Opinion ID: 373802
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Atlanta Office Recommendation

Text: 15 The district court denied the brokers' motion to compel the Government to produce the report from the Atlanta field office to the Office of Operations of the Antitrust Division. This report recommended that the Government seek an indictment against the brokers. Communications made within an agency during that agency's process of making a decision are privileged from disclosure. Any other rule would inhibit candid discussion within the agency and would detrimentally affect the agency's decision making process. National Labor Relations Board v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 421 U.S. 132, 150-152, 95 S.Ct. 1504, 1516-1517, 44 L.Ed.2d 29 (1975). Here, the Atlanta office recommendation was merely a preliminary step in the Antitrust Division's process for reaching a decision whether to seek an indictment against the brokers. The district court properly refused to order its disclosure. See generally Jordan v. United States Department of Justice, 192 U.S.App.D.C. 144, 163-64, 591 F.2d 753, 772-73 (D.C. Cir. 1978) (en banc). 16