FIA-20-0042 - In the Matter of The Hill

On August 25, 2020, the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) denied a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Appeal filed by Rachel Frazin of The Hill (Appellant) from a final
determination issued by the Department of Energy's Office of Public Information (OPI). On Appeal, the Appellant alleged that the exemption was applied incorrectly or broadly because some of the redacted portions of the document, like the purpose and background, had already been established and were, therefore, not part of a decision-making process. TheAppellant also argued that the DOE's refusal to release this information to the public effectuates more harm that the possible harm caused to future deliberations. After review,
OHA determined that OPI appropriated redacted portions of the document pursuant to exemption 5, as they were predecisional and deliberative in nature. Further, the OHA did not
accept the Appellant's argument that the possibility of harming future deliberations between subordinates and their superiors with the release of this information is remote. The OHA also determined that the potentially releasable portions of the document at issue were inextricably intertwined with the exemption 5 protected information, and as such were not required to be released. OHA Case No. FIA-20-0042