Legal Eagle, LLC v. Nat'l Sec. Council Recs. Access & Info. Sec. Mgmt. Directorate, No. 20-1732, 2021 WL 1061222 (D.D.C. Mar. 18, 2021) (Contreras, J.)

Legal Eagle, LLC v. Nat'l Sec. Council Recs. Access & Info. Sec. Mgmt. Directorate, No. 20-1732, 2021 WL 1061222 (D.D.C. Mar. 18, 2021) (Contreras, J.)

Re:  Request for records concerning prepublication review of Former National Security Adviser John Bolton's book "The Room Where It Happened"

Disposition:  Granting defendants' motion to dismiss; granting defendants' motion for partial summary judgment

• Procedural Requirements, Entities Subject to the FOIA:  The court dismisses the counts against the National Security Council Records Access and Information Security Management Directorate.  The court finds that "'[t]he law in this Circuit is clear that the [the National Security Council ("NSC")] is not an "agency" for purposes of the FOIA.'"  "The Court perceives no invitation in this Circuit's binding precedent to reevaluate whether subcomponents of the NSC, an entity that itself has been found to not 'exercise any significant non-advisory function,' . . . are agencies subject to FOIA."  The court finds that "[w]here two Circuit courts have determined that the NSC as a whole functions in solely an advisory capacity, '[a]ny duties the NSC assigns to its staff . . . must also be deemed only to advise' because the NSC 'can hardly confer on its staff more authority than it has itself.'"
   
• Procedural Requirements, Expedited Processing:  The court holds that "the record before the agencies fails to establish a compelling need for expedited processing."  "Congress has made clear that judicial review of agency denials of requests for expedited processing must be 'based on the record before the agency at the time of the determination,' . . . , not on 'commonly-known information' that the agency should have considered in addition to the record."  "[Plaintiff's] requests offered no evidence of an urgency to inform the public that would justify placing its requests ahead of others."  The court relates that plaintiff's requests only stated "[b]ec[au]se of the issues surrounding [Mr. Bolton's] manuscript and the Government's efforts to prohibit [Mr.] Bolton from providing the requested information – either in his book or in Congressional testimony – this request satisfies the compelling need standard for expedited processing, since it is made by a person primarily engaged in disseminating information to inform the public about Government activity involving topics of breaking news."