Sauter v. Dep't of State, No. 17-1596, 2019 WL 3431153 (D.D.C. July 30, 2019) (Lamberth, J.)

Sauter v. Dep't of State, No. 17-1596, 2019 WL 3431153 (D.D.C. July 30, 2019) (Lamberth, J.)

Re:  Request for records concerning downed Korean War pilot and possible prisoner of war

Disposition:  Granting defendants' motion for partial summary judgment

• Litigation Considerations:  The court notes that "plaintiffs concede the appropriateness of the Glomar response made in reliance upon FOIA Exemptions 1 and 3, along with redactions made in reliance upon FOIA Exemption 6."
   
• Litigation Considerations, Adequacy of Search:  First, the court holds that "DIA conducted an adequate FOIA search."  "DIA personnel with knowledge of the agency's recordkeeping system reviewed plaintiff's request and concluded that there is no reasonable likelihood that DIA would possess responsive records."  Second, the court finds that "USAF conducted an adequate FOIA search."  "Personnel familiar with USAF's recordkeeping systems originally searched five separate subdivisions that might have contained records responsive to plaintiffs' request."  "Plaintiffs challenged the adequacy of the searches of two locations in their opposition brief."  "[The] Court need not address the adequacy of those initial searches because defendants cite evidence in their reply brief showing that USAF ran new searches that corrected the alleged defects in the initial searches."  Third, the court holds that "CIA conducted an adequate FOIA search."  "CIA personnel with knowledge of the agency's recordkeeping system reviewed plaintiffs' request and provided affidavits detailing the exact locations searched and search terms utilized. CIA's search located no responsive records."  "This Court finds no deficiencies in these searches, and plaintiffs' argument that something must be wrong with CIA's search because it did not locate records that plaintiffs claim it should have is unconvincing."