Opinion ID: 1356581
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: NSA's Burden of Proof Under Section 6 of the NSAA Generally

Text: An agency invoking Glomar must show not only that the requested records would be exempt from disclosure, but also that the FOIA exemption would itself preclude the acknowledgment [even confirming or denying the existence] of such documents. Minier, 88 F.3d at 800. Congress's broad language in section 6 of the NSAA eases that burden for the agency, as it exempts from disclosure any information with respect to the activities of that agency. Pub.L. No. 86-36, § 6. Confirming or denying the mere existence of specific records in a general surveillance program would logically be both confirming or denying that the NSA was targeting a specific individual and confirming or denying that the NSA is conducting a general surveillance program. Either disclosure would be information with respect to the activities of the NSA and therefore exempt under FOIA. Id. Even if the NSA affidavits, standing alone, are insufficient, as plaintiffs argue, the very nature of their requestwhich seeks records concerning whether their communications were monitored by the NSAestablishes that any response would reveal information with respect to the activities of the NSA. Because the NSA is exempt under the NSAA from revealing such information, FOIA Exemption 3 also applies and the NSA's Glomar response was therefore justified.