Court Opinion

ID: 9956227
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-04-01 16:00:40.140294+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:15:03.220285
License: Public Domain

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                                               PUBLISHED

                              UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                                  FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

                                                No. 23-1821

        MARK ZAID,

                    Plaintiff – Appellant,

        v.

        DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE,

                    Defendant – Appellee.

        Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, at Greenbelt.
        Deborah K. Chasanow, Senior District Judge. (8:21−cv−01130−DKC)

        Argued: January 25, 2024                                        Decided: March 25, 2024

        Before WILKINSON, GREGORY, and HEYTENS, Circuit Judges.

        Affirmed by published opinion. Judge Wilkinson wrote the opinion, in which Judge
        Gregory and Judge Heytens joined.

        ARGUED: Bradley Prescott Moss, MARK S. ZAID, P.C., Washington, D.C., for
        Appellant. Tarra Deshields-Minnis, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY,
        Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Erek L. Barron, United States Attorney,
        Alan C. Lazerow, Assistant United States Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES
        ATTORNEY, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellee.
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        WILKINSON, Circuit Judge:

               The Freedom of Information Act grants members of the public broad access to

        federal agency records upon request. 5 U.S.C. § 552(a). But that access is not unlimited.

        An agency may withhold records if it can establish that they fall within one of the Act’s

        exemptions. This case primarily involves exemption 7(A), which permits an agency to

        withhold certain law enforcement records whose release “could reasonably be expected to

        interfere with enforcement proceedings.” 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(7)(A). The FBI invoked this

        exemption to withhold records requested by appellant Mark Zaid related to the criminal

        investigation into one of his clients. Zaid sued the FBI to release the requested records, but

        the district court found that the records were exempt from disclosure. For the reasons that

        follow, we affirm the district court’s judgment.

                                                      I.

                                                     A.

               In March 2020, the United States charged Zackary Sanders with production and

        possession of child pornography in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of

        Virginia. See United States v. Sanders, No. 1:20-cr-143-TSE (E.D. Va. 2020). The

        prosecution arose after an undisclosed foreign law enforcement agency informed the

        Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that an IP address registered to Sanders’s residence

        had been used to access violent child pornography on the web.

                                                     B.

               In April 2021, attorney Mark Zaid submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

        request to the FBI for fourteen types of records related to the Sanders investigation. Request

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        numbers (1)–(10) and (13) are at issue in this appeal and involved the following

        information: (1) information received by the FBI from a foreign law enforcement agency

        on or about August 19, 2019; (2) copies of the warrants received from said law enforcement

        agency; (3) an administrative subpoena relating to the target IP address; (4) the report

        drafted by the FBI Special Agent assigned to the case to open an investigation into the

        target IP address; (5) the February 2020 search warrant stating that a user of the target IP

        address accessed child pornography; (6) any records outlining information relied upon in

        forming the basis for the February 10 warrant; (7) any communication between the U.S.

        government and the foreign law enforcement agency regarding the target IP address or

        website used to access the pornography; (8) any records outlining the government’s

        deanonymizing the IP addresses used to access the pornography; (9) any FBI affidavits,

        sworn declarations, court filings or internal records that contain any of nine search terms;

        (10) affidavits or sworn declarations filed in federal district court by the Special Agent

        assigned to the case since May 2016; and (13) any records identifying the foreign law

        enforcement agency that tipped the FBI off to Sanders’s malfeasance. See J.A. 95–97.

               The FBI ran the requested searches and advised Zaid that the records he requested

        were located in an investigative file exempt from disclosure under FOIA exemption 7(A)

        because they were “compiled for law enforcement purposes” and their release “could

        reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings.” J.A. 21; see 5 U.S.C.

        § 552(b)(7)(A). Zaid challenged the FBI’s withholding of the above records in the U.S.

        District Court for the District of Maryland. See Zaid v. DOJ, 2023 WL 4351401, at *1 &

        n.2 (D. Md. July 5, 2023).

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               As the FOIA dispute evolved in Maryland, the criminal case against Sanders

        advanced in Virginia, culminating in Sanders’s conviction of several counts of production,

        receipt, and possession of child pornography in October 2021. See United States v. Sanders,

        No. 1:20-cr-143-TSE (E.D. Va. 2020).

               After Sanders’s conviction, the FBI renewed its search for records responsive to

        Zaid’s FOIA request. Between October 2021 and September 2022, the FBI sent Zaid

        several letters informing him of its progress and releasing certain nonexempt documents.

        The FBI maintained, however, that records in Sanders’s investigative file were

        categorically exempt under 7(A).

                                                     C.

               Upon completing its search for responsive records, the government moved for

        summary judgment on Zaid’s FOIA challenge. The government principally argued that the

        records it withheld were categorically exempt from disclosure under exemption 7(A). It

        argued that the records were also exempt under other FOIA exemptions, in the alternative.

               In support of its motion, the government attached a declaration from Michael Seidel,

        Chief of the Record/Information Dissemination Section within the FBI’s Information

        Management Division. Seidel attested that after Sanders’s conviction, the FBI reached out

        to the Special Agent assigned to the case “to determine whether the release of information

        within the responsive file would still cause harm to any pending enforcement proceeding.”

        J.A. 40. According to the declaration, the Special Agent stated that release of the responsive

        records would still reasonably be expected to interfere with ongoing proceedings in

        Sanders’s own criminal case, including his pending appeal and future collateral challenges.

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               The Seidel declaration did not stop there. It noted that in addition to proceedings

        against Sanders himself, the Special Agent “advised that the responsive records are part of

        ongoing investigations of third-party individuals” and that “release of the information

        could interfere with those pending investigations even after Sanders’s appeals . . . are

        exhausted.” J.A. 40–41, 45. The declaration explained that “release of these records would

        allow these third-party individuals to critically analyze documents concerning these

        investigations,” giving them “the unique advantage of prematurely knowing the details

        surrounding the investigation of their criminal activities, including the identity of victims

        and direct and circumstantial evidence gathered during the investigation.” J.A. 45. This,

        the declaration explained, posed the risk that the targets “could use the released information

        to their advantage to alter or destroy evidence, create false evidence, harass or otherwise

        intimidate victims and . . . witnesses, or evade the FBI’s investigative efforts.” J.A. 45.

               After establishing that the records continued to pose a threat to enforcement

        proceedings, the Seidel declaration stated that providing a document-by-document

        description of the responsive records within Sanders’s investigative file would undermine

        the very interests that the FBI sought to protect in withholding them. Instead, the

        declaration broke the records down into nineteen “types of records”—including

        “Electronic Communications,” “Non-Public Court Documents,” and “Memoranda and

        Correspondence”—and provided detailed descriptions for each. See J.A. 42–44.

               The declaration then “grouped the responsive records into functional categories” to

        demonstrate how the information contained therein could reasonably be expected to

        interfere with enforcement proceedings. J.A. 45–46. The declaration set forth two
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        functional categories of records, and then broke those categories down further into

        functional subcategories. It explained that “[e]ach responsive record withheld falls into

        either one or both of the functional categories.” J.A. 46. The first category, “Administrative

        Material,” is not at issue in this appeal. J.A. 46–47.

               The second category, “Evidentiary and Investigative Material,” “includes evidence,

        analyses of evidence, and derivative communications discussing or incorporating

        evidence.” J.A. 47. The two subcategories of “Evidentiary and Investigative Material,” are

        (1) “Information Concerning Physical and Documentary Evidence” and (2) “Records

        Containing the Exchange of Information between Law Enforcement Agencies.” J.A. 47–

        48.

               The declaration provided detailed descriptions of each functional subcategory and

        “the anticipated harm that could reasonably result from the release of this material.” J.A.

        46–48. Beginning with Information Concerning Physical and Documentary Evidence, the

        declaration described the subcategory as follows:

               Information concerning physical and documentary evidence may include
               information or summaries of information obtained from searches and
               seizures, surveillance, victim interviews, subpoenas, laboratory reports, and
               other law enforcement activities. To more fully describe this information
               could reasonably lead to disclosure of non-public aspects of pending
               investigative efforts.

        J.A. 47–48.

               The Seidel declaration then explained how release of the information within that

        subcategory “could be detrimental to the success of pending and prospective enforcement

        proceedings” by (1) “permitting subjects to estimate the scope of the FBI’s investigation

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        and judge whether their activities are likely to be detected”; (2) “allowing investigative

        subjects to discern the FBI’s investigative strategies and employ countermeasures to avoid

        detection and disruption by law enforcement”; and (3) “allow[ing] investigative targets to

        formulate strategies to contradict evidence to be presented in court proceedings.” J.A. 48.

               The declaration described the second subcategory, Records Containing the

        Exchange of Information between Law Enforcement Agencies, as containing “records

        documenting and detailing the exchange of information among the FBI and its law

        enforcement partners . . . to help identify subjects and individuals of investigative interest

        and to assist in locating witnesses and victims.” J.A. 48. It cautioned that this cooperative

        effort was based on “the mutual understanding that information provided to the FBI by

        these agencies [would] not be prematurely released.” J.A. 48.

               The declaration then linked the disclosure of such information to the potential

        repercussions of its release. It stated that release of the records in this subcategory “would

        identify the FBI’s investigative interest in particular individuals and subject third parties,

        such as witnesses and victims, to potential harassment or other forms of intimidation, and

        physical and mental harm.” J.A. 48.

               After completing its discussion of exemption 7(A), the declaration set forth the

        government’s alternative argument that the withheld records were also exempt from

        disclosure under the other FOIA exemptions.

                                                     D.

               Zaid challenged the government’s motion for summary judgment on the basis that

        the government had not met its evidentiary burden to establish that all of the records

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        withheld were exempt under exemption 7(A) or the alternative exemptions. He cited a

        recent Middle District of Florida decision in related litigation rejecting the government’s

        invocation of the same exemptions. See Smith v. DOJ (“Smith I”), 2022 WL 4110291 (M.D.

        Fla. Sept. 8, 2022). That case involved an identical FOIA request submitted by Zaid’s law

        firm challenging the three types of information not at issue in this appeal: (11) records

        relating in any way to Zackary Sanders from May 2019 to February 2020; (12) records

        pertaining to Sanders’s IP address from May 2019 to February 2020; and (14) records

        referencing the terms “Hurtcore” and “FLA.” Id. at *1.

               Relying on the Middle District of Florida’s reasoning, Zaid argued that the FBI’s

        declarations invoking the exemptions did not provide the necessary level of specificity with

        respect to the two functional subcategories of Evidentiary and Investigative Material

        discussed above: (1) Information Concerning Physical and Documentary Evidence and

        (2) Records Containing the Exchange of Information Between Law Enforcement

        Agencies.

                                                     E.

               The government submitted two additional declarations in reply to Zaid’s opposition

        to its motion for summary judgment: a second declaration from Seidel and one from an

        FBI Special Agent assigned to investigate child pornography cases. See J.A. 245–58, 260–

        263. Zaid did not object to these additional declarations.

               The FBI Special Agent largely expounded upon the information contained in the

        first Seidel declaration. But the second Seidel declaration elaborated on the repercussions

        of requiring the FBI to disclose records in the Records Containing the Exchange of

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        Information between Law Enforcement Agencies subcategory. It stated that the

        “cooperative exchange of information between the FBI and other law enforcement agencies

        is based on the mutual understanding”—and sometimes, written agreement—that

        “information provided to the FBI by these agencies will not be prematurely released and

        the identity of the law enforcement agencies providing such information will not be

        disclosed.” J.A. 250. It cautioned that, if the FBI does not follow through on its end of the

        bargain, its partners may be “hesitant to share information, which would, in turn, diminish

        the scope or volume of reliable intelligence or investigative information available to the

        FBI, causing harm to FBI investigations.” J.A. 251.

                                                     F.

               Before the district court ruled on the motion, Zaid filed a notice of supplemental

        information alerting the district court to a second opinion from the Middle District of

        Florida rejecting the government’s renewed motion for summary judgment. See Smith v.

        DOJ (“Smith II”), 2023 WL 4350537 (M.D. Fla. May 10, 2023). In that case, the

        government had included additional declarations to support its renewed motion, but the

        Middle District of Florida found that the declarations were still insufficient to invoke the

        claimed exemptions. Id. at *3. Zaid argued that the district court in the present case should

        find the same.

                                                     G.

               The district court granted the government’s motion for summary judgment. See

        Zaid, 2023 WL 4351401, at *11–12, 18. The court held that, “contrary to [Zaid’s]

        unsupported lamentations,” the government’s submissions were sufficient to show that it

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        had “properly invoked the categorical exemption of 7(A).” Id. at *12. It found that, in the

        alternative, the other exemptions were sufficient to warrant summary judgment on Zaid’s

        FOIA challenge as well. Id. at *13–17.

               Zaid filed a timely appeal.

                                                     II.

               “The question of whether a district court properly granted the government summary

        judgment in a FOIA action is one of law which we review de novo.” Hanson v. U.S. Agency

        for Int’l Dev., 372 F.3d 286, 290 (4th Cir. 2004). Because the government bears the burden

        of proving requested materials are exempt from disclosure, we must ensure the government

        provided the district court with “an adequate factual basis for the decision rendered.” Rein

        v. U.S. Pat. & Trademark Off., 553 F.3d 353, 358 (4th Cir. 2009); Spannaus v. DOJ, 813

        F.2d 1285, 1288 n.4 (4th Cir. 1987). This is no different than in any other case where a

        party moves for summary judgment on an issue for which it will bear the burden of

        persuasion at trial. See, e.g., Hunt v. Cromartie, 526 U.S. 541, 553 (1999) (discussing

        entitlement to summary judgment where movant bears the “burden of persuasion”).

                                                     III.

                                                     A.

               “The basic purpose of FOIA is to ensure an informed citizenry, vital to the

        functioning of a democratic society, needed to check against corruption and to hold the

        governors accountable to the governed.” NLRB v. Robbins Tire & Rubber Co., 437 U.S.

        214, 242 (1978). Thus FOIA provides that “when ‘any person’ makes a sufficiently specific

        and reasonable request for records from a government agency, the agency ‘shall make the

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        records promptly available.’” Am. Mgmt. Servs., LLC v. Dep’t of the Army, 703 F.3d 724,

        728 (4th Cir. 2013) (quoting 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(3)(A)). As the government grows in size

        and complexity, the need for agency transparency becomes more apparent.

               But Congress recognized that “public disclosure is not always in the public interest,”

        Baldrige v. Shapiro, 455 U.S. 345, 352 (1982). The FOIA statute therefore contains nine

        exemptions that “reflect a wide array of concerns,” Hunton & Williams v. DOJ, 590 F.3d

        272, 277 (4th Cir. 2010), and “are designed to safeguard various public interests against

        the harms that would arise from overbroad disclosure,” Hanson, 372 F.3d at 290.

               This appeal primarily concerns exemption 7(A), which permits the withholding of

        “records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes” whose disclosure “could

        reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings.” 5 U.S.C.

        § 552(b)(7)(A). Zaid challenges the district court’s determination that the FBI was entitled

        to withhold documents based on exemption 7(A) or other exemptions in the alternative.

        Because we find that exemption 7(A) protects the disputed records from disclosure, we

        need not reach the other exemptions.

                                                     B.

               Investigations by their very nature may require a measure of nondisclosure as law

        enforcement gathers evidence before an arrest may lawfully be made and a prosecution

        fairly brought. Congress enacted exemption 7(A) because it “recognized that law

        enforcement agencies had legitimate needs to keep certain records confidential, lest the

        agencies be hindered in their investigations or placed at a disadvantage when it came time

        to present their case.” Robbins Tire, 437 U.S. at 224. “Foremost among the purposes of

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        this Exemption was to prevent ‘harm [to] the Government’s case in court,’ by not allowing

        litigants ‘earlier or greater access’ to agency investigatory files than they would otherwise

        have.” Id. at 224–25 (citation omitted).

               Although we generally construe FOIA exemptions narrowly, J.P. Stevens & Co. v.

        Perry, 710 F.2d 136, 139 (4th Cir. 1983), the text of § 552(b)(7)(A) is broadly worded.

        Indeed, Congress amended the statute in 1986 to expand the scope of exempt law

        enforcement records from those which “would” interfere with enforcement proceedings to

        those which “could reasonably be expected” to do so. See Pub. L. 99–570, 100 Stat 3207

        (October 27, 1986). Thus, the government’s showing “is to be measured by a standard of

        reasonableness, which takes into account the lack of certainty in attempting to predict harm

        while providing an objective test.” Spannaus, 813 F.2d at 1288 (internal quotation marks

        omitted).

               The agency bears the burden to establish that exemption 7(A) applies. 5 U.S.C.

        § 552(a)(4)(B). But it need not establish that 7(A) applies to each record withheld. The

        Supreme Court has held that the exemption may be invoked on a categorical or “generic”

        basis by grouping records into categories and explaining how each category would

        generally interfere with enforcement proceedings. See Robbins Tire, 437 U.S. at 223–24.

               In Spannaus, we held that the government “fully met its burden” to invoke

        exemption 7(A) when it “categorized the kinds of documents at issue and . . . specifically

        identified the type of information they contain and the harms their release could have in

        pending proceedings.” 813 F.2d at 1289. There the FBI stated that a Vaughn index of the

        responsive records would “jeopardize enforcement proceedings and defeat the purpose of

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        the exemption.” Id. at 1287. So it submitted a declaration in support of its motion for

        summary judgment that described categories of the records at a general level and explained

        how their disclosure would interfere with enforcement proceedings. Id.

               The declaration stated that the requested records included details about the decision

        to open and to pursue the investigation; witness interviews; prosecutors’ opinions; and

        “other sundry items of information.” Id. It then identified three ways in which such

        information’s release could interfere with enforcement proceedings: “(1) destruction or

        alteration of evidence yet to be discovered; (2) identification of individuals who possess

        information relative to the investigation, leading to possible intimidation and/or harm; and,

        (3) use of the information released to establish fraudulent alibis.” Id. On this record, we

        found that the government had “fairly describe[d] the content of the material withheld and

        adequately state[d] its grounds for nondisclosure,” and affirmed summary judgment in its

        favor. Id. at 1289 (quoting Barney v. IRS, 618 F.2d 1268, 1272 (8th Cir. 1980)).

               The government’s evidence in the present case falls safely within the scope of

        protection established in Spannaus. In both cases, the government conducted a document-

        by-document review of the records, grouped them into functional categories, and

        demonstrated how release of information contained within those functional categories

        could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings. Here the

        government submitted almost one hundred pages of declarations that “explained in detail

        why [exemption 7(A)] applied to the information and documents withheld.” See Bowers v.

        DOJ, 930 F.2d 350, 353 (4th Cir. 1991). “This is substantially more than is required” and

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        provided the district court with an adequate basis for finding the government had met its

        burden. Id. at 357 (discussing Spannaus, 813 F.2d at 1288).

                                                    C.

               Zaid does not dispute that it was the government’s prerogative to invoke exemption

        7(A) on a categorical basis. Instead, he argues that the government failed to sufficiently

        describe the two functional subcategories at issue. His arguments are without merit.

               Regarding the Information Concerning Physical and Documentary Evidence

        subcategory, Zaid contends that the FBI failed to describe the records in a functional

        manner because the declaration only described what the subcategory “may” include. But,

        as in Spannaus, the government here asserted that providing a more detailed description

        “could reasonably lead to disclosure of non-public aspects of pending investigative

        efforts.” Compare J.A. 48 with Spannaus, 813 F.2d at 1287. Zaid has not endeavored to

        dispute this risk, nor has he questioned the government’s good faith in making the

        assertion. See Am. Mgmt. Servs., LLC, 703 F.3d at 733 (“Because we have ‘no reason to

        question the good faith of the [agency],’ we are ‘entitled to accept the credibility of the

        affidavits.’”).

               Moreover, the link between releasing information “obtained from searches and

        seizures, surveillance, victim interviews, subpoenas, laboratory reports, and other law

        enforcement activities” and the risk to other “pending and prospective” child pornography

        proceedings is clear. J.A. 47–48. Such information would naturally and necessarily allow

        other defendants in Sanders’s criminal circle to “discern the FBI’s investigative strategies

        and employ countermeasures to avoid detection and disruption by law enforcement; and

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        allow investigative targets to formulate strategies to contradict evidence to be presented in

        court proceedings.” J.A. 48. We find that the government’s prediction of harm was

        “reasonable[]” and warranted exemption 7(A) protection. See Spannaus, 813 F.2d at 1288.

               Zaid also claims that the FBI failed to define the Exchange of Information Between

        Various Law Enforcement Agencies subcategory functionally because it only linked the

        records to past investigative efforts. See Robbins Tire, 437 U.S. at 230 (“[T]he Exemption

        d[oes] not endlessly protect material simply because it was in an investigatory file.”).

               Not so. The Seidel declaration rationally linked the disclosure of records

        documenting the exchange of information between the FBI and its law enforcement

        partners to an interference with prospective enforcement proceedings. Namely, that

        “release of this information would identify the FBI’s investigative interest in particular

        individuals and subject third parties, such as witnesses and victims, to potential harassment

        or other forms of intimidation, and physical and mental harm.” J.A. 48. We have held that

        these kinds of harm “warrant an exemption under subsection (b)(7)(A).” Spannaus, 813

        F.2d at 1289.

               Zaid contends that these risks were insufficiently concrete because the government

        failed to point to any specific prospective law enforcement proceeding, instead relying on

        “abstract prospective possibilities.” Appellant’s Reply Br. at 4. But this ignores the covert,

        online nature of child pornography offenses.

               The name of the game in child pornography prosecutions is compiling evidence of

        a target’s receipt or possession of child pornography. See, e.g., United States v. Miltier,

        882 F.3d 81, 86–87 (4th Cir. 2018). Such materials are generally accessed online and

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        downloaded to a personal computer. Id. at 85–86. A prospective target that knows he is

        being monitored by the FBI could try to alter or conceal evidence of past use and could

        inform other users of the websites he frequented to do the same. In other words, the

        government cannot point to a prospective target without undermining its case against him

        and potentially others in his criminal network.

               Moreover, the government noted the general risk to future enforcement proceedings

        if the FBI were forced to disclose its communications with other law enforcement agencies.

        See J.A. 48. We have recognized that disclosure of records that would “reveal information

        provided to the FBI by a foreign government” and “identify the governmental entity in

        question . . . would have a chilling effect on the free flow of information between the

        United States intelligence and law enforcement agencies and their foreign counterparts.”

        Bowers, 930 F.2d 357–58. The second Seidel declaration represented that this would, “in

        turn, diminish the scope or volume of reliable intelligence or investigative information

        available to the FBI, causing harm to FBI investigations.” J.A. 251. We cannot ignore the

        commonsense conclusion that requiring disclosure of these documents would make other

        law enforcement agencies, foreign or domestic, think twice before assisting the FBI.

               Zaid primarily relied on two Middle District of Florida decisions to argue that the

        government had not met its burden. Smith I, 2022 WL 4110291; Smith II, 2023 WL

        4350537. Although those cases involved different parts of the FOIA request, the issues

        presented there were essentially the same as those presented in this case. But Zaid

        acknowledges that those cases were not binding on the district court here. Appellant’s

        Opening Br. at 26 (citing Camreta v. Greene, 563 U.S. 692, 709 n.7 (2011)). And they are

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        certainly not binding on this court. See Cooper v. Harris, 581 U.S. 285, 298–99 (2017)

        (“Whatever findings are under review receive the benefit of deference, without regard to

        whether a court in a separate suit has seen the matter differently.”). Our review of the record

        convinces us that the district court had a more-than-adequate basis for finding exemption

        7(A) applied.

                                                     IV.

               Far from invoking a “blanket exemption” for all records in Sanders’s investigative

        file, Crooker v. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, 789 F.2d 64, 65 (D.C. Cir.

        1986), the government here broke down the kinds of records withheld under exemption

        7(A) into nineteen well-defined categories, it conducted a document-by-document review

        of the records, it grouped them into functional categories, and it demonstrated how release

        of information contained within those functional categories could reasonably be expected

        to interfere with enforcement proceedings, not only against Sanders, but other prospective

        child pornography targets as well.

               If the government’s declarations here do not establish its entitlement to exemption

        7(A), it is hard to imagine declarations that could meet this burden without requiring the

        government to reveal the very information it sought to protect. Indeed, to hold against the

        government in this case would set the burden so high as to risk writing the exemption out

        of the statute.

               The purpose of FOIA is “to pierce the veil of administrative secrecy and to open

        agency action to the light of public scrutiny,” Dep’t of Air Force v. Rose, 425 U.S. 352,

        361 (1976), not to give criminal suspects “earlier or greater access to agency investigatory

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        files than they would otherwise have,” Robbins Tire, 437 U.S. at 224 (internal quotation

        marks omitted). The Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure for example make clear what

        government records are available to defendants and when. See Fed. R. Crim. P. 16.

        Congress enacted exemption 7(A) in part to prevent litigants from using FOIA to

        supplement or override the Federal Rules. John Doe Agency v. John Doe Corp., 493 U.S.

        146, 153 (1989) (“In deciding whether Exemption 7 applies, moreover, a court must be

        mindful of this Court’s observations that the FOIA was not intended to supplement or

        displace rules of discovery.”). We serve that purpose by upholding the district court’s grant

        of summary judgment on Zaid’s FOIA challenge.

               The judgment of the district court is hereby affirmed.

                                                                                      AFFIRMED

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