COURTS OCCASIONALLY MAKE THE GOVERNMENT PAY THE PIPER WHEN AGENCY BACKLOGS AND LACK OF STAFF ARE CITED AS REASONS FOR NOT RESPONDING TO A FOIA REQUEST WITHIN THE STATUTORY TIME LIMITS.

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00494R001100710120-5
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 26, 2010
• Sequence Number: 120
• Publication Date: January 29, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2010/07/26: CIA-RDP90-00494RO01100710120-5
,~ arJ, i, aaLy 41, 1yt6
or final rule as a result of OMB comment. OMB would also have to record any
comments from outside parties which it received and used in making
recommendations to the rulemaking agency. The bill is an attempt to hold
019B accountable for its imput into agency regulations. In hearings Jan. 28
before the Senate Subcommittee on Intergovernmental Relations, various
witnesses testified that OMB was purposefully obstructing or watering down
certain regulations in the environmental, health and safety areas because of
political ideology. Witnesses also complained that OMB, while frequently
exercising its power over agency regulations, deliberately conducted much of
its business orally so as not to leave a record. OMB director James C.
Miller testified that he favored a more open process, but, while not
prepared to address specific allegations, defended the Office's role in
reviewing agency rulemaking.
Courts occasionally make the government pay the piper when agency
backlo s and lack of staff are cited as reasons for not res ondin to a FOIA
request within the statutory time limits. In two recent cases, the
Immigration and Naturalization Service has been assessed for costs and
attorneys fees solely because the judge found the agency had not responded
to a request until after a suit was filed. U.S. District Court Judge
Gabrielle McDonald, in awarding $170 in costs and $1,125 in attorneys fees,
noted that "there is no legal basis stated by [the INS] for not disclosing
the requested information." In making the fee award, McDonald found that
disclosure was in the public interest "because the public has an interest in
making sure the INS is accountable for all its decisions." In an earlier
case, the court assessed the INS t170 n costs and $825 in attorneys fees.
(Tsega Bahta v. Alan Nelson, Commissioner, INS, Civil Action No. H-85-325,
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Nov. 27, 1985; and
Mehran Parsaei v. Alan Nelson, Civil Action No. H-85-587, U.S. District
Court for the Southern District of Texas, Oct. 17, 1985)
The Ninth Circuit has upheld a lcwer court decision sealing all
documents which related to the CIA's involvement with the Hawaiian
investment firm of Bisho , Baldwin, Rewald and forcing the firm into
involuntary banruptcy. After being charged with defrauding investors,
Ronald Rewald claimed his investment firm was a CIA front. During
bankruptcy proceedings, the lower court ruled that Rewald had only a "slight
involvement" with the CIA and that he considered himself a "more important,
undisclosed associate of the CIA. . .than he was in fact." In upholding the
lower court decision to prohibit the use of the sealed classified documents
by Rewald in the bankruptcy proceedings, the Ninth Circuit found that "the
adjudication of bankruptcy was proper without reference to any CIA
involvement." The court also approved a constructive trust on all assets of
Rewald and his wife. (In the Matter of: Bishop, Baldwin, Rewald, Dillingham
& Wong; Thomas Hayes, Trustee v. Ronald and Nancy Rewald, No. 83-2570, U.S.
Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Dec. 23, 1985
Researchers with the Natural Resources Defense Council recently
pinpointed the number of unannounced U.S underground nuclear tests usin
pu licly available information. According to the Natou