Alexander v. Federal Bureau of Investigation

188 F.R.D. 111, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22562
District Court, District of Columbia·Decided April 13, 1998·No. No. Civ. 96-2123(RCL)·Published·Cited by 8 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

LAMBERTH, District Judge.

This matter comes before the court on Motion by Executive Office of the President for a Protective Order Quashing Plaintiffs’ Notice of Deposition and Request for Documents Pursuant to Rule 30(b)(6) & (b)(5). Upon consideration of the submissions of the parties, oral argument, and the relevant law, EOP’s motion is denied in part and granted in part.

I. Background

The underlying allegations in this case arise from what has become popularly known as “Filegate.” According to their complaint, plaintiffs allege that the FBI improperly handed over to the White House hundreds of FBI files of former political appointees and government employees under the Reagan and Bush Administrations. Plaintiffs contend that the requests for the files came from Bernard Nussbaum, Craig Livingstone, and Anthony Mareeca, who were allegedly acting outside the scope of their employment and at the request of defendant Hillary Rodham Clinton. Plaintiffs allege that these actions were taken for partisan political purposes in order to obtain potentially embarrassing and damaging information on former Reagan and Bush administration personnel.

On January 12, 1998, plaintiffs served on the EOP a Notice of Deposition and Request for Production of Documents (“Notice”) pursuant to Rule 30(b)(6) and (b)(5) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The Notice [114]*114provides that EOP shall designate “one or more” representatives to testify on a number of topics divided into nine categories by plaintiffs: (1) the system of files maintained to store, protect, and preserve documents including audio and videotape recordings, computer files, and electronic mail sent, received, forwarded, transmitted, etc. in or from the EOP, offices of White House Counsel, or the office of the First Lady; (2) the systems used since January 1,1992 to create, store, retrieve, and delete electronic mail; (8) the system of recording devices used to record sounds or pictures in any of the office, common, residential, and/or other areas of the White House and the Entirety of the Executive Office of the President; (4) the White House Office Database (“WHODB”); (5) the system for controlling access to the White House by any official, employee, detailee, resident, volunteer, intern, visitor, or overnight guest; (6) all measures for compliance at EOP with the requirements of the National Archives Act of 1934, the National Archives and Records Administration Act of 1984, the Presidential Libraries Act, the Presidential Libraries Act of 1986, the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act, the Presidential Records Act of 1978, and any other statute or regulation relating to the disposal of documents; (7) systems for recording the acquisition, location, and/or disposition of personal electronic computers used by any official, employee, detailee, resident, volunteer, intern, visitor, or overnight guest in the EOP; (8) any recording, transcription, communication, printing, filming, and any and all recordation devices used by Hillary Rodham Clinton and others in the White House in the governmental, official, or private capacities; and (9) any other matters relevant to this case, or which may lead to the discovery of relevant evidence.

Pursuant to Rule 30(b)(5), plaintiffs have also attached to the Notice a Schedule of-Documents that EOP is instructed to produce at the time of the deposition. Plaintiffs seek all documents referring in any way to the subject matter of any of the requested deposition testimony; all documents relating to “recordation systems” throughout all of EOP, including the technical requirements of such systems; documents reflecting how defendants searched for documents in response to plaintiffs’ first request for documents dated October 9, 1997; and all records relating to the FBI files matter.

The EOP objects to the Rule 30(b)(6) and (b)(5) Notice on several grounds. The EOP contends that plaintiffs’ Notice is primarily designed to obtain information regarding the scope of EOP’s search for documents responsive to previous discovery demands and the location of additional material which plaintiffs hope exists. The EOP asserts that discovery into the prior scope of EOP’s search for documents is not warranted because plaintiffs have not demonstrated any deficiencies in any prior searches. The remaining specific discovery requests for testimony are objected to on the grounds that they are overbroad, burdensome, and not reasonably calculated to lead to admissible evidence. The EOP requests that this court issue a protective order quashing plaintiffs’ Rule 30(b)(6) Notice in its entirety.

II. Analysis

As stated, the EOP objects to the Notice filed by plaintiffs pursuant to Rule 30(b)(6) and (b)(5) on several grounds. The EOP divides its objections in the following manner. First, the EOP objects to discovery to the extent that it seeks deposition testimony and documents regarding the scope of EOP’s prior search for responsive documents not including electronic mail (“e-mail”) and deleted computer hard drives. A separate objection is made with respect to plaintiffs’ attempts at discovery pertaining to the scope of prior searches conducted by the EOP of deleted computer files and e-mail. Finally, the EOP makes specific objections to each of the document and deposition requests contained in the Notice. Accordingly, each of the objections set forth by the EOP will be considered separately.

A. The Scope of Prior EOP Searches

The EOP objects to plaintiffs’ Notice to the extent that it seeks deposition testimony and documents regarding the scope of EOP’s prior search for responsive [115]*115documents not including deleted computer files and e-mail. The EOP asserts that “[b]ecause EOP’s search for responsive information was reasonable ... no further discovery into the scope of EOP’s search or how EOP retains and stores information should be permitted.” Mot. for Protective Order at 5. Moreover, the EOP contends that “[d]iscovery into the scope of a document search should not be permitted absent a showing that there is some specific deficiency in the document production.” Id. The EOP suggests that Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) cases provide an analogous standard by which to determine whether discovery into the scope of a document search should be permitted.1 In essence, the EOP believes that because it conducted a reasonable search in response to prior document requests and plaintiffs have made no showing to the contrary, plaintiffs should be precluded from pursuing additional discovery into the scope of the prior search conducted by EOP.

Plaintiffs point to the “Clinton Administration’s history of stonewalling the production of documents in both' this and other matters ... and its repeated failure to produce responsive documents in Judicial Watch, Inc. v. U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Civ. No. 95-133(RCL), as well as its history of being less than candid,” as justifying their concerns about full production in this case. Pis.’ Opp. to EOP’s Mot. for Protective Order (Pis.’ Opp.) at 3. Plaintiffs also allege that a review of the documents previously produced by defendants demonstrates that substantial documentation has not been produced. Id.

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Alexander v. Federal Bureau of Investigation, 188 F.R.D. 111, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22562 (D.D.C. 1998).

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