The FOIA blog

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has decided to stay internal in its search for a new Director for the Office of Government and Information Services (OGIS).  NARA has named Alina Semo who is currently the agency's Director of Litigation to become the third Director of OGIS.  FCW has more here.

History News Network reports that the CIA has now released Volume V of its Bay of Pigs History.  The CIA had previously won FOIA litigation that allowed this material to be withheld because it believed this volume was a draft that had never been finalized and was protected by FOIA Exemption 5.  However, recent FOIA legislation makes any material 25 years old not eligible for protection under the deliberative process privilege of Exemption 5.  Thus, once the legislation went into effect, the National Security Archive requested the material again and gained its release.

The FBI has released and touted on its twitter account files on Marc Rich who was pardoned by Bill Clinton at the end of his presidency.  It is not clear why this was done one week before the Presidential election.  Politico has more on this here.

Politico has this on a recent decision from the D.C. Circuit about concerning private email of a federal employee.  I'm quoted in the article.

Courthouse News reports that the proposed class action on FOIA delays with the Customs and Border Protection has settled - there were no details of the settlement released.  It will now be interesting to see if the requests move faster through the CPB FOIA system.  If they do, might other agencies be subject to these type of proposed lawsuits by requesters?

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has announced the launching of a FOIA Wiki with links to all types of information and data on the federal FOIA.  It's a good resource and hopefully it will continue to provide more useful FOIA information.