Bobak Talebian began serving as the Director of the Office of Information Policy (OIP) of the United States Department of Justice in February 2020. OIP is responsible for developing policy guidance for Executive Branch agencies on the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), providing legal counsel and training to agency personnel on the procedural and substantive aspects of the Act, and for overseeing agency compliance with the law. OIP also manages the Department of Justice's obligations under the FOIA. This includes adjudicating administrative appeals from denials of access to records made by Department components under the FOIA or the Privacy Act of 1974; handling initial requests for records of the Offices of the Attorney General, Deputy Attorney General and Associate Attorney General, as well as other Senior Management Offices; providing staff support for the Department Review Committee, which reviews Department of Justice records containing classified information; and handling the defense of certain FOIA matters in litigation.
Before becoming Director, Mr. Talebian served as Acting Director and Acting Chief of Staff of OIP. Prior to these roles, Mr. Talebian served as the first Chief of OIP's FOIA Compliance Staff. During his tenure as Chief of OIP’s FOIA Compliance Staff, Mr. Talebian’s team led a number of government-wide initiatives that improved agencies’ FOIA administration, including the development of policy guidance, new reporting guidelines, FOIA training and assessment resources, and the launch of the National FOIA Portal on FOIA.gov.
Mr. Talebian is a graduate of Kenyon College and the University of Tennessee College of Law where he served on Law Review.