UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ROGER HALL, ef al., Plaintiffs, V. Case No. 1:04-cv-814-RCL CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY, Defendant. MEMORANDUM OPINION This Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) action has been running for over eighteen years. What began as a drawn-out contest has narrowed to one final issue which the Court will put to rest today. The Court ordered the Central Intelligence Agency (“CIA”) to conduct a search of its operational files, which are typically exempt from a FOIA search. ECF No. 340 at 3. The CIA conducted that search and found no responsive records. ECF No. 353. The case was then closed, after which plaintiffs moved to reconsider so that this Court could evaluate the adequacy of the CIA’s operational file search. ECF No. 364. The Court reopened the case for that single “limited purpose.” ECF No. 375 at 5. In December of 2021, the CIA filed a motion for summary judgment alongside a declaration that described the CIA’s search of its operational files. CIA Mot., ECF No. 376; Vanna Blaine Decl., ECF No. 376-3. Plaintiffs timely filed a cross-motion for summary judgment and opposition to the CIA’s motion, ECF No. 377, as well as a Memorandum in Support (“Pls. Mem.”), ECF No. 377. After considering the briefing, the Court will GRANT the CIA’s motion for summary judgment and DENY plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment. L BACKGROUND The Court has previously explained at length the factual background of this case. Plaintiffs filed a FOIA request with the CIA in February of 2003 seeking records related to prisoners of war (“POW”) from the Vietnam War. ECF No. 1 at 2. This action was commenced in May of 2004. Id. at 1. The procedural history in this case between 2004 and 2009 is set out in Judge Kennedy’s 2009 opinion. Hall v. Cent. Intel. Agency, 668 F. Supp. 2d 172 (D.D.C. 2009), ECF No. 137. Procedural history from 2009 to 2012 is set out in this Court’s 2012 opinion. Hall v. Cent. Intel. Agency, 881 F. Supp. 2d 38 (D.D.C. 2012), ECF No. 187. History from 2012 to 2017 is set out in the 2017 opinion. Hall v. Cent. Intel. Agency, 268 F. Supp. 3d 148 (D.D.C. 2017), ECF No. 291. This Court will now briefly describe the main points leading to this opinion. In 2019, this Court ordered the CIA to search its operational files for “additional records allegedly shown to Congress.” ECF No. 340 at 1. Operational files are typically exempt from search and disclosure, but this Court ordered their search under an exception. /d. at 3; 50 U.S.C. § 3141(a).! The CIA conducted a search of operational files, but found no results satisfying the plaintiffs’ request. Vanna Blaine Decl. ¥ 15; see id. at ¢ 13 (explaining that the CIA searched for “1,400 live sighting reports that were reportedly displayed at Congressional briefings attended by CIA employees, as well as records of imagery and reconnaissance and rescue operations”). As a result, the case was terminated in …
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