9th Cir.;
15-55442

The court of appeals reversed a district court judgment and remanded. The court held that a plaintiff's failure to “reasonably” describe the records sought in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request went to the merits of the plaintiff's claim, but did not deprive the district court of subject matter jurisdiction.

Stephen Yagman sent the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and its director a letter requesting “records/information” on “the names and company/organization affiliations of any CIA employees, agents, operatives, contractors, mercenaries, and/or companies who are alleged to have engaged in torture of persons.” Specifically, the letter sought the names and affiliations of those “as to whom President Obama stated that 'we tortured some folks' on August 1, 2014: that is, who are the individuals whom the word 'we' refers to?” The CIA timely replied that, under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), federal agencies were not required to answer questions posed as FOIA requests. Since Yagman's request did not constitute a request for records, the CIA declined to process it. Yagman reiterated his request in a subsequent letter, but the CIA reaffirmed its position. Yagman rejected the CIA's repeated offers to assist him in formulating a reasonably specific request and instead suit to compel disclosure.