American Oversight v. U.S. Dep't of Justice

375 F. Supp. 3d 50
Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit·Decided March 25, 2019·No. Civil Action No. 17-727 (RDM)·Published·Cited by 20 cases

Opinion

RANDOLPH D. MOSS, United States District Judge *58This matter is before the Court on Plaintiff American Oversight's motion for attorneys' fees. Dkt. 23. In 2017, American Oversight submitted two requests to the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI") under the Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA"), 5 U.S.C. § 552, seeking (1) records relating to Attorney General Jeff Sessions's disclosure of any contacts with Russian officials in connection with his security clearance process ("the Sessions request") and (2) documents relating to reported communications between White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and the FBI regarding press reports of contacts between Russian nationals and individuals associated with the Trump campaign ("the Priebus request"). Both requests were resolved without any substantive motions practice. American Oversight has now moved for an award of attorneys' fees pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(E). See Dkt. 23. For the reasons explained below, the Court concludes that American Oversight is both eligible and entitled to an award of attorneys' fees. But, in light of the modest amount of work needed to achieve the result that American Oversight sought, its fee request is excessive and must be reduced. The Court will therefore GRANT in part and DENY in part American Oversight's motion for attorneys' fees.

I. BACKGROUND

On March 9, 2017, Plaintiff submitted a four-part FOIA request to the FBI seeking "all communications" exchanged between the FBI and then-White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, any news media, or any member of Congress or congressional staff regarding reports of "an FBI investigation dating back to summer 2016 into affiliations between then-candidate Donald J. Trump (and his associates) and Russians known to intelligence officials." Dkt. 1 at 5 (Compl. ¶ 26). Less than two weeks later, on March 20, 2017, American Oversight submitted a second request, seeking "[a] copy of the Standard Form 86 (SF-86) form prepared by or on behalf of" then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions "in connection with his security clearance or background investigation for his appointment to the position of United States Attorney General." Id. at 7 (Compl. ¶ 36(1) ). Plaintiff clarified that it sought "only the information contained in Section 20B.6 of the SF-86 form relating to contacts with any official of the Russian government" and that it had "no objection to the redaction of any other personal information contained in Mr. Session's SF-86 aside from Mr. Sessions's name, the signature line, signature date, and any disclosures regarding contacts with any official of the Russian government." Id. That request also sought "[a] copy of any interview notes or summary prepared during the course of Mr. Sessions's background check," again stating that it did not oppose "the redaction of any other personal information regarding Mr. Sessions contained in the background interview notes or summaries aside from any disclosures regarding contacts with any official of the Russian government, the date of the interview, and the name of the interview subject." Id. (Compl. ¶ 36(2) ). American Oversight requested expedited processing for both the Priebus request and the Sessions request. Id. at 5, 7 (Compl. ¶¶ 27, 37). The FBI acknowledged receipt of both, see Dkt. 24-2 at 9, 23, but did not otherwise respond to *59the requests within the 20-day statutory time period.

On April 19, 2017, Plaintiff initiated this lawsuit, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief requiring the FBI to produce all non-exempt records responsive to both requests. See Dkt. 1. (Compl.) Defendants filed an Answer on May 24, 2017, noting that FBI had granted expedited processing of the Priebus request on April 18, 2017, and of the Sessions request on May 4, 2017. Dkt. 8 at 4, 5 (Answer ¶¶ 30, 40). That same day, the Court set an initial status conference for June 12, 2017, "to discuss the schedule for further proceedings in this matter." May 24, 2017 Minute Order.

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American Oversight v. U.S. Dep't of Justice, 375 F. Supp. 3d 50 (D.C. Cir. 2019).

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