The New York Times Company v. Central Intelligence Agency
- Ona Wang
- 1:23-cv-01854
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In The New York Times Company v. Central Intelligence Agency, Judge Wang granted scheduling requests while agencies searched for records under a narrowed request.
The New York Times Company and Charlie Savage, as well as the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of State, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The order changed the case schedule and required monthly status reports while the agencies conducted searches.
What happened
The New York Times Company and Charlie Savage sued the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of State, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence under the Freedom of Information Act. They sought records about briefings given to former presidents.
The parties agreed to narrow the request to records from the Ford Administration onward concerning briefings given to then-former presidents. The agencies had begun searching, and the parties asked to postpone the initial conference and related case-management deadlines while the searches continued.
Judge Ona T. Wang granted the requests. She adjourned the initial case-management conference and related deadlines without setting a new date, and ordered the parties to file a joint status letter on the last business Friday of each month beginning June 30, 2023.
The detailed version
- The New York Times Company v. Central Intelligence Agency · No. 1:23-cv-01854
- Ona Wang
- May 26, 2023
Background
The New York Times Company and Charlie Savage brought this Freedom of Information Act case against the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of State, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The plaintiffs sought an order requiring the agencies to produce records concerning requests for briefings by former presidents since 1953.
After the government answered the complaint, the parties agreed to narrow the request. The revised request covered records from the Ford Administration onward concerning briefings given to then-former presidents, including in-person, written, or telephone briefings; briefings provided as a courtesy at the former president’s request; and briefings connected with a government assignment. The agencies had begun searching for potentially responsive records.
Requests and ruling
The parties asked the court to relieve them of the obligation to submit a proposed civil case-management plan and to adjourn the initial case-management conference scheduled for June 6, 2023. They proposed filing a joint status letter every 30 days beginning June 30, 2023, reporting on the searches and processing of records and identifying disputes that could require court resolution.
Judge Ona T. Wang granted the application. The court adjourned the initial case-management conference and corresponding deadlines without setting a new date. The parties were ordered to file a monthly joint status letter on the last business Friday of each month, beginning June 30, 2023. The order did not decide whether the agencies had to disclose any records.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.