On April 27, 2017, the Plaintiff, The Protect Democracy Project, Inc. filed this lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Energy in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The Plaintiff sought injunctive relief compelling compliance with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 5 U.S.C. § 552. The Plaintiff is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization whose focus is on informing the public of operations and activities of the government by gathering and disseminating information likely to contribute significantly to the public understanding of executive branch operations and activities.

On February 15, 2017, the Plaintiff sent a FOIA request to the Defendant seeking (1) records between employees of the Defendant regarding Presidential Transition Team questionnaires about climate change, and (2) records regarding personnel changes, new personnel assignments and related policies by or between Department of Energy employees and the Executive Office or Presidential Transition Team. Pursuant to FOIA, the Defendant was required to determine whether they would be able to comply with the request and notify the Plaintiff as such within 20 days of receiving the request (March 17, 2017). By the date the Plaintiff filed the complaint, no such determination had been made.

The Defendant began production pursuant to the FOIA request on June 23, 2017 and is still in the process of identifying and producing the records. A tentative date of December 1, 2017 has been set for the final production. This case is ongoing.

Robert Carnes - 11/16/2017


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