Powell v. IRS, No. 18-453, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 74663 (D.D.C. May 3, 2019) (Boasberg, J.)

Powell v. IRS, No. 18-453, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 74663 (D.D.C. May 3, 2019) (Boasberg, J.)

Re:  Request for records concerning plaintiff's grandfather, father, printing business once owned by plaintiff's family, and plaintiff

Disposition:  Granting defendant's motion for summary judgment

• Litigation Considerations, Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies:  The court holds that, "[b]ecause [plaintiff] has not rebutted Defendant's evidence that it did not receive the requests in question, the IRS is entitled to summary judgment on those specific ones."  "'Without any showing that the agency received the [FOIA] request, the agency has no obligation to respond to it.'"
   
• Litigation considerations, Adequacy of Search:  "[T]he Court believes that the IRS has cleared the bar for an adequate search on [plaintiff's . . . request."  "[Defendant] searched the most expansive database available under the most expansive terms."  "The Service relayed the responsive documents to [plaintiff] and redirected him to the appropriate department for the documentation it did not provide."  "Plaintiff, moreover, has not challenged the adequacy of this search."