Opinion ID: 784738
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Investigative Reports

Text: 27 With respect to the investigative reports prepared by AMS and OIG, we remand to the district court with instructions to require submission of detailed public declarations, testimony, or other material in support of the law enforcement exemption. Because Lion requested specific documents, and the USDA identified the exemptions under which it withheld each document, the USDA need only explain, publicly and in detail, how releasing each of the withheld documents would interfere with the government's ongoing criminal investigation. See, e.g., Lewis, 823 F.2d at 379. 13 The submission must provide as much factual support for USDA's position as possible without jeopardizing the government's legitimate law enforcement interest in withholding the documents, and it must be detailed enough for the district court to make a de novo assessment of the government's claim of exemption. Maricopa Audubon Soc'y, 108 F.3d at 1092.