Assassination Archives & Research Ctr. v. CIA, No. 19-5165, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 27111 (D.C. Cir. Sept. 6, 2019) (per curiam)

Assassination Archives & Research Ctr. v. CIA, No. 19-5165, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 27111 (D.C. Cir. Sept. 6, 2019) (per curiam)

Re:  Request for records concerning any plots to assassinate Adolf Hitler, including CIA's study of such plots in 1963 for plans to overthrow Fidel Castro

Disposition:  Granting government's motion for summary affirmance of district court's adoption of magistrate judge's report and recommendation and denial of plaintiff's motion for attorney fees

• Attorney Fees:  The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit holds that "[t]he district court did not abuse its discretion in applying the four-factor test used to determine whether attorney's fees should be awarded under 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(E)(i) to a prevailing plaintiff in a Freedom of Information Act . . . case."  "As to the first factor, [the requester] argues that its FOIA request to the Central Intelligence Agency . . . conferred a benefit on the public because the records it sought related to the assassination of President Kennedy."  "However, a 'requester's mere claim of a relationship to the assassination' does not necessarily satisfy the public interest factor . . . and here the district court 'did not abuse its discretion in concluding that the public benefit here was small,' given the arguably tenuous connection between the Kennedy assassination and appellant's request for information regarding attempted assassinations of Adolf Hitler and Fidel Castro . . . ."  "[The requester] has forfeited the issue of whether the district court abused its discretion in applying the second and third factors."  "In addition, the district court recognized that '[n]o one factor is dispositive,' . . . and did not abuse its discretion in concluding that [the requester] was not entitled to fees because the fourth factor, which weighed against a fee award, outweighed the other three factors, which marginally favored [the requester]."