Darui v. United States Department of State
798 F. Supp. 2d 32
D.D.C.2011Background
- Darui, former business manager of the Islamic Center in DC, faced criminal charges alleging he diverted Center checks to a corporate account he controlled.
- During his criminal case, State and DOJ discussed a limited waiver of sovereign immunity for an Embassy witness, with two letters under seal, which the court allowed to be shown to Darui for cross-examination limits and sealed thereafter.
- On June 17, 2008, Darui served a FOIA request seeking all records about him; by October 2, 2008 he narrowed to three categories of documents.
- State conducted a comprehensive search and identified three responsive documents, withholding them in full under FOIA Exemptions 1, 5, and 7(A).
- By May 3, 2010 State provided a Vaughn index describing the three documents; after the underlying criminal trial ended in a hung jury, State continued to withhold Doc.1 under Exemption 5 and Docs.2–3 under Exemption 1, later abandoning Exemption 7(A) for Doc.1.
- On June 30, 2011 the court ordered in-camera review of the documents and granted State summary judgment.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether Document 1 is properly withheld under Exemption 5 | Darui argues the attorney work-product privilege not established | Grafeld declaration shows Doc.1 prepared in anticipation of litigation by DOJ/State | Doc.1 protected by attorney work product privilege under Exemption 5 |
| Whether Documents 2 and 3 are properly withheld under Exemption 1 | Documents 2–3 were not properly classified or current status questioned | Docs.2–3 are foreign government information properly classified under EO 13526 | Docs.2–3 properly withheld under Exemption 1 |
| Whether the government waived its right to classify Documents 2–3 | Official disclosure in criminal proceeding should trigger waiver | No official, documented public disclosure; waiver not shown | No waiver; Exemption 1 applies |
Key Cases Cited
- NLRB v. Robbins Tire & Rubber Co., 437 U.S. 214 (U.S. 1978) (FOIA exemptions narrowly construed to balance public right to know and national interests)
- FBI v. Abramson, 456 U.S. 615 (U.S. 1982) (Exemptions must be narrowly construed but have meaningful reach)
- Dep't of Defense v. Rose, 425 U.S. 352 (U.S. 1976) (Exemptions narrowly construed; public policy considerations} ,{)