UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

DAVE LEVINTHAL |

910 17th Street, N.W., 7th Floor |

Washington, DC 20006-2606, and |

|

CENTER FOR PUBLIC INTEGRITY |

910 17th Street, N.W., 7th Floor |

Washington, DC 20006-2606, |

|

Plaintiffs, |

|

v. | Civil Action No. 15-1624

| ECF

FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION |

999 E Street, N.W. |

Washington, DC 20463, |

|

Defendant. |

COMPLAINT FOR DECLARATORY AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF

Plaintiffs, Dave Levinthal and the Center for Public Integrity (“the Center”), bring this 

action for declaratory and injunctive relief, alleging as follows:

Nature of Action

1. This is an action under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), 5 U.S.C. § 

552, as amended, to compel the production of certain agency records.

Jurisdiction and Venue

2. This Court has jurisdiction over this action pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(B), 

28 U.S.C. § 1331, and 28 U.S.C. § 2201(a).

3. Venue lies in this district pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(B) and 28 U.S.C. § 

1391.

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Parties

4. Plaintiff Dave Levinthal is a senior investigative reporter employed by the Center 

for Public Integrity. His assignments include covering the Federal Election Commission and the 

influence of money in federal politics.

5. Plaintiff Center for Public Integrity is a District of Columbia corporation, a taxexempt public charity and a nonprofit, nonpartisan, non-advocacy, independent journalism 

organization based in Washington, D.C. The Center’s mission is “[t]o serve democracy by 

revealing abuses of power, corruption and betrayal of public trust by powerful public and private 

institutions, using the tools of investigative journalism.” “About The Center for Public Integrity,”

http://www.publicintegrity.org/about.

6. Plaintiffs are the requesters of the withheld records.

7. Defendant, Federal Election Commission (“FEC”), is an agency of the United 

States. Defendant has possession of and control over the records that plaintiffs seek.

Plaintiffs’ Freedom of Information Request

8. By email dated July 6, 2015, addressed to FOIA@fec.gov, Plaintiffs requested

a copy of a 2015 National Institute of Standards and Technology report —

also known as the NIST study — pertaining to the Federal Election 

Commission’s operations and currently in the FEC’s possession [and]

copies of any FEC emails, memoranda, correspondence or other documents 

that, in any form or fashion, mention or refer to this National Institute of 

Standards and Technology report, by name or otherwise.

Defendant’s Processing of the Request

9. On August 18, 2015, in an “interim response” to Plaintiffs’ request, Defendant 

produced documents responsive to the second part of Plaintiffs’ request. Defendant 

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acknowledged that it possesses additional responsive documents. Defendant denied the first part 

of Plaintiffs’ request, for a copy of the NIST study.

10. Defendant has not yet issued a final determination with respect to Plaintiffs’

request.

11. More than twenty working days have passed since Defendant received Plaintiffs’

request. Plaintiffs have therefore exhausted all applicable administrative remedies with respect to 

records not yet produced that are responsive to the second part of Plaintiffs’ request.

12. On August 18, 2015, Plaintiffs appealed Defendant’s determination to withhold 

the NIST study.

13. On September 30, 2015, Defendant notified Plaintiffs that the administrative 

appeal was denied.

14. Defendant has not notified Plaintiffs that it is unable to redact portions of the 

NIST study which may be exempt from FOIA and to release segregable non-exempt portions. 

Upon information and belief, if portions of the NIST study are exempt from FOIA, there are 

reasonably segregable portions that are non-exempt.

15. Plaintiffs have a statutory right to the requested records, or to the non-exempt 

portions of the requested records, and there is no legal basis for Defendant’s failure to make 

them available to Plaintiffs.

Demand for Relief

WHEREFORE, Plaintiffs request that this Court:

1. Declare that Defendant’s failure to disclose the records requested by Plaintiffs is 

unlawful;

2. Order Defendant to make the requested records available to Plaintiffs;

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3. Award Plaintiffs their costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees in this action; and

4. Grant such other and further relief as the Court deems just and proper.

Respectfully submitted,

/S/

Peter Newbatt Smith 

D.C. Bar #458244 

Center for Public Integrity

910 17th Street, N.W., 7th Floor

Washington, DC 20006-2606

202-481-1239

psmith@publicintegrity.org

Attorney for Plaintiffs

October 5, 2015

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