Doe v. FEC, No. 18-5099, 2019 WL 1576741 (D.C. Cir. Apr. 12, 2019) (Randolph, S. C. J.)

Doe v. FEC, No. 18-5099, 2019 WL 1576741 (D.C. Cir. Apr. 12, 2019) (Randolph, S. C. J.)

Re:  Action under Administrative Procedure Act to prevent disclosure of identities of trust and trustee in investigative file related to improper political contribution

Disposition:  Affirming district court's determination that FOIA could not be used to prevent FEC from publicly revealing identities of trust and trustee

• Litigation Considerations:  The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit holds that "[t]his is not a run-of-the-mill 'reverse-FOIA' case."  The court finds that "[h]ere neither the trust nor the trustee provided any of the information the Commission would release."  "In fact, when the Commission served these plaintiffs with a subpoena seeking information, they refused to comply and provided no information."  "For another thing, when the Commission announced its intention to disclose the documents containing plaintiffs' names, no FOIA request was pending."  "In these circumstances, FOIA cannot be used to prevent the Commission from publicly revealing plaintiffs' identities."  "FOIA is a disclosure statute."  "If an agency wrongly withholds information in the face of a proper FOIA request, it violates that statute."  "But if an agency discloses information pursuant to other statutory provisions or regulations, the agency cannot possibly violate FOIA."