Source: https://ru.scribd.com/document/47728784/CREW-v-DHS-Regarding-White-House-Visitor-Logs-Abramoff-6-6-07-Memorandum-in-Opposition-5
Timestamp: 2019-09-16 23:33:52
Document Index: 7791616

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 552', '§ 552', '§ 552', '§ 552', '§ 2101', '§ 2904', '§ 2904', '§\n2904', '§ 2115', '§ 3303', '§ 2905', '§ 552', '§ 552', '§ 3303', '§ 552', '§552']

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CREW: Department of Education: Regarding Meetings with Interest Groups and Wall Street: 4/14/11 - RESPONSE - 11-00794-F
Chrysler Corporation, in No. 76-1970 v. James A. Schlesinger, Secretary United States Department of Defense, Lt. Gen. Wallace Robinson, Director, Defense Supply Agency, Philip J. Davis, Director, Office of Federal Contract Compliance, and John Dunlop, Secretary United States Department of Labor, in No. 76-2238, 565 F.2d 1172, 3rd Cir. (1977)
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Case 1:07-cv-00048-RBW Document 7 Filed 06/06/2007 Page 1 of 26
v. : Civil Action No. 07-0048 (RBW)
NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS :
ADMINISTRATION, :
JUDGMENT AND MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFF’S CROSS-MOTION
Following its charted course of secrecy and expansion of executive power, this
administration has reached into the files of the Secret Service to declare its records of White
House visitors presidential records not subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information
Act (“FOIA”). Preceding this extraordinary step was considerable debate between the White
House, the Secret Service and the Department of Justice on the legal status of these records, all
overseen by the National Archives and Records Administration (“NARA”). NARA, under the
direction of the Archivist, plays a pivotal and unique role in the implementation of federal
record-keeping laws and is statutorily mandated to establish policies and procedures for
maintaining and disposing of federal records.
At issue here is plaintiff’s request under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) for
documents that disclose how NARA has exercised these statutory responsibilities with respect to
Case 1:07-cv-00048-RBW Document 7 Filed 06/06/2007 Page 2 of 26
the status of White House visitor records. NARA has responded by eschewing its statutory
responsibilities and asserting that it was merely an observer and co-equal participant in an
ongoing “policy” discussion. NARA’s effort to create a body of “secret law” by withholding
documents that show how NARA has exercised its statutory responsibilities is in direct conflict
with the FOIA’s goal of opening up agency action to the light of public scrutiny.
To justify its refusal to release the requested documents NARA relies on three erroneous
propositions. First, NARA argues that the documents concern a policy issue over which there
was considerable debate. In fact, however, the documents concern a legal issue. Second, NARA
describes its role as merely a participant in the ongoing discussions, ignoring completely its
statutorily assigned role as the arbiter of whether or not a document is an agency record under
the Federal Records Act. Third, NARA contends these discussions took place against a
backdrop of anticipated litigation, even though such litigation was years away when most of
these documents were created and at a time when there were no FOIA requests for White House
visitor logs that raised even the possibility of litigation. NARA has not met its burden of proof
in establishing that significant portions of the withheld documents are within the scope of
Exemption 5 of the FOIA and therefore is not entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law.
On September 27, 2006, plaintiff Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington
(“CREW”) submitted a FOIA request to NARA seeking records related to the practice of the
Secret Service to delete records from its computer system, including White House visitor records
known as WAVES and ACR records, afer transferring copies to the White House. CREW’s
request also sought records related to three pending suits seeking White House visitor records
Case 1:07-cv-00048-RBW Document 7 Filed 06/06/2007 Page 3 of 26
under the FOIA1 as well as documents related to NARA’s request that the Secret Service retain
the copies of WAVES records that it transferred to the White House. See Complaint, Exhibit A.
CREW sought expedited processing of its request based on the widespread and exceptional
media interest in the visitor logs and the questions of government integrity raised by the Secret
Service’s practice of intentionally destroying WAVES records once it transferred copies to the
White House. Id. CREW also sought a waiver of fees. Id.
CREW’s request stemmed from filings in The Washington Post v. U.S. Dep’t of
Homeland Security, Civ. Action No. 06-1737 (D.D.C.), which revealed that as of October 2004,
the Secret Service - - at the request of NARA - - was retaining its copies of WAVES and other
White House visitor records until a legal determination was made as to whether the White House
visitor records are agency or presidential records. CREW was seeking the documentary record
that would explain more specifically how NARA had carried out its statutory responsibilities
with respect to these records.
On October 20, 2006, NARA granted CREW’s request for expedition. Exhibit B to
Complaint. Four days later, NARA advised CREW that it had located 336 pages of records
responsive to CREW’s request, that it was disclosing 31 pages in full, disclosing 11 pages with
redactions, and withholding 118 pages in full as within the deliberative process privilege and
withholding 176 pages in full as within both the deliberative process and attorney work-product
privileges. Exhibit C to Complaint.
CREW appealed this partial denial of CREW’s request on October 25, 2006. Exhibit D
The three lawsuits are Judicial Watch v. U.S. Secret Service, Civ. Action No. 06-310
(D.D.C.), Democratic National Comm. v. U.S. Secret Service, Civ. Action No. 06-842 (D.D.C.)
and CREW v. U.S. Dep’t of Homeland Security, Civ. Action N. 06-883 (D.D.C.).
Case 1:07-cv-00048-RBW Document 7 Filed 06/06/2007 Page 4 of 26
to Complaint. CREW also challenged the scope and adequacy of NARA’s search, explaining
that NARA’s production appeared incomplete because it did not include any communications
with the Secret Service. Moreover, NARA had refused in a follow-up telephone conversation
with CREW’s counsel to identify whether the agency was withholding any records responsive to
this category of CREW’s request. Id. In addition, NARA failed to produce or otherwise
account for any documents that addressed the issue of the Secret Service’s document destruction.
Id. And with respect to NARA’s copies of publicly filed court documents, CREW made clear
that it was seeking only those records that contain any marginalia. Id.
On November 28, 2006, Deputy Archivist Lewis Ballardo granted CREW’s appeal in
part and denied it in part. Specifically, he identified an additional 50 pages of responsive
documents that NARA had located and produced 28 of those pages with redactions. NARA
further released 11 pages in whole from the original set of documents and another 57 pages in
part. Exhibit E to Complaint.
On January 12, 2007, CREW filed its complaint in this action. Pursuant to a jointly
proposed briefing schedule, NARA has now moved for summary judgment.
The FOIA, 5 U.S.C. § 552, is a mandatory disclosure statute that requires federal
agencies to release requested records to the public upon a request made by any person, unless
one or more of nine statutory exemptions apply. The FOIA was enacted to “pierce the veil of
administrative secrecy and to open agency action to the light of public scrutiny.” Dept of the Air
Force v. Rose, 425 U.S. 352, 361, 96 S. Ct. 1592, 1599 (1976) (quotation omitted). The FOIA
Case 1:07-cv-00048-RBW Document 7 Filed 06/06/2007 Page 5 of 26
allows citizens to know “what the government is up to, U.S. Dep’t of Justice v. Reporters Comm.
for Freedom of the Press, 489 U.S. 749, 773, 109 S. Ct. 1468, 1482 (1989), reh’g denied, No. 02-
409, 2004 WL 108633 (U.S. May 17, 2004), and acts as a check against corruption by holding
the government accountable to those it governs. NLRB v. Robbins Tire & Rubber Co., 437 U.S.
214, 242, 98 S. Ct. 2311, 2327 (1978).
Agency records not subject to a FOIA exemption must be disclosed upon the agency’s
receipt of a proper request. Such request must reasonably describe the records sought, 5 U.S.C.
§ 552(a)(3)(A), and must be made in accordance with the agency’s published FOIA regulations.
5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(3)(A)(ii).
Upon receipt of a FOIA complaint, the district has jurisdiction to “enjoin the agency from
withheld from the complainant.” 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(B). In a FOIA action, the agency bears
the burden of justifying its failure to disclose the requested documents. Id. The agency does so
through its Vaughn index or declarations. Summers v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 140 F.3d 1077,
1080 (D.C. Cir. 1998); Vaughn v. Rosen, 484 F.2d 829, 823 (D.C. Cir. 1973).
The Federal Records Act (“FRA”) is a series of statutes that govern the creation,
management and disposal of federal records. See 44 U.S.C. §§ 2101-2118, 3101-3107 and 3301-
3324. The FRA grants to NARA, the nation’s record-keeper, the statutory authority to “provide
guidance and assistance to Federal agencies with respect to ensuring adequate and proper
documentation of the policies and transactions of the Federal Government and ensuring proper
records disposition.” 44 U.S.C. § 2904(a). NARA’s archivist is responsible for promulgating
Case 1:07-cv-00048-RBW Document 7 Filed 06/06/2007 Page 6 of 26
standards, procedures and guidelines concerning records management, 44 U.S.C. § 2904(c)(1),
conducting inspections of the records and practices within and between federal agencies, id. at §
2904(c)(7), and reporting to Congress any violations of the FRA. Id. at § 2115(b).
The Archivist also plays a “key role in the disposal of records.” Armstrong v. Bush, 924
F.2d 282, 285 (D.C. Cir. 1991). Only the Archivist is authorized to approve the disposition of
records and only where they “are no longer needed by the agency” and they “do not have
‘sufficient administrative, legal, research, or other value to warrant their continued preservation
by the Government.’” Id., quoting 44 U.S.C. § 3303(a). Agency heads are required to notify the
Archivist of any unlawful removal or destruction of records and upon an agency head’s failure to
do so, the Archivist is to request that the Attorney General initiate an action to recover the
records and notify Congress. Id. at § 2905(a).
I. STANDARD FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN FOIA CASES
Summary Judgment is appropriate so long as there are no material facts at issue and no
fact “susceptible to divergent inferences bearing upon an issue critical to disposition of the case.”
Alyeska Pipeline Serv. v. EPA, 856 F.2d 309, 314 (D.C. Cir. 1988). Motions for summary
judgment in FOIA cases are governed by Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which
provides that judgment shall be rendered if “the pleadings, depositions, answers to
interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with affidavits, if any, show that there is no
genuine issue as to any material fact.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c).
In a FOIA lawsuit, the agency has the burden of justifying nondisclosure, and it must
satisfy its burden by submitting detailed affidavits or declarations that adequately identify the
Case 1:07-cv-00048-RBW Document 7 Filed 06/06/2007 Page 7 of 26
documents at issue and explain, beyond conclusory assertions, why they fall under the claimed
exemptions. See 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(B) (2000); See also Summers v. Dep’t. of Justice, 140
F.3d 1077, 1080 (D.C. Cir. 1998). In order for summary judgment to be available to the agency,
it must prove that it has fully discharged its obligations under the FOIA, after the underlying
facts and inferences drawn from them are construed in the light most favorable to the FOIA
requester. Miller v. United States Dep’t. of State, 779 F.2d 1378, 1382 (8th Cir. 1985). Here,
NARA has failed to prove that it has fully met its statutory obligations under the FOIA, and
therefore CREW is entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law.
II. NARA HAS NOT MET ITS BURDEN OF DEMONSTRATING THAT ALL
OF THE WITHHELD DOCUMENTS FALL WITHIN EXEMPTION 5 AND
CREW IS ACCORDINGLY ENTITLED TO SUMMARY JUDGMENT.
Exemption 5 of the FOIA protects from disclosure “inter-agency or intra-agency
memorandums or letters which 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). Here NARA has withheld approximately 294
pages of documents under Exemption 5, claiming that the documents are within either the
deliberative process privilege, attorney work-product doctrine, or the attorney-client privilege.
For the Court’s convenience, plaintiff addresses herein the four categories of documents
as outlined in NARA’s memorandum in support of its motion for summary judgment (“D’s
Mem.”) for which NARA has asserted Exemption 5: (1) disposition of WAVES records, (2)
documents regarding the Judicial Watch litigation over WAVES records, (3) documents
concerning policies for retaining WAVES records and (4) communications between Department
of Justice (“DOJ”) attorneys and NARA concerning draft legal briefs. To the extent plaintiff no
longer contests any particular withholdings within these categories, plaintiff so notes below.
Case 1:07-cv-00048-RBW Document 7 Filed 06/06/2007 Page 8 of 26
A. Disposition of WAVES Records2
As part of its record-keeping management and oversight responsibilities, NARA acts on
proposed records schedules that agencies submit to NARA proposing disposition of specified
records. 44 U.S.C. § 3303a. Although the submitting agencies provide their assessments of the
long-term need and usefulness of the scheduled records, it is the Archivist with whom the final
decision lies to decide whether or not an agency may dispose of specific categories of records.
Id. See also Armstrong v. Bush, 924 F.2d at 285.
Here, NARA has withheld documents that reflect how NARA has exercised its statutory
responsibility in acting upon agency-proposed records disposition schedules. Specifically,
NARA has withheld document numbers 3-5 and 73 as within the deliberative process privilege.
In order to fall within the protection of Exemption 5, NARA must demonstrate both that
the communication in question is pre-decisional and that it is deliberative. Wolfe v. HHS, 839
F.2d 768, 774 (D.C. Cir. 1988) (en banc). To establish that the material in question is pre-
decisional, NARA must demonstrate “what deliberative process is involved, and the role played
by the documents in issue in the course of that process.” Coastal States Gas Corp. v. Dep’t of
Energy, 617 F.2d 854, 868 (D.C. Cir. 1980). In deciding whether a document is pre-decisional,
courts will often look at the flow of the document through the decision-making chain. Thus, a
document from a subordinate to a superior official is more likely to be pre-decisional than one
from a superior to a subordinate. Id.
Plaintiff no longer contests withholdings identified in defendant’s Vaughn Index as
document numbers 1, 2, 4, 6 and 8-11.
References are to the document numbers on the Vaughn Index accompanying the
declaration of Gary Stern.
Case 1:07-cv-00048-RBW Document 7 Filed 06/06/2007 Page 9 of 26
In establishing that a withheld document is deliberative, NARA must distinguish between
materials that are purely factual and therefore beyond the scope of Exemption 5 and materials
that are deliberative and therefore protected from disclosure. See, e.g., Environmental Protection
Agency v. Mink, 410 U.S. 73, 91, 93 S. Ct. 827, 838 (1973) (factual material not protected from
disclosure merely because it was placed with matters of law, policy, or opinion).
Document number 3 is an undated one-page memorandum that Mr. Stern, NARA’s
General Counsel, describes as discussing “various legal and recordkeeping issues concerning
WAVES records.” Declaration of Gary M. Stern (“Stern Decl.”), ¶ 17. As described, this
document was not produced in the process of formulating policy or advice regarding WAVES
records, but rather is a statement of the agency’s legal position.
Even if this undated document preceded NARA’s decision with respect to the specific
proposed records schedule the Secret Service had submitted, still it is not pre-decisional.
Instead, this document reflects the law that NARA actually is applying as it evaluates the records
schedules submitted by agencies. Compare Tax Analysts v. IRS, 117 F.3d 607, 616-617 (D.C.
Cir. 1977) (field service advice memoranda not pre-decisional because they constitute
“statements of an agency’s legal position.”). Here, as in Tax Analysts, the document at issue did
not precede the agency’s decision regarding its overall legal position, just the application of that
position to a particular case. As such it is a non-deliberative attempt to develop a body of
coherent interpretations of the records schedules of the White House visitor logs. Id. at 617.
Document numbers 5 and 7 are email communications from Mr. Stern, acting in his
position as NARA’s General Counsel, to NARA staff regarding what “further actions” they
should take with respect to the Secret Service WAVES records schedules. These superior-to-
Case 1:07-cv-00048-RBW Document 7 Filed 06/06/2007 Page 10 of 26
subordinate authoritative instructions to NARA staff do not reflect a deliberative process at
work. See Evans v. U.S. Office of Personnel Management, 276 F.Supp.2d 34, 41 (D.D.C.
2003).4 Moreover, NARA has not established -- as it must -- that it has never implemented the
opinions or analysis contained in these documents, has never incorporated them into final agency
policy or programs, never referred to them in a precedential fashion or otherwise treated them as
if they constitute agency protocol. NLRB v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 421 U.S. 132, 151, 95 S. Ct.
1504, 1517 (1975); Tax Analysts, 117 F.3d at 617-618.
NARA also argues that the documents must be protected from public disclosure to
prevent “public confusion.” D’s Mem. at 15. This argument is undermined by the fact that
NARA released the proposed records schedules themselves, with no documentation explaining
what, if any, action NARA took with respect to the schedules. Clearly the risk of public
confusion is heightened by the agency’s refusal to turn over any explanatory materials. Thus,
the purpose behind the deliberative process privilege would be thwarted, not advanced, by
allowing the agency to shield from public view any explanation for the exercise of its statutory
Indeed, given the multiple lawsuits concerning the legal status of the White House visitor
records, the cryptic references in those lawsuits to NARA’s role and NARA’s statutory
responsibility to determine a record’s status as an agency record worthy of preservation, it is
Evans involved a memorandum from the agency’s Office of General Counsel (“OGC”)
relating to the use of multiple certificates to fill certain positions that was prepared by an OGC
staff member in response to an inquiry from a program office of the agency. Reasoning that the
OGC memorandum was a statement of that office’s legal position on a policy, the court
concluded that the memorandum was not exempt as a deliberative or pre-decisional document.
Case 1:07-cv-00048-RBW Document 7 Filed 06/06/2007 Page 11 of 26
imperative that these documents be released to clear up public confusion. By insisting on
anonymity for its role and views, NARA appears to be complicit in a government-wide effort to
prevent the public from learning the truth behind the radical shift in position on the status of
White House visitor records. Not only is this contrary to the fundamental purposes of the FOIA,
but it risks the creation of a “body of secret law used by [the agency] in the discharge of its
regulatory duties and in its dealings with the public, but hidden behind a veil of privilege . . .”
Coastal States, 617 F.3d at 868.
NARA’s claims of public confusion also rest on a fundamental misconstruction of the
agency’s role here. According to NARA, there is a heightened risk of public confusion should
these documents be disclosed because NARA “is not the final arbiter under the Presidential
Records Act of whether a document qualifies as a presidential record,” D’s Mem. at 15. NARA,
is, however, the final arbiter under the FRA of whether a document is an agency record that must
be preserved or can, instead, be destroyed. According to NARA’s own documents and its
Vaughn index, the Secret Service first sought the views of NARA under the FRA by submitting
disposition schedules for its White House visitor logs. That NARA may have subsequently
become co-opted by the White House to the degree that it now espouses a different view cannot
negate NARA’s views on the status of these records under the FRA -- something within NARA’s
expertise and jurisdiction.
NARA also claims these email communications are protected by the attorney work-
product doctrine. D’s Mem. at 15. While NARA concedes that no litigation was yet pending on
the status of WAVES records when NARA employees composed these messages, it nevertheless
argues essentially that because these documents were written by NARA attorneys or penned for
Case 1:07-cv-00048-RBW Document 7 Filed 06/06/2007 Page 12 of 26
NARA attorneys by NARA archivists in response to specific questions counsel posed related to
the legal status of WAVES records, they should be afforded protection under the work-product
doctrine. D’s Mem. at 15-16.
The purpose of the work-product doctrine is to ensure that “a lawyer [can] work with a
certain degree of privacy, free from unnecessary intrusion by opposing parties and their
counsel,” and to permit attorneys to “assemble information, sift what [they] consider[] to be the
relevant from the irrelevant facts, prepare [their] legal theories and plan [their] strateg[ies]
without undue and needless interference.” Hickman v. Taylor, 329 U.S. 495, 510-11, 67 S. Ct.
385, 393 (1947). To this end, the doctrine “provides a working attorney with a ‘zone of privacy’”
so long as the document at issue was “created for use at trial or because a lawyer or party
reasonably anticipated that specific litigation would occur . . .” Coastal States, 617 F.2d at 864.
While it is true that for the attorney work-product doctrine to apply litigation need not be
actual or imminent, it “does not attach until at least some articulable claim, likely to lead to
litigation, has arisen.” Id. at 865. It is not enough that some unspecified claim may conceivably
be brought by some as yet unidentified party at some unknown point in the future. Id. As the
courts have observed, “the policies of the FOIA would be largely defeated” if agencies were
permitted to withhold attorney-created documents “simply because litigation might someday
occur.” Senate of P.R. v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 823 F.2d 574, 587 (D.C. Cir. 1987), citing
Coastal States, 617 F.2d at 865.
The documents at issue here were created in 1997 and 2000, years before there were even
any FOIA requests for White House visitor logs. Yet NARA now claims that unnamed NARA
employees believed that “many parties might wish to file FOIA requests” for these records and
Case 1:07-cv-00048-RBW Document 7 Filed 06/06/2007 Page 13 of 26
that such requests would “likely lead to litigation over the status of WAVES records.” Stern
Decl. at ¶ 23. NARA has not identified a single FOIA request for these records prior to January
20, 2006, when Judicial Watch filed its FOIA request with the Secret Service for WAVES
records of visits by convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff -- a point in time nine years after the
creation of some of the disputed documents and a lawsuit that did not, in any event, raise the
issue of the legal status of WAVES records.5 On this record NARA’s purported belief about the
likelihood of litigation is based, at most, on rank speculation, not the reasonable likelihood that
the law requires. Moreover, while NARA now claims that unnamed employees “believed that
the determination that WAVES records are presidential records would likely become the subject
of litigation,” id., it is not at all clear that this is the view expressed in the withheld documents.
For all we know these communications express NARA’s view that White House visitor records
are agency records subject to the FOIA -- a view that, had it prevailed, would not have led to
litigation as the documents would have been publicly accessible.
In short, it simply is not reasonable for an agency to claim -- as NARA does here -- that it
had an expectation of litigation based solely on the fact that years after the records in dispute
were created, litigation in fact ensued. Accordingly, these records are not within the scope of the
attorney work-product doctrine.
2. 2001 WAVES Record Retention Memoranda
NARA has also withheld a number of documents related to what it describes as a
proposal “concerning the management of WAVES records and the transfer of certain Clinton
The Secret Service actually processed Judicial Watch’s FOIA request and released at
least some of the requested records, going so far as to enter into a court-ordered stipulation of
Case 1:07-cv-00048-RBW Document 7 Filed 06/06/2007 Page 14 of 26
Administration WAVES records” from the Secret Service to the White House that was made
near the close of the Clinton Administration. D’s Mem. at 17.6 According to NARA, document
numbers 12-14, 15 and 17 are pre-decisional and within the scope of the deliberative process
privilege and the attorney work-product doctrine.
As NARA’s description of these documents makes clear, however, they concern NARA’s
exercise of its statutory responsibility to act on records schedules agencies submit to the
Archivist; in this regard NARA has final disposition authority. For example, document number
13 is a memorandum from the White House and the Secret Service concerning the management,
transfer and disposition of visitor logs, while document number 14 is NARA’s response. By
their own description these are not documents that were created by NARA to formulate a policy,
but rather represent NARA’s discharge of its statutory duty to act on agency proposals regarding
the disposition of its records. As such, they do not meet the requirements of the deliberative
process privilege. See, e.g., Tax Analysts v. IRS, 117 F.3d at 616-617.
This conclusion is not altered by NARA’s labeling of these documents as “policy
proposals,” D’s Mem. at 17. Agency recommendations to NARA on the disposition of agency
records, even those that include the views of the White House, and NARA’s response are legal
issues involving NARA’s exercise of its statutory authority under the FRA. Nor are these
documents “deliberative” within the meaning of Exemption 5 of the FOIA. They set out
NARA’s technical advice and legal position on the scheduling of White Visitor logs and, like the
advice and technical assistance memoranda at issue in Tax Analysts, are neither pre-decisional
In this category, which includes document numbers 12, 13, 14, 15, 15a, 16 and 17,
plaintiff is not challenging document number 15a.
Case 1:07-cv-00048-RBW Document 7 Filed 06/06/2007 Page 15 of 26
nor deliberative.
Nor, as NARA claims,7 are these documents protected by the attorney work-product
doctrine, as there was no reasonable anticipation of litigation at the time of their creation. These
documents concern a proposal submitted in 2001, by the Clinton White House. They cover a
time period that predates by years the first lawsuit seeking White House visitor logs from the
Secret Service. NARA’s currently claimed belief as to the possibility of litigation over the
disposition of WAVES records is simply not tied to any articulable claim that had arisen in 2001.
3. 2004 WAVES Record Retention Memoranda and Related Documents
NARA has also withheld documents related to another so-called “proposal” in 2004 for
the disposition of White House visitor records not previously identified. See D’s Mem. at 19.8
Like the documents concerning a related proposal by the Clinton White House, these do not fall
within the deliberative process privilege because they consist of the legal views of NARA’s
general counsel on questions regarding the transfer and disposition of WAVES records. For
example, document number 26 is described as “pre-decisional” merely because it was created
prior to NARA acting on the joint submission of the White House and the Secret Service. D’s
Mem. at 19. As in Tax Analysts, however, this does not transform a document that reflects
NARA’s exercise of its statutory duty to provide guidance and assistance to agencies into a
deliberative, pre-decisional document.
NARA also argues that disclosing the contents of this document will risk public
See D’s Mem. at 18-19.
This includes document numbers 12-33; plaintiff does not challenge withholdings in
document numbers 15a, 19-23, 25, 28, 32-33.
Case 1:07-cv-00048-RBW Document 7 Filed 06/06/2007 Page 16 of 26
confusion “about the agencies’ views on the appropriate procedures for the maintenance and
disposition of WAVES and ACR records.” D’s Mem. at 20. To the contrary, it is NARA’s
failure to reveal publicly the “secret law” reflected in these documents that risks public
confusion. Indeed, it appears that what the government is really trying to cover up is not what
the appropriate maintenance and disposition procedures are, but rather that there was
disagreement within the executive branch over how to apply those procedures to Secret Service
records of White House visitors. This is an improper use of FOIA’s exemptions that should not
be countenanced by this Court.
Further, NARA claims that disclosure of these documents will “chill inter-agency
communication as “it will make agencies less likely to seek input from other agencies on draft
policy proposals . . .” D’s Mem. at 22. This concern also is misplaced. First, the documents at
issue do not reflect a policy, but rather NARA’s exercise of its statutory responsibilities. More
fundamentally, NARA’s role in this process is mandated by the FRA and is not, as NARA
suggests here, dependent on the desire of any particular agency to seek NARA’s views on the
disposition of agency records.
In addition, NARA argues that these documents are protected by the attorney work-
product doctrine because they were authored by attorneys and because someone at NARA
believed they concerned a subject over which there would be future litigation. D’s Mem. at 20.
The complete absence of any reasonable basis to anticipate litigation that, in any case, did not
occur until years later and that was clearly not reasonably foreseeable at the time of the
documents’ creation negates any legitimate claim of protection under Exemption 5.
NARA has also withheld a hard copy of a power point slide presentation created by the
Case 1:07-cv-00048-RBW Document 7 Filed 06/06/2007 Page 17 of 26
Secret Service for NARA that discusses WAVES and ACR retention issues. Stern Decl., ¶ 21.
NARA describes the document as deliberative and pre-decisional “given its fragmentary nature.”
Id. Quite apart from the fact that this description is virtually meaningless, it does not establish
that the presentation contains any deliberative information. Purely factual material like that
contained in the power point presentation is not within the reach of Exemption 5. Mink, 410
U.S. at 91, 93 S. Ct. at 838; Coastal States, 617 F.2d at 867.
Moreover, NARA was exercising its statutory authority to provide its input and legal
conclusions on the issues raised by the Secret Service’s presentation. Merely attending a
presentation on an issue for which the Secret Service was seeking NARA’s views does not
constitute pre-decisional deliberative process that Exemption 5 was intended to protect.
Equally flawed is NARA’s argument that this presentation is protected by the attorney
work-product doctrine. The mere participation of an attorney does not, as NARA suggests,
transform the document into attorney work-product. Rather, there must be reasonably
foreseeable litigation, which was not the case here.
4. Documents Related to the Pending Judicial Watch Litigation
NARA has also withheld a group of documents related to a pending lawsuit, Judicial
Watch v. U.S. Secret Service, Civ. Action No. 06-310 (D.D.C.).9 Judicial Watch’s suit is based
on its FOIA request for records of White House visits by Jack Abramoff.
While NARA attempts to cloak many of these documents with the protection of the
deliberative process privilege, it has failed to identify exactly what decision it was participating
These documents include document numbers 34-44 and 53. CREW does not contest the
withholding of document numbers 38, 39, 41 and 43.
Case 1:07-cv-00048-RBW Document 7 Filed 06/06/2007 Page 18 of 26
in. Nor can any such decision reasonably be gleaned from the litigation itself given that NARA
is not a party to the Judicial Watch lawsuit. Moreover, while NARA has described at least some
of the documents as “candid” discussions of the legal status of WAVES records, D’s Mem. at
24., the Judicial Watch suit does not involve the issue of whether the requested visitor records
are presidential or agency records. Instead, the Secret Service processed Judicial Watch’s FOIA
request, agreed to be bound by a court-ordered stipulation committing the agency to produce the
requested documents by a date certain and pursuant to that stipulation, produced responsive
documents to Judicial Watch. The only remaining dispute is whether the Secret Service
produced all responsive documents, or only a narrower subset as Judicial Watch has claimed.
The fact that NARA lawyers and other NARA staff exchanged emails regarding the
litigation, D’s Mem. at 24, does not by itself establish that the emails reflect internal
deliberations regarding a decision that NARA was making. Nor has NARA shown that these
documents are protected by the attorney work-product doctrine. NARA is not a party to the
Judicial Watch litigation and it has not established that the documents in question were prepared
for the Secret Service, the sole defendant in the lawsuit.
In sum, that NARA may have had an interest in litigation to which it was not a party, that
individuals within NARA may have expressed views on issues potentially related to the
litigation and that they may have been candid in their views are insufficient to establish that
these documents are protected by Exemption 5. Neither the deliberative process privilege nor
the attorney work-product doctrine sweeps so broadly as to encompass the views and analysis of
attorneys and individuals who are not themselves parties to litigation.
Case 1:07-cv-00048-RBW Document 7 Filed 06/06/2007 Page 19 of 26
5. Deliberations on Status and Disposition of WAVES Records Contemporaneous
NARA has identified four additional categories of documents that it describes generically
as consisting of deliberations on the status and disposition of WAVES records and that occurred
“against the backdrop of pending litigation seeking access to WAVES records . . .” D’s Mem. at
27. NARA has withheld these documents as within the deliberative process and attorney-client
privileges and the attorney work-product doctrine. As discussed below, most of these documents
do not meet the Exemption 5 requirements.
NARA has withheld document number 45, which is a draft memorandum of
understanding (“MOU”) between the Secret Service and the White House Office of Records
Management (“WHORM”). According to NARA, the MOU documents “past practices
regarding WAVES and ACR records and formalize[s] the legal status of those records and
WHORM’s management and custody of the WAVES and ACR records.” D’s Mem. at 27.
NARA justifies the non-disclosure of the MOU as “necessarily pre-decisional” because it is an
unexecuted draft. Id.
The label assigned to this document by the agency -- formal, binding, precedential, final
or adopted as opposed to draft or deliberative -- is not dispositive and conclusory or general
assertions in an agency’s declaration are not sufficient to establish that the document is exempt.
Coastal States, 617 F.2d at 867-68. In order for the document to be deliberative the agency must
establish that it has never implemented the proposal or analysis contained in the document,
incorporated them into final agency policies or programs, referred to them in a precedential
fashion, or otherwise treated them as if they constitute agency protocol. NLRB v. Sears,
Case 1:07-cv-00048-RBW Document 7 Filed 06/06/2007 Page 20 of 26
Roebuck & Co., 421 U.S. at 161, 95 S. Ct. at 1521. Here, because NARA has not established
that the opinions or analysis contained in the draft MOU were not incorporated into the final
MOU that was made public, this document is not protected from disclosure by Exemption 5.
Moreover, based on NARA’s description of this document, the MOU also appears to be
purely factual. Purely factual material, however, is not exempt as deliberative under the FOIA.
Mink, 410 U.S. at 91, 93 S. Ct. at 838; Coastal States, 617 F.2d at 867.
b. OLC Advice Memorandum
NARA has also withheld under Exemption 5 a Department of Justice Office of Legal
Counsel advice memorandum (“OLC advice memo”) issued in May 2006 (document number
55). According to NARA, the OLC advice memo contains a legal discussion regarding WAVES
records that was “issued in connection with OLC’s advisory function of providing legal advice to
the Executive Branch.” D’s Mem. at 28.
NARA relies in part on the attorney-client privilege to justify the document’s non-
disclosure. The attorney-client privilege protects confidential communications made between
clients and their attorneys when the communications are for the purpose of securing legal advice
or services. Coastal States, 617 F.2d at 863; Mead Data Central, Inc. v. U.S. Dep’t of the Air
Force, 566 F.2d 242, 252 (D.C. Cir. 1977). To be protected under the privilege, the information
must have been confidential at the time of the communication and that confidentiality must have
been preserved since the communication. Coastal States, supra. Information later shared with
third parties is not within the privilege. Mead Data Central, supra. Moreover, information that
is obtained from third parties and communicated to agency lawyers by agency employees is not
protected “if no new or confidential information concerning the Agency is imparted in the
Case 1:07-cv-00048-RBW Document 7 Filed 06/06/2007 Page 21 of 26
process.” Coastal States, supra.
Here, NARA’s reliance on the attorney-client privilege to justify withholding the OLC
advice memo is completely misplaced. NARA has no attorney-client relationship with the
Secret Service, the White House or, most importantly, the OLC. Instead, NARA is simply the
third-party recipient of a document prepared by another agency component, the OLC, not in its
role as attorney to a client, but in its broader “advisory function of providing legal advice to the
Executive Branch.” D’s Mem. at 28. In fulfilling that function OLC did not rely on the kind of
confidential communications or “private information concerning the agency” that the attorney-
client privilege was designed to protect. Coastal States, 617 F.2d at 863. Rather, it was offering
the kind of “neutral, objective analyses” that the D.C. Circuit has recognized are not within the
privilege. Id.
Just as unavailing is NARA’s reliance on the deliberative process privilege to protect this
document from disclosure under the FOIA. NARA has not carried its legal burden of
demonstrating that the document in question is non-final. As the D.C. Circuit has explained,
“[t]he rationale underlying the ‘final opinion’ exception to the deliberative process rule is to
prevent agencies from developing a body of ‘secret law’ veiled by the privilege of Exemption 5.”
Brinton v. Dep’t of State, 636 F.2d 600, 605 (D.C. Cir. 1980) (citation omitted). All that NARA
has offered, however, is its understanding as an agency not involved directly in the OLC advice
memo that the memo “has been closely held and not circulated outside the Executive Branch.”
D’s Mem. at 29. This alone, however, does not establish that the OLC advice memo is a non-
Moreover, the Secret Service in other litigation has already disclosed the contents of an
Case 1:07-cv-00048-RBW Document 7 Filed 06/06/2007 Page 22 of 26
MOU executed in May 2006 and a letter from the Office of the Vice President sent in September
2006 that purport to memorialize the legal status of White House visitor logs under the FRA and
the Presidential Records Act. Given OLC’s advisory role, it is difficult to imagine that either of
these documents reflects a legal position inconsistent with that contained in the OLC advisory
memo. As the Second Circuit reasoned under similar circumstances, once an agency adopts a
document as its policy “the principal rationale behind the deliberative process privilege
evaporates; for once an agency adopts or incorporates document, frank communication will not
be inhibited.” Nat’l Council of LaRaza v. Dep’t of Justice, 411 F.3d 350, 360 (2d Cir. 2005).
Finally, NARA claims this document is exempt under the attorney work-product
doctrine, but does not even attempt to explain how there is an articulable claim NARA was
involved in that would likely lead to litigation involving NARA. Accordingly, it has not met its
burden of proof. Coastal States, 617 F.2d at 865.
c. Inter- and Intra-Agency Communications about Drafts of the MOU
and OLC Advice Memo
For the reasons cited above, NARA has also failed to establish that the inter- and intra-
agency communications about the drafts of the MOU and OLC advice memo are properly
withheld as deliberative process or attorney work-product documents.10 NARA’s participation in
any discussions it had with the Associate Counsel to the President, DOJ attorneys and Secret
Service representatives would have been in its role as the authority on decisions concerning
agency records schedules and disposition. Thus, because NARA was merely articulating its
legal position on record-keeping issues here, as in Tax Analysts, 117 F.3d at 617, documents that
Plaintiff does not contest the withholding of document numbers 47, 50 and 52.
Case 1:07-cv-00048-RBW Document 7 Filed 06/06/2007 Page 23 of 26
reflect that role are not exempt.
NARA has also withheld documents that it describes as communications between White
House Counsel, NARA, the DOJ and the Secret Service that were triggered by “an inquiry by an
Associate Counsel to the President into the logistics of maintaining and transferring WAVES
and ACR records in light of pending litigation.” D’s Mem. at 33. Factual communications about
the “logistics” of maintaining and transferring records are hardly the kind of pre-decisional
internal deliberations protected by Exemption 5.
While NARA’s lawyers suggest the documents also contain “opinions of lawyers on the
need to maintain WAVES and ACR records during the pendency of ongoing litigation,” D’s
Mem. at 33, that description does not match the description found in NARA’s Vaughn index or
in Mr. Stern’s declaration. Mr. Stern merely observes that the authors of these communications
were “aware of their obligations to preserve records that are subject to pending litigation,” Stern
Decl. at ¶ 29, and that the documents “purport to discuss the government’s evidentiary
obligations . . .” This is no substitute for the affirmative evidence needed that the documents in
fact contain legal discussions about legal obligations conducted by lawyers involved in the
III. NARA FAILED TO CONDUCT AN ADEQUATE SEARCH FOR
Upon receipt of a properly submitted FOIA request, an agency must conduct a search that
is “reasonably calculated to uncover all relevant documents.” Weisberg v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice,
CREW is not contesting document numbers 61-75 that NARA describes as
“Communications Between DOJ’s Federal Programs Branch and NARA Counsel Concerning
Draft District Court Filings in Related CREW Litigation,” D’s Mem. at 34.
Case 1:07-cv-00048-RBW Document 7 Filed 06/06/2007 Page 24 of 26
705 F.2d 1344, 1351 (D.C. Cir. 1983); See also Truitt v. Dep’t of State, 897 F.2d 540, 542 (D.C.
Cir. 1990). The reasonableness of an agency’s search depends, in part, on the scope of the FOIA
request and the requester’s description of the records sought. See e.g., 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(3)(A)
(requiring that a FOIA request “reasonably describe[]” the records sought). Moreover, as the
Department of Justice’s Office of Information and Privacy has counseled government agencies,
FOIA requests should be interpreted “‘liberally’ when determining which records are
responsive.” FOIA Update, Vol. XVI, No. 2 at 3, quoting Nation Magazine v. U.S. Customs
Serv., 71 F.3d 885, 890 (D.C. Cir. 1995).
The responding agency bears the burden of proving the adequacy of its search. See, e.g.,
Patterson v. IRS, 56 F.3d 832, 840 (7th Cir. 1995); Maynard v. CIA, 986 F.2d 547, 560 (1st Cir.
1993). The agency carries this burden through the submission of “detailed, nonconclusory
affidavits.” Weisberg, 745 F.2d at 1485; see also Oglesby v. Dep’t of the Army, 920 F.2d 57, 68
(D.C. Cir. 1990). Toward that end, agency declarations will be deemed inadequate if they do not
identify what files were searched, what search terms were used, and do not show that the search
method was “reasonably calculated to uncover all relevant documents.” Id. It is also necessary
that the agency declaration “aver[] that all files likely to contain responsive materials . . . were
searched” in order to “afford a FOIA requester an opportunity to challenge the adequacy of the
search and to allow the district court to determine if the search was adequate in order to grant
summary judgment.” Id. See also Iturralde v. Comptroller of Currency, 315 F.3d 311, 313-14
(D.C. Cir. 2003). If the agency declarations do not meet this standard, summary judgment must
be denied. Landmark Legal Foundation v. EPA, 272 F.Supp.2d 59, 66 (D.D.C. 2003) (“‘agency
affidavits that do not denote which files were searched, or by whom, do not reflect any
Case 1:07-cv-00048-RBW Document 7 Filed 06/06/2007 Page 25 of 26
systematic approach to document location . . . are insufficient to support summary judgment.’”)
(citing Weisberg, 627 F.2d at 371); See also Valencia-Lucena v. U.S. Coast Guard, 180 F.3d
321, 326 (D.C. Cir. 1990); Founding Church of Scientology v. Nat’l Sec. Agency, 610 F.2d 824,
837 (D.C. Cir. 1979).
When judged against these standards, NARA’s declaration submitted to document the
reasonableness of its search falls decidedly short. All that the declaration of Mr. Stern explains
is that he “contacted staff in various component offices that would have worked on issues related
to WAVES records, including the Office of the General Counsel, the Office of Records Services,
and the Office of Presidential Libraries.” Stern Decl., ¶ 5. What NARA has failed to identify,
however, is which specific files were searched using which specific search terms. At bottom,
there is simply insufficient evidence from which the Court can determine whether the search
NARA conducted was “reasonably calculated to uncover all relevant documents.” Oglesby, 920
F.2d at 68. This conclusion is underscored by the agency’s failure to affirmatively aver that “all
files likely to contain responsive materials . . . were searched.” Id.
Accordingly, on the basis of the record that NARA has put before this Court, its motion
for summary judgment must be denied because its conclusory argument that it conducted a
legally adequate search is without sufficient evidentiary support.
Case 1:07-cv-00048-RBW Document 7 Filed 06/06/2007 Page 26 of 26
For the foregoing reasons, CREW respectfully requests that the Court deny defendant’s
motion for summary judgment, and grant CREW’s cross-motion for summary judgment. Oral
argument is requested.
Kimberly D. Perkins
(D.C. Bar No. 481460)
Phone: 202-408-5565
Fax: 202-588-5020
Case 1:07-cv-00048-RBW Document 7-2 Filed 06/06/2007 Page 1 of 2
Pursuant to Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, plaintiff Citizens for
Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (“CREW”), respectfully cross-moves for summary
judgement in this case. There are no material issues of fact in dispute and CREW is entitled to
judgment as a matter of law. The points and authorities supporting this motion and in opposition
to defendant’s motion are set forth in Plaintiff’s Opposition to Defendant’s Motion for Summary
Judgment and Memorandum in Support of Plaintiff’s Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment.
Case 1:07-cv-00048-RBW Document 7-2 Filed 06/06/2007 Page 2 of 2
Case 1:07-cv-00048-RBW Document 7-3 Filed 06/06/2007 Page 1 of 3
NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND :
RECORDS ADMINISTRATION :
PLAINTIFF’S RESPONSE TO DEFENDANT NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORD
ADMINISTRATION’S STATEMENT OF MATERIAL FACTS AS TO
WHICH THERE IS NO GENUINE ISSUE
Pursuant to LCvR 7(h), Plaintiff Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington
(“CREW”) hereby responds to National Archives and Records Administration’s (“NARA”)
statement of material facts as to which it contends there is no genuine issue and sets forth
Plaintiff’s Response to Defendant’s Statement of Material Facts as follows:
1. Plaintiff neither admits nor denies. This paragraph is a characterization of the
declaration of a United States Secret Service official and the declaration of NARA General
Counsel Gary M. Stern.
2. Plaintiff neither admits nor denies. This paragraph is a characterization of the
declaration of a United States Secret Service official.
5. Denied, except to admit that in its October 24, 2006 response to CREW’s FOIA
request, NARA represented that it had searched its “operational records” and located 336 pages
Case 1:07-cv-00048-RBW Document 7-3 Filed 06/06/2007 Page 2 of 3
of records. Defendant did not assert in its response what “operational records”are or what
electronic or paper files were searched for potentially responsive records.
7. CREW admits that by letter dated October 24, 2006, NARA identified 336 pages of
documents responsive to CREW’s request, disclosed 31 of those pages in full and 11 in part, and
withheld in full an additional 294 pages. The remainder of this paragraph is a characterization of
the arguments made by NARA, the contents of which speak for themselves.
9. CREW admits that it received a letter dated November 28, 2006, from NARA Deputy
Archivist Lewis Bellardo that purported to respond to CREW’s appeal by identifying an
additional 50 pages of responsive materials, of which it released 28 pages in part, and releasing
in full an additional 11 pages of material it originally withheld while releasing in part an
additional 57 pages of documents originally withheld. The remainder of this paragraph is a
characterization of the arguments made by the administrative respondent, the contents of which
10. CREW admits the first sentence. The second sentence is a characterization of
NARA’s declaration and Vaughn index, the contents of which speak for themselves.
Case 1:07-cv-00048-RBW Document 7-3 Filed 06/06/2007 Page 3 of 3
D.C. Bar No. 481460
Case 1:07-cv-00048-RBW Document 7-4 Filed 06/06/2007 Page 1 of 5
PLAINTIFF’S RULE 7(H) STATEMENT OF MATERIAL FACTS
Pursuant to LCvR 7(h), plaintiff, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington
(“CREW”), submits this statement of material facts for which there is no genuine issue.
1. CREW is a nonprofit corporation dedicated to protecting the right of citizens to be
officials. Complaint ¶ 4.
2. CREW is committed to empowering citizens to have an influential voice in
government decisions and in the government decision-making process. To accomplish this,
CREW relies, in part, on the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) for information to assist it in
providing the public with full, accurate and current information. Complaint ¶¶ 4-6.
3. On or before October 2004, NARA requested that the Secret Service retain copies of
all Workers and Visitors Entrance System (“WAVES”) records that the Secret Service had
transferred to the White House Office of Records Management. Complaint ¶ 16.
4. The Secret Service, at the direction of the Office of the Vice President and/or the
White House Office of Records Management, has communicated to NARA the view that
Case 1:07-cv-00048-RBW Document 7-4 Filed 06/06/2007 Page 2 of 5
WAVES records are presidential records and are therefore not subject to the Federal Records
Act. The Secret Service has agreed to maintain its copies of the WAVES records until a legal
determination is made as to whether those records are agency records or presidential records.
5. Both the Secret Service and the Office of the Vice President, in filings made in The
Washington Post v. U.S. Dep’t of Homeland Security, C.A. No. 1737 (D.D.C.), have admitted
that NARA requested that the Secret Service retains its copies of WAVES records and that the
Secret Service agreed to do so pending a legal determination as to whether records created under
the White House Access Control System, which includes WAVES records and the Access
Control Records System, are presidential records. Complaint ¶ 18.
6. On September 27, 2006, Plaintiff sent a FOIA request to NARA seeking records
relating to the request made by NARA to the U.S. Secret Service “that the Secret Service retain
its own copies of the Workers and Visitors Entrance System (“WAVES”) records that it
transferred to the White House.” Complaint ¶ 19; Complaint Exhibit A. CREW also sought
communications between NARA and any other governmental entity regarding the practice of the
Secret Service to erase copies of WAVES records it had transferred to the White House,
documents referring or relating to the practice of the Secret Service to delete records from its
computer system and documents related to three pending district court cases: (I) Judicial Watch
v. U.S. Secret Service, C.A. No. 06-310 ( (D.D.C.), (ii) Democratic Nat’l Comm. v. U.S. Secret
Service, C.A. No. 06-842 (D.D.C.) and (iii) CREW v. U.S. Dep’t of Homeland Security, C.A.
No. 06-883 (D.D.C.). Id.
7. By letter dated October 24, 2006, NARA advised CREW that the agency had located
Case 1:07-cv-00048-RBW Document 7-4 Filed 06/06/2007 Page 3 of 5
336 pages of documents responsive to CREW’s FOIA request. Complaint ¶ 23; Complaint
Exhibit C. NARA explained that it had excluded from the request copies of publicly available
court filings. Id. Of the 336 pages of responsive documents, NARA disclosed 31 pages in full
and 11 pages in part with redactions pursuant to Exemption 5 of the FOIA, 5 U.S.C. §552(b)(5),
as inter- and intra-agency communications protected by the deliberative process privilege. Id. In
addition, NARA withheld 118 pages in full as within the deliberative process privilege and
protected by Exemption 5, and 176 pages in full as deliberative and attorney-work product also
protected by Exemption 5. Id.
8. On October 25, 2006, CREW appealed the partial denial of CREW’s FOIA request.
Complaint ¶ 24; Complaint Exhibit D. On the scope and adequacy of NARA’s search, CREW
explained that NARA’s production did not appear to be complete because it did not include any
communications with the Secret Service, as CREW had expressly requested, and NARA had
refused, in a follow-up telephone conversation with CREW, to identify whether the agency had
withheld any records responsive to CREW’s request for these communications. Id. NARA also
failed to provide any documents that addressed the issue of the Secret Service’s document
destruction. Id. Moreover, to the extent NARA had excluded publicly available court filings,
CREW explained that it was seeking production of those records that contain any marginalia. Id.
9. As to the exemption claims, CREW challenged NARA’s failure to explain the basis
for its assertion of Exemption 5 and its failure to state whether there are segregable, factual
portions of documents that could be disclosed. Id. CREW also explained that Exemption 5 is
not available to withhold documents that reflect how NARA has exercised its statutory record-
keeping obligations with respect to the Secret Service. Id. As to NARA’s reliance on the
Case 1:07-cv-00048-RBW Document 7-4 Filed 06/06/2007 Page 4 of 5
attorney-work product to withhold documents under Exemption 5, CREW challenged NARA’s
failure to identify “some articulable claim likely to lead to litigation.” Id.
10. By letter dated November 28, 2006, NARA responded to CREW’s appeal. Complaint
¶ 26; Complaint Exhibit E. NARA defended its search as “adequate and comprehensive.” Id.
NARA also advised CREW that subsequent to its initial search, the agency had located an
additional 336 pages of responsive material in NARA’s Office of General Counsel and
components of the Office of Records Services and an additional 50 pages of material found by
staff in the Office of General Counsel and the Office of Presidential Libraries in an unidentified
location. Id. Of those 50 pages, NARA released 28 pages with redactions under Exemption 5,
and withheld 22 pages in full also pursuant to Exemption 5. Id. NARA’s letter of November 28,
2006, also advised CREW that with respect to the publicly available court filings, they contained
no marginalia. Id.
11. With respect to CREW’s appeal of NARA’s exemption claims, NARA released an
additional 11 pages in whole and 57 pages in part and otherwise upheld NARA’s initial
determination to withhold the remaining portions under Exemption 5. Complaint ¶ 27.
According to NARA, the deliberative discussions reflected in the withheld documents
“constitute intra- and inter-agency deliberations with respect to the legal status of WAVES
records.” Id. NARA claimed that their predecisional character was not altered “by any final
decisions that have been made with respect to the record status of WAVES records under the
records laws.” Id. NARA justified its initial claim of attorney-work product privilege by its
claim that the withheld material consists of draft briefs sent to NARA from Department of
Justice attorneys prior to their filing along with emails related to those drafts, five pages of
Case 1:07-cv-00048-RBW Document 7-4 Filed 06/06/2007 Page 5 of 5
background information on WAVES records prepared by the Secret Service in anticipation of
litigation, and documents that “reflect the mental impressions of counsel” or respond to
counsel’s inquiries. Id.
12. CREW initiated this action with the filing of its complaint on January 10, 2007.
Phone: (20) 408-5565
Case 1:07-cv-00048-RBW Document 7-5 Filed 06/06/2007 Page 1 of 1
Upon consideration of Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment, Plaintiff’s
Opposition thereto and Plaintiff’s Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment, and the entire record
herein, and for the reasons explained in the Memorandum Opinion issued on this date, it is
ORDERED that Plaintiff’s cross-motion for summary judgment is granted and
Defendant’s motion for summary judgment be, and hereby is, DENIED, and it is further
ORDERED that within three days defendant shall produce full unredacted versions of
document numbers 3, 5, 7, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 18a, 24, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 34, 35, 36, 37,
40, 42, 44, 45, 46, 48, 49, 51, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59 and 60.
Dated: ___________ ___________________________
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