Almeda v. U.S. Dep't of Educ., No. 20-5087, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 26258 (D.C. Cir. Aug. 18, 2020) (per curiam)

Almeda v. U.S. Dep't of Educ., No. 20-5087, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 26258 (D.C. Cir. Aug. 18, 2020) (per curiam)

Re:  Request for records concerning Interagency Working Group established to analyze barriers faced by Filipino veterans in obtaining compensation for their service

Disposition:  Granting government's motion for summary affirmance of district court's grant of government's motion for summary judgment

• Exemption 5, Deliberative Process Privilege:  The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit holds that, "[a]s to the material withheld under the deliberative process privilege . . . the government has shown that its withholdings are justified."  "Here, the drafts and corresponding emails were part of a deliberative process, spanning several months, during which the government summarized the benefits process for Filipino veterans from a large universe of facts."  "And the factual material cannot be reasonably segregated."  "Additionally, the record does not support appellant's argument that the government adopted the draft blog posts he seeks or used them in its dealings with the public."  "Accordingly, the drafts have retained their predecisional status."
   
• Exemption 6:  The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit holds that, "[a]s to [the requester's] argument regarding the redactions of names of non-senior employees within the deliberative documents, the government has demonstrated that those withholdings fit within Exemption 6 . . . ."  "[The requester] has failed to identify any public interest that would be served by disclosure of the redacted names."