The interim response also notified CREW that
5 On December 3, 2010, Defendant provided CREW with its final response to the FOIA
request. This response consisted of 1,354 pages of records from OPE and 506 pages of records
from OUS. (Cook Dec. ¶ 9). OPE redacted information on only four (4) of the 1,354 pages.
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(Smith Dec. ¶ 10-12). OUS released all 506 pages in full. (Arsenault Dec. ¶ 9).
6 On or around December 22, 2010, while processing an unrelated FOIA request, OPE
identified one document that may have been responsive to CREW's FOIA request that was not
provided on December 3, 2010. This record was provided in full to CREW on December 22,
Respectfully submitted,
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STATEMENT OF FACTS
The Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA") Service Center ("FSC") of the U.S.
Information request from Plaintiff CREWon July 23, 2010. (Cook Dec. ¶ 4). The request asked
for "any and all records of or reflecting communications from April 20, 2009, to the present to,
from, and/or between officials at Education regarding for-profit education and any and all of the
(6) Any or all individuals identified as officers, directors, or employees of the Institute for
College Access and Success;
( 10) Any or all individuals identified as officers, directors, or employees of The Alliance
for Economic Stability;
On October 25, 2010, CREW’s Chief Counsel, Ms. Weismann, clarified the scope of the
request by informing the Department that "to the extent that [her] request seeks internal
Departmental communications regarding for-profit education, [she is] seeking only internal
communications regarding any Departmental communications with the outside entities listed in
The request was assigned to the following Departmental offices for processing on August
18, 2010: the Office of Communication and Outreach ("OCO"), the Office of Legislative and
Congressional Affairs ("OLCA"), the Office of Postsecondary Education ("OPE"), and the Office
of the Undersecretary ("OUS"). OUS sent the request to the Office of Planning, Evaluation and
On November 23, 2010, the FSC provided CREW with an interim response to its FOIA
request, comprised of 42 pages of records from OPEPD and 8 pages of records from OCO.
These records were provided to CREW in full. The interim response also notified CREW that
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On December 3, 2010, Defendant provided CREW with its final response to the FOIA
request. This response consisted of 1,354 pages of records from OPE and 506 pages of records
from OUS. (Cook Dec. ¶ 9). OPE redacted information on only four (4) of the 1,354 pages.
(Smith Dec. ¶ 10-12). OUS released all 506 pages in full. (Long Dec. ¶11).
On or around December 22, 2010, while processing an unrelated FOIA request, OPE
identified one document that may have been responsive to CREW's FOIA request that was not
provided on December 3, 2010. This record was provided in full to CREW on December 22,
ARGUMENT
I. Standard of Review
Where no genuine dispute exists as to any material fact, summary judgment is required.
Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242 (1986). A genuine issue of material fact is one
that would change the outcome of the litigation. Id. at 247. “The burden on the moving party
may be discharged by ‘showing’ -- that is, pointing out to the [Court] -- that there is an absence
of evidence to support the non-moving party’s case.” Sweats Fashions, Inc. v. Pannill Knitting
Once the moving party has met its burden, the non-movant may not rest on mere
allegations, but must instead proffer specific facts showing that a genuine issue exists for trial.
Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586 (1986). Thus, to avoid
summary judgment here, the Plaintiff (as the non-moving party) must present some objective
evidence that would enable the Court to find he is entitled to relief. In Celotex Corp. v. Catrett,
the Supreme Court held that, in responding to a proper motion for summary judgment, the party
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who bears the burden of proof on an issue at trial must “make a sufficient showing on an
essential element of [his] case” to establish a genuine dispute. Celotex, 477 U.S. 317, 322-23
(1986). In Anderson the Supreme Court further explained that “the mere existence of a scintilla
of evidence in support of the Plaintiff's position will be insufficient; there must be evidence on
which the jury could reasonably find for the Plaintiff.” Anderson, 477 U.S. at 252; see also
Laningham v. Navy, 813 F.2d 1236, 1242 (D.C. Cir. 1987) (the non-moving party is “required to
provide evidence that would permit a reasonable jury to find” in its favor).
In Celotex, the Supreme Court further instructed that the “[s]ummary judgment
procedure is properly regarded not as a disfavored procedural shortcut, but rather as an integral
part of the Federal Rules as a whole, which are designed ‘to secure the just, speedy and
inexpensive determination of every action.’” 477 U.S. at 327 (quoting Fed. R. Civ. Pro. 1).
The summary judgment standards set forth above also apply to FOIA cases, which are
typically decided on motions for summary judgment. See Cappabianca v. Commissioner, U.S.
Customs Serv., 847 F. Supp. 1558, 1562 (M.D. Fla. 1994) (“once documents in issue are properly
identified, FOIA cases should be handled on motions for summary judgment”) (citing Miscavige
v. IRS, 2 F.3d 366, 368 (11th Cir. 1993)). In a FOIA suit, an agency is entitled to summary
judgment once it demonstrates that no material facts are in dispute and that each document that
falls within the class requested either has been produced, not withheld, is unidentifiable, or is
exempt from disclosure. Students Against Genocide v. Dept. of State, 257 F.3d 828, 833 (D.C.
Cir. 2001); Weisberg v. U.S. Dept. of Justice, 627 F.2d 365, 368 (D.C. Cir. 1980).
the Court and the Plaintiff with affidavits or declarations and other evidence which show that the
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documents in question were produced or are exempt from disclosure. Hayden v. NSA, 608 F.2d
1381, 1384, 1386 (D.C. Cir. 1979), cert. denied, 446 U.S. 937 (1980); Church of Scientology v.
U.S. Dept. of Army, 611 F.2d 738, 742 (9th Cir. 1980); Trans Union LLC v. FTC, 141 F. Supp.
2d 62, 67 (D.D.C. 2001) (summary judgment in FOIA cases may be awarded solely on the basis
of agency affidavits “when the affidavits describe ‘the documents and the justifications for non-
disclosure with reasonably specific detail, demonstrate that the information withheld logically
falls within the claimed exemption, and are not controverted by either contrary evidence in the
record nor by evidence of agency bad faith.’”) (quoting Military Audit Project v. Casey, 656 F.2d
724, 738 (D.C. Cir. 1981)). See also Public Citizen, Inc. v. Dept. of State, 100 F. Supp. 2d 10, 16
(D.D.C. 2000), aff’d in part, rev’d in part, 276 F.3d 634 (D.C. Cir. 2002).
responsive records. Oglesby v. U.S. Dept. of Army, 920 F.2d 57, 68 (D.C. Cir. 1990); Cleary,
Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton v. Dept. of Health, et al., 844 F. Supp. 770, 776 (D.D.C. 1993);
Weisberg v. U.S. Dept. of Justice, 705 F.2d 1344, 1352 (D.C. Cir. 1983). This “reasonableness”
standard focuses on the method of the search, not its results, so that a search is not unreasonable
simply because it fails to produce responsive information. Cleary, Gottlieb, 844 F. Supp. at 777
n.4. An agency is not required to search every record system, but need only search those systems
in which it believes responsive records are likely to be located. Oglesby, 920 F.2d at 68.
Consistent with the reasonableness standard, the adequacy of the search is “dependent upon the
circumstances of the case.” Truitt v. Dept. of State, 897 F.2d 540, 542 (D.C. Cir. 1990). The
fundamental question is not “whether there might exist any other documents responsive to the
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request, but rather whether the search for those documents was adequate.” Steinberg v. Dept. of
Justice, 23 F.3d 548, 551 (D.C. Cir. 1994) (quoting Weisberg v. Dept. of Justice, 745 F.2d 1476,
judgment will not be defeated by an unsuccessful search for the document so long as the search
was diligent and reasonable. Nation Magazine, Washington Bureau v. U.S. Customs Service, 71
F.3d 885, 892 n.7. (D.C. Cir. 1995). Additionally, the mere fact that a document once existed
does not mean that it now exists; nor does the fact that an agency created a document necessarily
imply that the agency has retained it. Maynard v. CIA, 986 F.2d 547, 564 (1st Cir. 1993).
The burden rests with the agency to establish that it has “made a good faith effort to
conduct a search for the requested records, using methods which can be reasonably expected to
produce the information requested.” Oglesby, 920 F.2d at 68; see SafeCard Servs. v. SEC, 926
F.2d 1197, 1201 (D.C. Cir. 1991). “An agency may prove the reasonableness of its search
through affidavits of responsible agency officials so long as the affidavits are relatively detailed,
non-conclusory and submitted in good faith.” Miller, 779 F.2d at 1383; Goland v. CIA, 607 F.2d
339, 352 (D.C. Cir. 1978), cert. denied, 445 U.S. 927 (1980). Although the agency has the
burden of proof on the adequacy of its search, the “affidavits submitted by an agency are
‘accorded a presumption of good faith,’” Carney v. Dept. of Justice, 19 F.3d 807, 812 (2d Cir.
1994), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 823 (1994) (quoting SafeCard Servs., 926 F.2d at 1200). Thus,
once the agency has met its burden regarding adequacy of its search, the burden shifts to the
requester to rebut the evidence by a showing of bad faith on the part of the agency. Miller v. U.S.
Dept. of State, 779 F.2d 1378, 1383 (8th Cir.1985). A requester may not rebut agency affidavits
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with purely speculative allegations. See Carney, 19 F.3d at 813; SafeCard, 926 F.2d at 1200;
The Defendant’s Freedom of Information Act Service Center received CREW’s FOIA
Request No. 10-01704-F on July 23, 2010. The request was assigned to the following
Departmental offices for processing on August 18, 2010: the Office of Communication and
Outreach ("OCO"), the Office of Legislative and Congressional Affairs ("OLCA"), the Office of
Postsecondary Education ("OPE"), and the Office of the Undersecretary ("OUS"). OUS sent the
request to the Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy ("OPEPD") on November 3, 2010.
(Cook Dec ¶ 6). FSC identified the first four offices as offices likely to have responsive records
based on FSC's understanding of the subject areas raised in FOIA Request No. 10-01704-F.
Consistent with its established practices, the FSC relied upon the assigned offices - which have
superior subject matter knowledge of the issues raised in the FOIA request - to identify any
additional offices that are likely to have records responsive to the request. With the exception of
OUS's identification of OPEPD, no additional offices were so identified. (Cook Dec. ¶ 7).
OCO received the CREW FOIA request on August 8, 2010. (Landis Dec. ¶3). OCO is
responsible for overall leadership for the Department in its communications and outreach
activities that are designed to engage the general public as well as a wide variety of education,
community, business, parent, academic, student, and other groups, including the media,
intergovernmental and interagency organizations, and public advocacy groups in the President's
and Secretary's education agenda. OCO was involved in the for-profit education/gainful
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After reviewing the OCO employees involved in the gainful employment regulation
process, OCO identified the following individuals as reasonably likely to have records responsive
to this FOIA request based on their individual roles in the rulemaking process: Peter
Cunningham, John McGrath, David Hoff, Massie Ritsch, Stacey Jordon, Alberto Ratana, Cynthia
Dorfman, and Tim Tutton. There are no other individuals in OCO who are reasonably likely to
have records responsive to this request. Id. ¶ 7. The identified individuals maintain the types of
communications were created or received by OCO that would be responsive to this request.
There are no other locations where responsive records are reasonably likely to be located. Id. ¶ 8.
Each of the individuals identified above conducted an electronic search of their entire
email accounts for communications to or from the individuals or entities: Steve Eisman,
FrontPoint Partners, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, Pauline Abernathy, Institute for
College Access and Success, Barmak Nassirian, American Association of Collegiate Registrars
and Admissions Officers, Manuel Asensio, the Alliance for Economic Stability, and Johnette
Early, as set forth in the FOIA request. Pursuant to Ms. Weismann's October 25, 2010
clarification, they also searched the text of all internal emails in addition to the to/from lines and
the subject line —including those sent to or received from Departmental employee Robert
Shireman—for any mention of the entities listed above. Pursuant to Ms. Weismann's October
25, 2010 clarification, internal emails to or from Robert Shireman that did not mention the
external entities listed above were not retrieved for review. Affiant Landis then reviewed the
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individual emails retrieved by these electronic searches for responsiveness to the FOIA request
On or about November 18, 2010, OCO provided the Department's FOIA Service Center
with 8 pages responsive to this FOIA request. These records were released to CREW on
November 23, 2010. All of these pages were released in full without redactions. Id. ¶ 10.
On January 4, 2011, OCO confirmed that a search of all locations described above
using the correct spelling of the name "Asensio" returned no additional responsive records. Id. ¶
11.
OLCA serves as the Department's liaison in responding to the needs of Congress, and
was involved in the for-profit education/gainful employment rulemaking process in this capacity.
(Meyer Dec. ¶ 6). After reviewing the OLCA employees involved in the gainful employment
regulation process, OLCA determined that Kristen Adams is the only individual in OLCA
reasonably likely to have records responsive to this FOIA request. Ms. Adams is the only
employee in OLCA whose responsibilities include higher education issues. There are no other
individuals in OLCA who are reasonably likely to have records responsive to this request. Id. ¶
7. Ms. Adams maintains the types of communications sought by Plaintiff in her individual
Departmental email account. There are no other locations where responsive records are
On October 21, 2010, OLCA informed the Department's FOIA Service Center that it
had no records responsive to this FOIA request. Id. ¶ 9. OLCA's search for records was
originally conducted by Theresa Toye, OLCA's former FOIA Coordinator. Ms. Toye has been
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out of the office since December 20, 2010, and her last day at the Department was February 3,
2011. Without Ms. Toye's assistance, OCLA was unable to confirm or document the search it
originally conducted for responsive records. Id. ¶ 10. Therefore, to confirm that it had no
records responsive to this request, on February 3, 2011, OLCA conducted an electronic search of
Kristen Adams' email accounts for references to the following individuals or entities with no date
range: "Eisman," "FrontPoint," "Stanley Investment," "Pauline Abernathy," "Institute for College
Admissions Officers," "Asensio," "Alliance for Economic Stability," and "Johnette." OLCA also
conducted an electronic search for the terms "Profit" and "Shireman" using the date range
4/20/09 – 7/23/10, which was the term of Mr. Shireman's tenure as the Deputy Undersecretary of
Education. Pursuant to Ms. Weismann's October 25, 2010 clarification, OLCA searched the body
Shireman—for any mention of the entities listed above. Pursuant to Ms. Weismann's October
25, 2010 clarification, internal emails to or from Robert Shireman that did not mention the
external entities listed above were not retrieved for review. OLCA also searched all hard-copy
correspondence for responsive records; no responsive records were identified. OLCA then
reviewed the individual emails retrieved by these electronic searches for responsiveness to the
FOIA request and subsequent clarification. Id. ¶ 11. OLCA's February 3, 2011 search confirmed
matters. Within this role, OPE was responsible for primary management of the rulemaking
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process for the Department's gainful employment regulations. Specifically, OPE was primarily
responsible for running the negotiated rulemaking process, drafting the notice of proposed
rulemaking, analyzing all incoming comments on the proposed rules, and holding primary
After reviewing the OPE employees involved in the gainful employment regulation
process, OPE identified the following individuals as reasonably likely to have records responsive
to this FOIA request based on their individual roles in the rulemaking process: Fred Sellers, John
Kolotos, David Bergeron, Dan Madzelan and affiant Smith. There are no other individuals in
OPE who are reasonably likely to have records responsive to this request. Id. ¶ 7. Mr. Sellers,
Mr. Kolotos, Mr. Bergeron, Mr. Madzelan and affiant Smith maintain the types of
communications sought by Ms. Weismann in their individual Departmental email accounts. OPE
also searched all hard copy correspondence for records responsive to this request. There are no
other locations where responsive records are reasonably likely to be located. Id. ¶ 8.
Each of the identified individuals conducted an electronic search of their entire email
accounts for communications to or from the following individuals or entities: Steve Eisman,
FrontPoint Partners, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, Pauline Abernathy, Institute for
College Access and Success Barmak Nassirian, American Association of Collegiate Registrars
and Admissions Officers, Manuel Asensio, the Alliance for Economic Stability, and Johnette
Early, as set forth in the FOIA request. OPE's hard-copy correspondence database was also
searched using the same search terms. Pursuant to Ms. Weismann's October 25, 2010
clarification, OPE also searched the text of all internal emails in addition to the to/from lines and
the subject line—including those sent to or received from Departmental employee Robert
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Shireman—for any mention of the entities listed above. Pursuant to Ms. Weismann's October
25, 2010 clarification, internal emails to or from Robert Shireman that did not mention the
external entities listed above were not retrieved for review. Affiant Smith then reviewed the
individual emails retrieved by these electronic searches for responsiveness to the FOIA request
On December 1, 2010, OPE provided the Department's FOIA Service Center with
1,354 pages responsive to this FOIA request. These records were released to CREW on
December 6, 2010. Four of the 1,354 pages provided by OPE contained redactions. Id. ¶ 10.
Between January 4 and January 18, 2010, all OPE personnel identified above as
possibly having responsive documents confirmed that a search of all locations described above
using the correct spelling of the name "Asensio" returned no additional responsive records. Id. ¶
13.
vocational and adult education, and federal student aid. OUS was involved in the for-profit
OUS identified Robert Shireman and James Kvaal as the primary individuals who
would likely have records responsive to this request. Mr. Shireman served as the Deputy
Undersecretary of Education within OUS from April 20, 2009 until July 3, 2010. Mr. Kvaal
served as Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary from June 1, 2010 and assumed the role of
Deputy Under Secretary on July 4, 2010. There are no other individuals in OUS who are
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reasonably likely to have records responsive to this request that have not been captured in this
search. . Id. ¶ 7.
Mr. Shireman and Mr. Kvaal maintained the types of communications sought by Ms.
Weismann in their individual Departmental email accounts. After his departure from OUS, Mr.
Shireman's emails were captured on a Departmental server. OUS conducted an electronic search
of Mr. Shireman's and Mr. Kvaal's emails for emails that referenced the following terms in the
"program integrity." OUS also conducted an electronic search of Mr. Shireman's and Mr. Kvaal's
emails for emails to or from Steve Eisman, FrontPoint Partners, LLC, Morgan Stanley
Investment Management, Inc., Pauline Abernathy, The Institute for College Access and Success,
Barmak Nassirian, the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers,
Manuel Asenio, The Alliance for Economic Stability, or Johnette McConnell Early. OUS then
reviewed the results of the electronic search to identify records responsive to the FOIA request.
To the best of affiant Arsenault’s knowledge, OUS does not have any hard-copy correspondence
records responsive to the request and there is no place where any hard copy documents
responsive to the request reasonably might be found; therefore, those records were not searched.
Pursuant to Ms. Weismann's October 25, 2010 clarification, internal emails to or from Robert
Shireman and James Kvaal that did not mention the external entities listed above were not
On November 19, 2010, OUS provided the Department's FOIA Service Center with
506 pages responsive to this FOIA request from the account of Mr. Shireman. These records
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were released to CREW on December 6, 2010. All of these pages were released in full without
redactions. Id. ¶ 9.
On January 6, 2011, OUS confirmed that a search of all locations described above using
the correct spelling of the name "Asensio" returned no additional responsive records. Id. ¶10.
On February 16, 2011, OUS provided the Department's FOIA Service Center with 188
pages responsive to this FOIA request from the account of Mr. Kvaal. These records have not
yet been released to CREW. Of the 188 pages, 178 are being released in full with this
declaration. See attaché Kavaal documents. Ten pages are being withheld in full pursuant to the
OPEPD oversees planning, evaluation, policy development, and budget activities in the
Department. OPEPD coordinates these activities with the Department’s principal offices and
outside organizations such as Congress, the Office of Management and Budget, and state
OPEPD identified Zakiya Smith as an individual who would likely have records
responsive to this request. Ms. Smith is the primary individual within OPEPD whose
responsibilities include higher education policy issues. There are no other individuals in OPEPD
who are reasonably likely to have records responsive to this request. Id. ¶7. Ms. Smith
maintains the types of communications sought by Ms. Weismann in her individual Departmental
email accounts. Ms. Smith conducted an electronic search of her email account for responsive
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records that contained the following search terms: "profit," "Abernathy," "Nassirian," "Barmak,"
economic stability." Ms. Smith then reviewed the results of the electronic search to identify
records responsive to the FOIA request. Based on her knowledge of and familiarity with her own
records, Ms. Smith is aware that she did not receive any hard-copy correspondence that would be
responsive to this request; therefore she did not conduct a separate search for such documents.
Pursuant to Ms. Weismann's October 25, 2010 clarification, internal emails to or from Robert
Shireman that did not mention the external entities listed above were not identified as responsive.
Id. ¶ 8.
On November 22, 2010, OPEPD provided the Department's FOIA Service Center with
42 pages responsive to this FOIA request. These records were released to CREW on November
23, 2010. All of these pages were released in full without redactions. Id. ¶ 9.
On January 4, 2011, OPEPD confirmed that a search of all locations described above
using the correct spelling of the name "Asensio" returned no additional responsive records. Id.
¶10.
Application of Exemptions
would not be available by law to a party other than an agency in litigation with the agency." 5
U.S.C. § 552(b)(5). Courts have construed this language to exempt documents that would not
ordinarily be available to an agency's opponent in a civil discovery context and to incorporate all
evidentiary privileges that would be available in that context. See United States v. Weber
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Aircraft Corp., 465 U.S. 792, 799 (1984); FTC v. Grolier, Inc., 462 U.S. 19, 26 (1983); Martin v.
Office of Special Counsel, 819 F.2d 1181 (D.C. Cir. 1987). Among the privileges incorporated
by FOIA Exemption 5 are the “deliberative process” privilege and the “attorney work product”
privilege. Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee, Inc. v. Board of Governors of Federal Reserve
The purpose of the deliberative process privilege is to protect the "quality of agency
decisions." NLRB v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 421 U.S. 132, 151 (1975). Flowing from the policy
agencies.” Sears, 421 U.S. at 150. The privilege protects not merely documents, but also the
integrity of the deliberative process itself where the exposure of that process would result in
harm. Dudman Communications Corp. v. Dept. of the Air Force, 815 F.2d 1565, 1568 (D.C. Cir.
protect specific materials.”). Greenberg v. Dept. of Treasury, 10 F. Supp.2d 3, 16, n.19 (D.D.C.
1998); Marzen v. HHS, 825 F.2d 1148, 1155 (7th Cir. 1987) ("[E]xemption protects not only the
opinions, comments and recommendations in the draft, but also the process itself."); Pies v. IRS,
668 F.2d 1350, 1353-54 (D.C. Cir. 1981). As the Court in Coastal States held, the privilege
documents which reflect the personal opinions of the writer rather than the policy of the agency."
Coastal States Gas Corp. v. Dep't of Energy, 617 F.2d 854, 866 (D.C.Cir. 1980). Indeed, the
mere status of an agency decision within an agency decision making process may be protected if
the release of that information would have the effect of prematurely disclosing “the
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recommended outcome of the consultative process...as well as the source of any decision.” Wolfe
v. HHS, 839 F.2d 768, 775 (D.C. Cir. 1988) (en banc).
Courts have recognized that agencies are entitled to deference in regard to the way they
characterize their deliberative process. See generally Allen v. Wright, 468 U.S. 737 (1984);
attorney and his client relating to a legal matter for which the client has sought professional
advice.” . . . .“Its purpose is to assure that a client's confidences to his or her attorney will be
protected, and therefore encourage clients to be as open and honest as possible with attorneys.”
Judicial Watch, Inc. v. U.S. Dept. of Homeland Sec., 2010 WL 3564260, 4 (D.D.C. 2010) ).
a. OPE redacted the body of two emails dated April 15, 2010 and
handwritten notes appearing across the top of one of the emails under the deliberative process
and attorney-client privileges. The redacted information discussed and memorialized OPE's
intention to seek advice from legal counsel, and summarized the substance of earlier
conversations with legal counsel. The document was reviewed for segregability and all
b. OPE redacted the body of an email dated August 19, 2010. The redacted
information contained internal discussions of potential hypothetical data scenarios and potential
Departmental responses thereto. The information was therefore both predecisional (antecedent
to the adoption of an agency policy) and deliberative. Further, public release of such information
might confuse and mislead the public, as it was based on potential and hypothetical data
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scenarios that had not occurred. The document was reviewed for segregability and all
In addition, OPE erroneously indicated that the following information was redacted
pursuant to FOIA exemption (b)(5): two blocks of text in an email chain dated Monday, July 26,
2010. The redacted information consists of internal communications about the location of
particular data on the Department's website. It was therefore not responsive to the FOIA request
OUS withheld in full ten pages out of 188 pages of documents pursuant to the
deliberative process privilege. Arsenault Dec. ¶ 11. The ten withheld pages are comprised of
e-mail chains which reflect the agency employees' discussions among themselves concerning the
plan for release of the proposed rule making for gainful employment. The e-mails and attached
draft rollout plans reflect internal strategies and recommendations for making the rollout, and
reflect internal deliberations and political and press considerations such as who should be
considered individuals of importance to contact in making the rollout . Also included in the
pages are a draft press release and draft talking points. Id. Affiant Arsenault reviewed the ten
pages, and found that they are subject to exemption 5 in full. Id.
The FOIA requires that if a record contains information that is exempt from disclosure,
any "reasonably segregable" information must be disclosed after deletion of the exempt
information unless the non-exempt portions are "inextricably intertwined with exempt portions."
5 U.S.C. § 552(b); Mead Data Cent., Inc. v. United States Dept. of the Air Force, 566 F.2d 242,
260 (D.C. Cir. 1977). The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has held that a
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District Court considering a FOIA action has "an affirmative duty to consider the segregability
issue sua sponte." Trans-Pacific Policing Agreement v. United States Customs Serv., 177 F.3d
In order to demonstrate that all reasonably segregable material has been released, the
agency must provide a "detailed justification" rather than "conclusory statements." Mead Data,
566 F.2d at 261. The agency is not, however, required "to provide such a detailed justification"
that the exempt material would effectively be disclosed. Id. All that is required is that the
government show "with 'reasonable specificity'" why a document cannot be further segregated.
Armstrong v. Executive Office of the President, 97 F.3d 575, 578-79 (D.C. Cir. 1996). Moreover,
the agency is not required to "commit significant time and resources to the separation of
disjointed words, phrases, or even sentences which taken separately or together have minimal or
As is indicated above, all responsive documents were released to CREW in full with
the exception of portions of four pages from OPE and 10 pages from OUS.. Three of the OPE
pages bore redactions only of information subject to exemption 5, and one bore information
which was not responsive to the request. See Smith Dec. ¶ 11-12. Similarly the 10 OUS
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CONCLUSION
For all the foregoing reasons, the Agency’s Motion to Dismiss and for Summary
Judgment should be granted and Plaintiff’s Complaint should be dismissed with prejudice.
Respectfully submitted,
Of Counsel:
Jill Siegelbaum
Attorney
Division of Business and Administrative Law
Office of the General Counsel
U.S. Department of Education