Campaign Legal Ctr. v. U.S. Dep't of Justice

373 F. Supp. 3d 160
CourtCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
DecidedMarch 15, 2019
DocketCivil Action No. 18-0340 (ABJ)
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 373 F. Supp. 3d 160 (Campaign Legal Ctr. v. U.S. Dep't of Justice) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Campaign Legal Ctr. v. U.S. Dep't of Justice, 373 F. Supp. 3d 160 (D.C. Cir. 2019).

Opinion

Because the Court finds that the public has an interest in knowing about the formation of the Commission, including whether any other individual mentioned in the email was ultimately appointed alongside von Spakovsky, it finds that the release of the three individuals' names would not constitute an "unwarranted invasion of personal privacy" under 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(6), and the names are not exempt from release.

BACKGROUND

The Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity

On May 11, 2017, President Trump issued an Executive Order establishing the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity ("the Commission"). Exec. Order No. 13,799, 82 Fed. Reg. 22,389 (May 11, 2017). The Commission, which was "solely advisory" in nature, was tasked with studying ways to improve the public's confidence in federal elections and to investigate "vulnerabilities in voting systems and practices ... that could lead to improper voter registrations and improper voting, including fraudulent voter registrations and fraudulent voting." Id. The Commission was directed to submit a report to the President with its findings, and it was set to terminate thirty days after submitting the report. Id. at 22,390. In order to accomplish its mission, the Commission was authorized to "hold public meetings and engage with Federal, State, and local officials, and election law experts, as necessary." Id. at 22,389.

The Executive Order states that the Vice President shall chair the Commission, and that the President shall appoint up to fifteen additional members, "who shall include individuals with knowledge and experience *164in elections, election management, election fraud detection, and voter integrity efforts, and any other individuals with knowledge or experience that the President determines to be of value to the Commission." Id. at 22,389. On the day the Commission was established, the President named Vice President Mike Pence as the chair and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach as Vice-Chair, and he appointed five additional commission members.1 A month and a half later, on June 29, 2017, the President added Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation and the author of the email at issue in this litigation, to the Commission.2

On July 11, 2017, a group of Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter to Attorney General Sessions and Acting Assistant Attorney General Wheeler seeking information on what they characterized as "apparent coordination" between the Department of Justice and the Commission.3 The Senators expressed their concern that the Commission sent a letter requesting "sensitive voter roll data from state election officials" on the same day DOJ issued a letter to forty-four states requesting information about state-level procedures for maintaining voter registration lists. Senators' July 2017 Letter. They noted that "[t]he Commission's June 28 request for voter data has been met with resistance from state election officials from both parties, and forty-four states have refused to provide the Commission with all of the data it requested." Id.

On September 26, 2017, Senators sent another letter to Attorney General Sessions specifically seeking information about his potential involvement in von Spakovsky's appointment to the Commission.4 This inquiry was prompted by the partial release of the email chain that is at issue in this litigation. The Senators sent a "follow up" letter on October 17, 2017 regarding their outstanding request for information concerning DOJ's involvement with the Commission and expressing growing concern about the Commission's work which they viewed to be conflict with the DOJ's duty to protect voters' rights.5

*165The Commission did not last long. President Trump disbanded it on January 3, 2018, citing the refusal of many states to comply with the Commission's data requests. Exec. Order No. 13,820, 83 Fed. Reg. 969 (Jan. 3, 2018) ; Statements and Releases, Statement by the Press Secretary on the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, Jan. 3, 2018, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/statement-press-secretary-presidential-advisory-commission-election-integrity/.

The FOIA Request

On February 15, 2017, plaintiff submitted a FOIA request to the Office of Information Policy ("OIP") of DOJ seeking records concerning:

a) President Trump's public voter fraud allegations,
b) any actual or potential investigation into alleged voter fraud,
c) any actual or potential executive order related to alleged voter fraud,
d) the creation of a commission or other agency to investigate or otherwise address alleged voter fraud, or any proposal to create such commission or agency,
e) any private organization, such as True the Vote or King Street Patriots, that addresses claims of voter fraud or electoral integrity,
f) any potential amendments to the National Voter Registration Act

Ex. A to Vanessa R. Brinkmann Decl. [Dkt. # 13-2] ("FOIA Request") at 4-5. The request also sought communications to or from:

a) the presidential transition team about voter fraud or electoral integrity,
b) Kris Kobach, Kansas Secretary of State, or
c) Gregg Phillips, Catherine Engelbrecht, or any employee of any private organization, such as True the Vote or King Street Patriots, that addresses claims of voter fraud or electoral integrity

Id. at 5. The time frame for the request was November 9, 2016 to the "present." Id. at 4.

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Bluebook (online)
373 F. Supp. 3d 160, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/campaign-legal-ctr-v-us-dept-of-justice-cadc-2019.