Montenegro v. FBI, No. 16-1400, 2017 WL 2692613 (E.D. Va. June 22, 2017) (Cacheris, J.)

Montenegro v. FBI, No. 16-1400, 2017 WL 2692613 (E.D. Va. June 22, 2017) (Cacheris, J.)

Re:  Request for records concerning plaintiff

Disposition:  Granting defendant's motion for summary judgment

• Litigation Considerations, Adequacy of Search:  The court holds that "the FBI has satisfied its burden of demonstrating that its search was reasonably calculated to turn up all responsive records with respect to Plaintiff's request."  The court relates that " [t]he FBI went into great detail to outline its methods for searching the [Central Records System] for records that are responsive to Plaintiff's request."
   
• Exemptions 6 & 7(C):  "[T]he Court concludes that this information was properly withheld under FOIA Exemptions 6 and 7(C)."  The court relates that the FBI withheld:  "(1) non-FBI federal employees; (2) FBI special agents and support personnel; (3) third parties mentioned in criminal files; (4) third parties of investigative interest; (5) third parties with criminal records; (6) third parties who provided information to the FBI; (7) third party victims; and (8) local law enforcement personnel."  Also, OIG withheld "the name of one administrative employee."  ICE withheld "the name and personally identifying information of a special agent."  Finally, State withheld "the names of a State consular official and of a Bureau of Diplomatic Security agent."
   
• Exemption 7(D):  "Because the FBI has demonstrated that these records were created for law enforcement purposes and that the information provided therein was provided as the result of either express or implied confidentiality, the Court finds that this information was properly withheld pursuant to FOIA Exemption 7(D)."  The court relates that the FBI withheld:  "(1) information provided by foreign government authorities under an express assurance of confidentiality; and (2) information provided by sources under an implied assurance of confidentiality."  Specifically "[p]ursuant to the second category, the FBI protected the identities of, and information provided by, sources who provided 'valuable, detailed information concerning the activities of subjects who were of investigative interest to the FBI or other law enforcement agencies.'"
   
• Exemption 7(E):  "Because the disclosure of [certain] databases and their search results could potentially lead to circumvention of the law," "[g]iven that the FBI has demonstrated that the release of ["internal investigative methodologies"] might allow individuals committing financial crimes to adjust their conduct to avoid possible punishment," "[b]ecause of the sensitive nature of ["the names, numbers, and/or alpha designators of certain FBI squads and units"]," and "given that [a "case file number and sub-file name of a particular file"] is connected to the possibility of criminals circumventing the law," the court finds that "[these] withholding[s] [were] proper pursuant to Exemption 7(E)."
   
• Exemption 7(F):  "Given [that "[certain] information is so specific that it would allow others to determine the identities of the individuals who provided the information and could result in those individuals being targeted for retaliation"], the FBI has established that there is a reasonable threat to life or physical safety."  "Thus, its withholdings under Exemption 7(F) were proper."