Case 1:12-cv-00127-BJR Document 40 Filed 03/04/15 Page 17 of 22
Despite Plaintiff’s urging to the contrary, the release of the Twitter litigation documents
does not entitle Plaintiff to the non-public records which may describe the same or similar
techniques as those discussed in the Twitter litigation. The Supreme Court and the D.C. Circuit
have cautioned against allowing “bits and pieces” of data to be released which “may aid in
piecing together bits of other information even when the individual piece is not of obvious
importance itself.” In other words, “what may seem trivial to the uninformed, may appear of
great moment to one who has a broad view of the scene and may put the questioned item of
information in its proper context.” Ctr. for Nat’l Sec. Studies v. Dep’t of Justice, 331 F.3d at
928-929.
In the instant case, releasing all of the records with investigatory techniques similar to
that involved in the Twitter litigation may, for instance, reveal information regarding the scope
of this ongoing multi-subject investigation. This is precisely the type of information that
Exemption 7(A) protects and why this Court must defer to the agencies’ expertise. See id. at 928
(determining that Exemption 7(A) allowed agency to withhold the names of detainees even
though some names were made public because the records “could reveal much about the focus
and scope of the agency’s investigation and are thus precisely the sort of information exemption
with law enforcement proceedings. Defendant responds that EPIC’s narrower request for information did
not include the names of these two individuals. Def.’s Supp’l Reply at 4, n.1.
As an initial matter, the Court rejects the Defendant’s representation of EPIC’s request. EPIC’s
FOIA request clearly extends beyond any named individuals. See Dkt. No. 12-4, Ex. 3 (“However, the
FOIA Request is not limited to those six individuals. In fact, one of the purposes of this FOIA Request is
to obtain records relating to the surveillance of other individuals who have not been named as surveillance
targets.”). Nevertheless, the effect of the release of the McCarthy and Snorrason court documents is not
as broad as Plaintiff argues. Like the Twitter litigation documents, any responsive document related to
McCarthy and Snorrason which has already been made public should be released to Plaintiff. However,
insofar as Plaintiff seeks the disclosure of other non-public records, the Court’s denies such a request for
the reasons elaborated below.
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