Lawsuit #1 – On September 5, 2012, Broward Bulldog — now Florida Bulldog — filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit in federal court in Fort Lauderdale against the Department of Justice and the FBI. The 25-page FOIA complaint seeks records of an FBI investigation involving a Saudi family, former residents of Sarasota, who may have provided aid or assistance to the 9/11 hijackers. U.S. District Judge William J. Zloch, Fort Lauderdale, presiding.
Lawsuit #2 – On June 15, 2016, the Bulldog again sued the FBI and Justice Department – this time seeking records about the FBI 9/11 Review Commission. Those records include the commission’s efforts to discredit an April 2002 FBI report released under the Freedom of Information Act that corroborated earlier reporting about the Saudi family’s quick exit from their Sarasota home two weeks before the attacks and their apparent ties to the 9/11 hijackers. The Bulldog and the FBI appealed a 2017 ruling by Miami U.S. District Judge Cecilia Altonaga. A three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in July and is expected to rule soon.
Mandatory Declassification Review – Florida Bulldog Editor Dan Christensen and 9/11 authors Anthony Summers and Robbyn Swan are also pursuing what’s known as a Mandatory Declassification Review of 28 pages that were censored from the report to the nation by Congress’s Joint Inquiry into the terrorist attacks. Those pages involve “specific sources of foreign support” for the hijackers while they were in the U.S. The matter, filed in 2013, is before the Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel. CASE CLOSED JANUARY 2017. Key documents from the Mandatory Declassification Review and FOIA cases are below.
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FOIA LAWSUIT #2 (9/11 Review Commission):
***NEW*** 9/18/19 – Motion to Vacate
7/19/18 – Oral arguments before three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals (70 minutes) Listen or download. Scroll to 3rd case…Broward Bulldog Inc. v U.S. Department of Justice et al.
5/31/18 – Memorandum to counsel re oral argument
5/31/18 – Notice of Special Hearing
2/9/18 – Defendant’s reply brief
1/12/18 – Plaintiffs’ reply and cross-answer brief
11/29/17 – Justice Department answer brief and initial brief on cross appeal
10/23/17 – Amicus brief of Media in Support of Plaintiffs Amicus brief of Media in Support of Plaintiffs
10/16/17 – Initial Appeal Brief by Broward Bulldog Inc. doing business as Florida Bulldog
6/29/17 – Judge Altonaga’s final order
6/2/17 – Joint Status Report Regarding the Conclusion of this Case
6/2/17 – Motion for Reconsideration of Court’s Order Denying Defendants’s Motion for Summary Judgement
6/2/17 – Exhibit 1 to Motion for Reconsideration
5/16/17 – Order Granting in Part and Denying in Part Motions for Summary Judgment
3/14/17 – Defendants Motion for Summary Judgment on Count I
2/27/17 – Order Granting in Part and Denying in Part Motion for Partial Summary Judgment
1/19/17 – Defendants’ Reply to Response to Motion for Summary Judgment on Counts 2 and 3
1/13/17 – Plaintiffs Memo in Opposition to Defendants Motion for Summary Judgment on Counts 2 and 3 Hearing set for Feb. 7, 8 a.m. before Miami U.S. District Court Judge Cecilia Altonaga
1/13/17 – Declaration of Dan Christensen Exhibits removed due to large file
1/13/17 – Declaration of Terry Strada
**New** – 12/31/16 – Defendants Motion for Summary Judgment on Counts 2 and 3
12/31/16 – DE-27-1 Second Declaration of David M. Hardy
12/20/16 – Government Motion to Continue Trial denied
8/10/16 – Order Cancelling Mediation
8/3/16 – Scheduling Order
7/25/16 – Answer and Affirmative Defenses
6/15/16 — Complaint
FOIA LAWSUIT #1 (FBI’s Sarasota investigation):
***NEW***
8/22/19 — Judge’s order
12/31/18 — FBI Response to Request for Status Conference
12/17/18 – Plaintiff’s 2nd Request for Status Conference
Exhibits – Senate Joint Resolution 69 (Khashoggi)
Senate Joint Resolution 54 (Yemen War)
Congressional Record of 12-13-2018 (re SJR 69 & 54)
8/17/18 – FBI’s Notice of 90 Days Expiring
5/8/18 – Plaintiffs’ Notification of 90 Days Expiring
2/1/18 – Reply to FBI response to motion to modify protective order
1/25/18 – Government’s opposition to motion to modify protective order
1/11/18 – Plaintiffs motion to modify protective order to allow discovery
1/11/18 – FDLE memo re interview of Wissam Taysir Hammoud re Abdulaziz al-Hijji
1/11/18 – FBI memo re interview of Wissam Taysir Hammoud re Abdulaziz al-Hijji
1/11/18 – Memorandum in opposition to FBI’s renewed motion for summary judgment
1/11/18 – Declaration of Thomas R. Julin
1/11/18 – Plaintiffs response to FBI’s statement of uncontroverted material facts
11/27/17 – FBI’s statement of uncontroverted material facts
11/27/17 – Appendix for numbered redactions
11/27/17 – Index explaining location of responsive documents
11/27/17 – Universe of documents
11/27/17 – Fifth declaration of David M. Hardy
11/27/17 – FBI’s renewed motion for summary judgment
10/16/17 – Order setting summary judgment briefing schedule
3/31/17 – Order on Interim Motion for Attorneys Fees
8/8/16 – Defense Notice of Declassification
5/31/16 – Interim motion for attorney fees
5/31/16 – Declaration of Thomas R. Julin
3/22/16 – Paperless order by Judge William J. Zloch denying 4/24/15 motion for status conference and to depose FBI agent
5/11/15 – FBI response to request to depose FBI agent
4/24/15 — Request to depose FBI agent
7/1/14 —Document release #4. 11 pages.
6/6/14 — Fourth Hardy Declaration Document Release #3. 31 pages.
5/9/14 — Third Hardy Declaration Document Release #2. 4 pages.
5/1/14 — Defendants Notice of In Camera Filing-boxes
4/18/14 — Order Denying Motion for Reconsideration and Defendants Notice of In Camera Filing
4/17/14 — Government’s Motion for Reconsideration and Second Hardy Declaration
4/6/14 — Further Order on Motion to Compel
4/4/14 Order Compelling Better Search
3/26/14 — Newspapers’ amicus brief
3/20/14 — Order granting leave to file amicus brief
10/9/13 — Government motion opposing the filing of an Amicus brief by The Miami Herald
9/27/13 — Miami Herald Motion for Leave to File Amicus Curiae Brief
9/13/13– Sarasota Herald Tribune Motion to Intervene
8/15/13 — Our Reply to Government’s Response to Motion to Compel
8/7/13 — Government’s Response to Motion to Compel
7/19/13 — Our Motion to Compel Additional Search
7/12/13 — Order from Pretrial Conference
6/28/13 — Order Denying Defendants Motion to Dismiss Complaint
6/19/13 — Defendants Motion for Protective Order
6/26/13 — Joint Pretrial Stipulation
7/6/13 — Plaintiffs Opposition to Motion for Protective Order
6/10/13 — Government’s Reply to Memorandum in Opposition
5/31/13 — Our Memorandum in Opposition to Summary Judgment
5/13/14 — The Government’s Motion for Summary Judgment Government Exhibits
3/29/13 — FBI Document Release — #1. 35 pages.
12/13/12 — The Government’s Reply to our Memorandum in Opposition to Dismissal
12/3/12 — Our Response in Opposition to the Motion to Dismiss the Complaint
11/19/12 — The Government’s Motion to Dismiss
9/5/12 Our FOIA complaint
MANDATORY DECLASSIFICATION REVIEW (28 pages and underlying documents):
1/13/17 — ISCAP Release of the 28 Pages Part1 With asserted reasons for each redaction ISCAP Release of the 28 PagesPart2 ISCAP Release of the 28 PagesPart3
CASE CLOSED
7/15/16 – 28pages released by President Obama. ISCAP proceedings continue regarding underlying FBI, CIA documents
10/1/14 — Letter to ISCAP from Members of Congress
7/15/14 — Letter from John P. Fitzpatrick regarding ISCAP Appeal
7/10/14 — Appeal to Interagency Classification Appeals Panel (ISCAP) regarding the 28 pages
7/3/14 — Letter from David M. Hardy (FBI) Denying Request for a Mandatory Declassification Review
3/17/14 — Review Committee will hear appeal
2/13/14 — Request for Declassification Review Committee Determination
12/3/13 — H. Res. 428 -Congressmen urge Obama to declassify 28 pages from censored 9/11 report
10/2/13 — 9/11 Families press release
6/26/13 — DOJ Response to Request for Mandatory Declassification Review
6/20/13 — 9/11 Families Letter to President Obama
6/10/13 — Request to White House to release 28 censored page from Congress’s report on 9/11
6/10/13 — Request to Department of Justice for Mandatory Declassification Review of the 28 pages
