UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ) JEFFREY STEIN, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) Civil Action No. 17-cv-0189 (TSC) ) ) CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY, ) et al., ) ) Defendant. ) ) MEMORANDUM OPINION Plaintiff Jeffrey Stein brought this action under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), 5 U.S.C. § 552, et seq., challenging certain responses to a series of FOIA requests he submitted to nine federal agencies (collectively, “Defendants”): Central Intelligence Agency (“CIA”), Department of Justice (“DOJ”), Department of Defense (“DOD”), Office of Personnel Management (“OPM”), Office of the Director of National Intelligence (“ODNI”), Department of Education (“Education”), Department of State (“State”), and Department of Commerce (“Commerce”). Before the court are Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 22) and Stein’s Cross-Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (ECF No. 29). Upon consideration of the motions, the responses and replies thereto, and for the following reasons, the court will GRANT and DENY Defendants’ motion in part, and GRANT and DENY Stein’s motion in part. I. BACKGROUND A. Stein’s FOIA Requests 1 Stein’s FOIA requests broadly fall into two categories, each involving alleged security concerns related to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and presidential transition. First, Stein’s “briefing requests” sought “copies of all records, including e-mails and other forms of electronic communications, about national security briefings given or to be given to Donald Trump due to his Presidential candidacy,” including any security concerns related to such briefing. (ECF No. 22-13 (“Defs. Stmt. Mat. Facts”) ¶ 1.) The request stated that agencies could “exclude the substance of the briefings and focus only on records about logistics, security concerns, and similar issues.” (See, e.g., ECF No. 22-7, Ex. YYY at 1.) It further clarified that “Mr. Stein has no interest in learning what Mr. Trump is briefed about; he is only interested in the process, and he is specifically interested in records discussing any security concerns.” (Id.) Stein sent briefing requests to five agencies: CIA, DOD, DOJ, FBI, 1 and ODNI. (Defs. Stmt. Mat. Facts ¶¶ 3, 22, 31, 42, 51.) Three agencies—CIA, FBI, and ODNI—identified and produced some records in response to the request. (Id. ¶¶ 5, 33, 46.) The second category of Stein’s FOIA requests, the “investigation requests,” sought information related to background investigations of fifteen individuals reportedly under consideration for senior positions in the Trump administration. (Id. ¶¶ 1–2.) The requests sought “copies of all records, including emails, about any steps taken to investigate or authorize (or discussions about potentially investigating or authorizing) [the individual in question] for access to classified information.” (Id.) The fifteen individuals are: Stephen Bannon, Pamela Bondi, Betsy DeVos, Carly Fiorina, Gen. Michael Flynn, Michael Flynn, Jr., Rudolph Giuliani, Jared Kushner, James Mattis, Gen. David Petraeus, Wilbur Ross, Jr., Rex Tillerson, Donald 1 In the interest of clarity, the court will treat the FBI as a separate agency from DOJ, as the FBI has its own FOIA office and processed requests independently of other DOJ components. (See ECF No. 22-7 (“Hardy Decl.”) ¶¶ ...
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