Francis v. United States, No. 20-1392, 2022 WL 17146941 (D.D.C. Nov. 22, 2022) (Walton, J.)

Francis v. United States, No. 20-1392, 2022 WL 17146941 (D.D.C. Nov. 22, 2022) (Walton, J.)

Re:  Request for records concerning plaintiffs’ taxes

Disposition:  Granting in part and denying in part defendants’ motion to dismiss

• Litigation Considerations, Mootness and Other grounds for Dismissal:  The court holds that “defendants have failed to establish that the plaintiffs’ claims in their Amended Complaint . . . were ‘raised in the [prior] proceeding[s].’”  “Although the defendants assert that the plaintiffs’ FOIA claims based on their 2010–2017 tax years are based on an underlying claim that ‘their wages and other income are not subject to federal income tax[,]’ . . . the defendants ‘confuse[ ] the assumed purpose for the [documents sought by the plaintiffs’ FOIA] request[s] with the FOIA claim[s them]sel[ves].’”  “While the plaintiffs may intend to use the documents sought in the FOIA requests at issue in this case to support their continued assertion that ‘their wages and other income are not subject to federal income tax[,]’ . . . the plaintiffs’ claims in this case concern the defendants’ responses to their FOIA requests . . . .”  “Thus, ‘[t]he “nucleus of facts” that the Court will need to consider in adjudicating [the p]laintiffs’s FOIA claim[s] – i.e., whether the [defendants’] search[es in response to the plaintiffs’ requests were] adequate and its claimed exemptions appropriate – is wholly different from what the previous courts assessed – namely, the [plaintiffs’] correct tax liability.’”
   
• Litigation Considerations, Pleadings:  The court holds that “[a]s the defendants correctly note, . . . the FOIA only authorizes lawsuits against agencies.”  “Consequently, the claims against the United States, [the Commissioner of Internal Revenue], and [the Chief FOIA Officer at the United States Department of the Treasury] must be dismissed pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6).”