Wen Dong Zhao v. U.S. Dep't of State
Wen Dong Zhao v. U.S. Dep't of State
Opinion of the Court
*507The plaintiff Wen Dong Zhao brings this action tinder the Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA"),
BACKGROUND
I. Procedural History
On October 12, 2016, the plaintiff made a FOIA request to the State Department for research materials that he claims he submitted to the U.S. Embassy in 2003.
II. The State Department's Search
The State Department reviewed the plaintiff's request and determined that the following offices or record systems might have responsive documents: the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, which advises the Secretary of State on matters in North Africa and the Middle East (ECF No. 25 *508¶ 12); the U.S. Embassy; the Retired Records Inventory Management System; and the State Archiving System. (Id. ¶ 9.)
At the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs ("NEA"), an NEA Area Management Officer who was knowledgeable about the plaintiff's FOIA request determined that the requested records could be in the Office of Regional and Multilateral Affairs ("RMA") or the Office of Iraq Affairs. (ECF No. 25 ¶ 13.) The Officer identified these offices as potential sources because the RMA coordinates NEA briefing materials for the State Department concerning the Near East, and the Office of Iraq Affairs monitors developments in Iraq. (Id. ) Individuals at both offices searched electronic files using the search terms "Wen Dong Zhao," "Wen," "Dong," "Zhao," and "Iraq War," so that the searches would find documents if they included any one of these terms. (Id. ¶¶ 14-15; ECF No. 24 ¶¶ 16-17.) The offices also searched Iraq War paper files from January 2003 through August 2003. (ECF No. 25 ¶¶ 14-15.) Neither office located any responsive documents. (Id. ¶ 16)
At the U.S. Embassy, the Consul General and an Information Management Officer determined that the Regional Security Office ("RSO") and the Engineering Service Center ("ESC") might have responsive records. (Id. ¶ 18.) Staff members searched the RSO electronic files using the search terms "Wen Dong Zhao," "Zhao Wen Dong," "Wen," "Dong," and "Zhao." (Id. ¶ 21; ECF No. 24 ¶ 21.) The ESC also searched its electronic files, using the same search terms except for "Zhao Wen Dong." (ECF No. 25 ¶ 24.) Both offices searched their paper files for responsive documents. (Id. ¶¶ 21, 24.) These searches were not limited by date and applied to records from 2002 and later. (Id. ¶¶ 22, 24.) The RSO's and ESC's searches yielded no documents responsive to the plaintiff's FOIA request. (Id. ¶ 25.)
The Retired Records Inventory Management System ("RIMS") tracks retired records and allows analysts to search the content of the retired files' manifests and locate particular documents in retired file boxes. (ECF No. 25 ¶ 27.) A State Department analyst who was familiar with the plaintiff's request searched RIMS using the terms "Zhao" in conjunction with "Bangkok," "Wen Dong Zhao," "Zhao Wen Dong," and "Darryl N. Johnson" for documents dated January 1, 2003 through August 31, 2003. (ECF No. 25 ¶ 28.) This search identified seven boxes of retired paper files, which were manually reviewed. (Id. ) No responsive materials were located. (Id. ¶ 29.)
The State Archiving System ("SAS") enables searches of millions of records that include official copies of the following: correspondences with the White House, members of Congress, and other federal agencies; cables between the State Department and Foreign Service posts; position papers and reports; interoffice memoranda and memoranda of conversations; diplomatic notes; and retired records. (Id. ¶¶ 30-31.) These records are generally fully text searchable, and for those that are not-usually older documents-SAS searches the text of a reference index. (Id. ¶¶ 32-33.) An analyst well-versed with SAS and familiar with the plaintiff's FOIA request applied the search terms "Wen Dong Zhao;" and "Zhao" in conjunction with "Bangkok" on documents dated January 1, 2003 through August 31, 2003. (Id. ¶ 34.) Again, the search yielded no responsive documents. (Id. )
The State Department would have considered the plaintiff's unsolicited research materials "information involving no administrative action, policy decision, or special compilations or research;" the materials *509were "temporary" records, which were likely destroyed 90 days after receipt. (Id. ¶¶ 35-36; ECF No. 23 at 13; ECF No. 28 at 5.)
DISCUSSION
Summary judgment is appropriate only if the parties' submissions show that there is "no genuine dispute as to any material fact," and that the movant is therefore "entitled to judgment as matter of law." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a) ; see also Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc. ,
"Summary judgment is the preferred procedural vehicle for resolving FOIA disputes." Labella v. F.B.I. , No. 11-0023CV,
In a FOIA action, the district court may grant summary judgment in favor of an agency "on the basis of agency affidavits" if they are (1) reasonably detailed rather than "merely conclusory" and (2) "not called into question by contradictory evidence in the record or by evidence of agency bad faith." Grand Cent. P'ship., Inc. v. Cuomo ,
The plaintiff does not dispute the defendant's description of the various searches it undertook. Rather, he claims that the State Department should have used specific search terms and should have produced a video tape of him delivering his research materials in 2003. Neither argument is persuasive.
The plaintiff argues that the defendant should have employed different search terms like "Zhao Wen Dong," "Saddam Hussein," and "any of the key words used in the slogan by [the] United States in [the] Iraq War."
Nor has the plaintiff shown that the State Department's failure to search for "Saddam Hussein" and key words from the "slogan by [the] United States in [the] Iraq War" was unreasonable. The State Department searched for documents that included several iterations of the plaintiff's name, "Bangkok" (where he claims to have delivered the materials), and "Iraq War." (ECF No. 25 ¶¶ 14-15, 21, 24, 28, 34.) The plaintiff did not mention Saddam Hussein in his FOIA request or detail the contents of the materials. Rather, he stated only that the materials were "regarding the Iraq war." (ECF No. 24-1 at 1.) Given the plaintiff's own description of what he wanted, the State Department's search terms and methods were "reasonably designed to identify and locate responsive documents." Davis v. U.S. Dep't of Homeland Security , No. 11-203CV,
The plaintiff also faults the State Department's for failing "to provide the videos of the security cameras ... showing [that] Plaintiff had submitted his research documents to the [U.S. Embassy]." (ECF No. 27 at 5-6.) The plaintiff made no such request; he requested only his research materials. (ECF No. 24-1 at 1.) A plaintiff is "not entitled to documents outside the scope of his request," Conti ,
*511The plaintiff makes a general challenge to the adequacy of the Slate Department's search and Eric Stein's declaration, but does not rebut the presumption that the declaration was made in good faith or present any contradictory evidence.
The State Department has established that it performed an adequate search in response to the plaintiff's FOIA request.
CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, I grant the defendant's motion for summary judgment. The Clerk is respectfully directed to enter judgment in favor of the defendant, dismissing this case.
SO ORDERED.
The plaintiff faxed this identical FOIA request to the State Department again on November 2, 2016. (ECF No. 25 ¶ 4; ECF No. 24-1 at 5.)
The plaintiff does not dispute the facts detailed in the defendant's 56.1 statement (see ECF No. 32); thus, under Local Civil Rule 56.1(c), the facts in the 56.1 statement are deemed admitted.
The plaintiff denies that he received the October 25, 2016 letter, but does not deny that the State Department responded. (ECF No. 32 ¶ 3.)
The plaintiff denies that the State Department sent the December 8, 2016 response. (ECF No. 32 ¶ 6.)
The plaintiff does not give any specifics about the content of this slogan. The plaintiff states in his affidavit that: "America uses 'Saddam Hussein was dead and they didn't need to give their life [sic] to Saddam Hussein anymore' as the advertisement" (ECF 27-1 ¶ 16), but does not clarify whether this "advertisement" is the slogan referenced in the brief. Even assuming it is, the plaintiff does not identify particular search terms other than "Saddam Hussein," which he already asserts should have been a term.
The State Department does not deny that the plaintiff delivered the research materials to the U.S. Embassy, but submits that the materials were likely destroyed under the governing recordkeeping protocol. (ECF No. 28 at 5.)
Stein has been the Director of the Office of Information Programs and Services of the State Department since January 22, 2017. (ECF No. 24 ¶ 1.) He is the State Department official "immediately responsible for responding to requests for records" under FOIA. (Id. )
Reference
- Full Case Name
- WEN DONG ZHAO v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published