National Security Counselors

Litigation

NSC provides legal representation to clients involved in administrative proceedings and litigation involving national security law, information and privacy law, and related issues. If you wish to discuss possible representation, please contact Kel McClanahan.

NSC also files independent lawsuits in furtherance of its FOIA efforts. All efforts will be made to post substantive litigation files here for public review.

Feb. 28, 2011 - With the generous assistance of the Knight Foundation, the National Freedom of Information Coalition, and the DC Open Government Coalition, NSC filed three related lawsuits in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the Central Intelligence Agency and select other agencies as part of a coordinated challenge to several FOIA practices.
- Write-ups of the litigation can be found here (Unredacted), here (Whistleblowers Protection Blog), and here (Brechner Report).
- The original NFOIC press release can be found here.
- UPDATE: On Feb. 22, 2012, NSC received an additional litigation grant to file a fourth related lawsuit against the CIA for several additional FOIA practices, as well as a class action challenge to the CIA's promulgation of a new regulation allowing it to charge excessive fees for Mandatory Declassification Review requests.
  - Write-ups of the new litigation can be found here (Politico), here (Law360), here (Federal Times), here (Unredacted), and here (OpenTheGovernment.org).
  - The new NFOIC press release can be found here.
- Case files:
  - National Security Counselors v. Central Intelligence Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency, Department of Justice, Department of State, National Security Agency, and Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Civil Action No. 11-445 (BAH)
    - Feb. 28, 2011 - Complaint
    - Mar. 21, 2011 - First Amended Complaint
    - Apr. 22, 2011 - Received FOIA/PA Training Materials from NSA. See Document Vault to review.
    - June 3, 2011 - CIA Brief to Dismiss Counts 4, 11, and 14-21
      - June 25, 2011 - Motion to Stay Briefing on Some Policy Counts
        
        July 5, 2011 - CIA Opposition Brief
        
        July 5, 2011 - Reply Brief
        
        July 5, 2011 - Order denying stay
      - July 11, 2011 - Opposition Brief
      - July 21, 2011 - CIA Reply Brief
    - Oct. 20, 2011 - Received FOIA/PA Training Materials from State. See Document Vault to review (will be posted soon).
  - National Security Counselors v. Central Intelligence Agency, Civil Action No. 11-444 (BAH)
    - Feb. 28, 2011 - Complaint
    - Mar. 21, 2011 - First Amended Complaint
    - May 26, 2011 - Received descriptions of two records indexing systems from CIA. See Document Vault to review.
    - May 27, 2011 - CIA Brief to Dismiss Counts 2-7, 11-16, and 21
      - June 9, 2011 - Motion to Stay Briefing on Some Policy Counts
        
        June 17, 2011 - CIA Opposition Brief
        
        June 24, 2011 - Reply Brief
        
        June 28, 2011 - Order denying stay
      - July 11, 2011 - Opposition Brief
      - July 21, 2011 - CIA Reply Brief
    - Aug. 31, 2011 - Received large collection of FOIA correspondence from CIA. See Document Vault to review (will be posted soon).
    - Dec. 20, 2011 - CIA Brief for Summary Judgment
      - Feb. 8, 2012 - Opposition Brief
      - Mar. 2, 2012 - CIA Reply Brief
      - Mar. 20, 2012 - Sur-Reply Brief
  - National Security Counselors v. Central Intelligence Agency, Civil Action No. 11-443 (BAH)
    - Feb. 28, 2011 - Complaint
    - May 20, 2011 - CIA Brief to Dismiss Counts 1-2
      - June 16, 2011 - Opposition Brief
      - July 1, 2011 - CIA Reply Brief
      - July 5, 2011 - Motion to Add Demonstrative Exhibit
    - Dec. 1, 2011 - Motion for a Status Conference Regarding Electronic Records
      - Dec. 2, 2011 - CIA Opposition Brief
      - Dec. 2, 2011 - Reply Brief
      - Dec. 14, 2011 - Notice of Additional Authority Regarding Electronic Records
      - Dec. 14, 2011 - CIA Notice of Additional Authority Regarding Electronic Records
      - Dec. 14, 2011 - Supplemental Notice of Additional Authority Regarding Electronic Records
      - Dec. 16, 2011 - Status Conference Transcript
      - Dec. 16, 2011 - Order for Supplemental Briefing
      - Jan. 13, 2012 - CIA Supplemental Brief and Declaration
      - Jan. 17, 2012 - Motion for a Supplemental Status Conference Regarding Electronic Records
      - Jan. 20, 2012 - CIA Opposition Brief
      - Jan. 22, 2012 - Reply Brief
      - Jan. 31, 2012 - Order denying Supplemental Status Conference
    - Dec. 5, 2011 - Received Studies in Intelligence Tables of Contents from CIA. See Document Vault to review.
  - National Security Counselors, Kathryn Sack, Jeffrey Stein, and Mark Zaid v. Central Intelligence Agency and Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Civil Action No. 12-284 (BAH)
    - Mar. 21, 2012 - First Amended Complaint
Feb. 28, 2011 - NSC filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the Central Intelligence Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency to obtain historical records that have been the subject of a 13-year-old FOIA request, as well as to obtain records about CIA's declassification procedures.
- National Security Counselors v. Central Intelligence Agency and Department of Defense, Civil Action No. 11-442 (RMC)
  - June 27, 2011 - First Amended Complaint
  - Aug. 29, 2011 - CIA Brief for Summary Judgment
    - Oct. 2, 2011 - Opposition Brief
    - Oct. 17, 2011 - CIA Reply Brief
    - Mar. 28, 2012 - Opinion denying CIA Motion

Feb. 14, 2012 - NSC filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on behalf of itself and journalist Jason Leopold against the Central Intelligence Agency and several other federal agencies to enforce the FOIA requirement that agencies must provide estimated dates of completion to requesters.
- Leopold and National Security Counselors v. Central Intelligence Agency, Department of Defense, Department of Energy, Department of Justice, Department of the Treasury, National Archives and Records Administration, and Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Civil Action No. 12-245 (BAH)
  - Feb. 14, 2012 - Complaint

As privacy interests permit, NSC will also make available select pleadings from cases in which it has represented clients. These case files are intended as educational materials, to allow other litigants who find themselves faced with similar issues to benefit from our work.

Feb. 5, 2010 - NSC filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on behalf of a British author writing a book about the role played by the United States and United Kingdom in the development of the Iraqi Oil Law.
- Muttitt v. United States Central Command, Department of Defense, Department of State, and Department of the Treasury, Civil Action No. 10-202 (BAH)
  - May 3, 2010 - First Amended Complaint
  - June 1, 2010 - State, Treasury Brief to Dismiss Counts 25-26
    - June 16, 2010 - Opposition Brief
    - June 22, 2010 - State, Treasury Reply Brief
    - Sept. 28, 2011 - Opinion denying State, Treasury Motion
  - June 24, 2011 - State Brief for Summary Judgment
    
    Aug. 2, 2011 - Opposition Brief
    
    Aug. 26, 2011 - State Reply Brief
    
    Sept. 11, 2011 - Sur-Reply Brief

July 26, 2010 - Richard Tarzia, an immigration and asylum attorney, filed a pro se lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York seeking records and documentation underlying a State Department monograph on China. NSC began representing him on Nov. 29, 2010.
- Tarzia v. Clinton and Department of State, Civil Action No. 10-5654 (FM)
  - Oct. 8, 2010 - Second Amended Complaint
  - Aug. 25, 2011 - State Brief for Summary Judgment
    - Sept. 25, 2011 - Opposition Brief
    - Oct. 11, 2011 - State Reply Brief
    - Jan. 30, 2012 - Opinion denying in part, granting in part State Motion