Opinion ID: 172367
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Claim and Summary-Judgment Motions

Text: Because the FBI had not produced the requested records within 20 business days, see 28 C.F.R. § 16.6(b), Mr. Trentadue initiated a FOIA suit against the FBI and the FBI Oklahoma City Field Office on August 20, 2004, in the United States District Court for the District of Utah. (We will refer to the defendants jointly as the FBI.) He alleged that the FBI had a duty under FOIA to produce the requested documents and that there was no legal basis to withhold them. (Mr. Trentadue later amended his complaint to pursue an additional FOIA request. For simplicity, we will address that request only when relevant to this appeal.) The FBI answered on September 20. It sought dismissal of the complaint, asserting that it was exercising due diligence to process [Mr. Trentadue's] requests as quickly as possible. J.A. at 55. Mr. Trentadue then moved for partial summary judgment with respect to the Freeh Memorandum, arguing that he had already seen the memorandum, which the FBI had produced in response to a FOIA request from someone else. He also argued that the FBI had waived any exemptions to production under FOIA by failing to assert them in the letter to him or in its answer to the complaint. On November 22 the FBI responded to Mr. Trentadue's partial-summary-judgment motion and filed its own summary-judgment motion, contending that it had responded to his request and that his claims were now moot. It said that it could not provide documents concerning Morris Dees unless it received proof of his death or a privacy waiver signed by him. As for the remainder of Mr. Trentadue's FOIA request, the FBI said that it could not find any requested documents. Its memorandum attached a letter to Mr. Trentadue sent by the FBI on November 18. The letter stated, Based on the information you provided, we have not located [the Freeh] memorandum through a search of our indices of our Central Records System.... Id. at 77. And with respect to the remainder of Mr. Trentadue's request (other than the allegedly protected information regarding Dees), the letter said that a search of the indices in our Central Records System files both at FBI Headquarters and in the Oklahoma City Field Office[] has revealed no responsive records. Id. at 78.