Landingham v. DOJ, No. 22-00284, 2022 WL 1239061 (N.D. Ohio Apr. 27, 2022) (Barker, J.)

Landingham v. DOJ, No. 22-00284, 2022 WL 1239061 (N.D. Ohio Apr. 27, 2022) (Barker, J.)

Re:  Allegations that the "Secret Service and Federal Bureau of Investigation ('FBI') covered up a threat to his life by a person Plaintiff believes to be former President Donald Trump"

Disposition:  Dismissing case

• Litigation Considerations, Jurisdiction:  "To proceed with this case, Plaintiff must point to some statute waiving sovereign immunity for the type of suit which he brings before this Court."  "Plaintiff indicates he submitted requests under the Freedom of Information Act."  "It appears that he, or someone on his behalf, submitted a FOIA request to the FBI, which is a subdivision of the Justice Department."  "To establish jurisdiction under the FOIA, the Plaintiff must show that the agency (1) 'improperly' (2) 'withheld' (3) 'agency records.'"  "The difficulty with construing a FOIA claim from Plaintiff's allegations is that it is unclear which records he believes were withheld and whether those records were held by the FBI."  "In the Complaint, he describes them only as records about the threat on his life from the individual he presumed to be President Trump."  "This claim does not rise above the speculative level to state a plausible ground for relief."  "As no other claim is apparent on the face of the Complaint, Plaintiff has not stated a basis for the waiver of sovereign immunity."