Bloomgarden v. DOJ, No. 16-5263, 2017 WL 4896485 (D.C. Cir. Oct. 31, 2017) (Silberman, S. C. J.)

Bloomgarden v. DOJ, No. 16-5263, 2017 WL 4896485 (D.C. Cir. Oct. 31, 2017) (Silberman, S. C. J.)

Re:  Request for disciplinary file of former Assistant United States Attorney

Disposition:  Affirming district court's grant of government's motion for summary judgment

• Exemption 6:  The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit "agree[s] with the district court that the substantial privacy interest in this case outweighs the rather modest public interest."  Regarding the public interest, the court notes that "this letter presenting allegations against the behavior of the Assistant is over twenty years old."  "To be sure, there is no expiration date on either the subject of FOIA requests or the interests protected by the Act's exemptions, . . . but the letter does not necessarily reveal anything of present personnel policies, and as a piece of history it is hardly momentous."  Regarding the privacy interest, the court finds that "[t]he aspect of the letter that concerns [the court] the most is that it contains mere allegations; it was never tested, nor was it ever formally adopted by the deputy-attorney general's office."
   
• Waiver:  The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit holds that "there [is no] record of the letter or material referring to the letter that was made public[]" and "[the requester's] waiver argument is therefore easily rejected."