Latest / Beyond The Horizon / Federal Judge Orders DOJ to Expedite Epstein FOIA Requests (Part 2) (10/2/26)

Transcript

Federal Judge Orders DOJ to Expedite Epstein FOIA Requests (Part 2) (10/2/26) · Beyond The Horizon

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  Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Epstein Chronicles. In this episode, we're getting right back to
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  Speaker 1: the lawsuit filed by Defenders of Democracy against DOJ in
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  Speaker 1: regards to FOIA requests. See the present litigation. DDF initiated
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  Speaker 1: this litigation on August 21st, 2025. DDF's initial complaint concerned
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  Speaker 1: only its July 22nd DOJ CRM request. It alleged that
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  Speaker 1: DOJ CRM had failed to conduct adequate searches for responsive records,
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  Speaker 1: wrongfully withheld non-exempt responsive records, failed to grant DDF's request
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  Speaker 1: for a waiver of fees, and failed to grant DDF's
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  Speaker 1: request for expedited processing. On September 11, 2025, DDF filed
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  Speaker 1: the first amended complaint as of right. DDF's amended complaint
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  Speaker 1: added the July 28 DOJ CRM request and raised the
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  Speaker 1: same allegations. Shortly thereafter, the court granted DDF leave to
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  Speaker 1: file the second amended complaint, which added the July 28th
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  Speaker 1: OAG-ODAG request. DDF now moves for summary judgment on its
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  Speaker 1: request for expedited processing on these three requests under U.S.
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  Speaker 1: Code 5, Section 552A6E and CFR 28, Section 16.5E14. 2.
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  Speaker 1: Legal Standard Summary judgment is appropriate only if there is
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  Speaker 1: no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the
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  Speaker 1: movement is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
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  Speaker 1: The party seeking expedited review of a FOIA request has
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  Speaker 1: the burden of showing that expedition is warranted. FOIA provides
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  Speaker 1: for expedited processing of requests for records in 1. cases
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  Speaker 1: in which the person requesting the records demonstrates a compelling
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  Speaker 1: need and 2. in other cases determined by the agency.
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  Speaker 1: 5 U.S. Code Section 552 A6EI. Under the first expedited
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  Speaker 1: processing prong the term compelling, need means either 1. that
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  Speaker 1: a failure to obtain requested records on an expedited basis
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  Speaker 1: could reasonably be expected to pose an imminent threat to
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  Speaker 1: life or physical safety of an individual, or 2. with
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  Speaker 1: respect to a request made by a person primarily engaged
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  Speaker 1: in disseminating information, urgency to inform the public concerning the
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  Speaker 1: actual or alleged federal government activity. ID at Section 552, A, 6, E,
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  Speaker 1: and V. A district court must review, de novo, an
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  Speaker 1: agency's denial of a request for expedition under the first
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  Speaker 1: expedited processing prong, El Fayed v. CIA, D.C. Circuit 2001.
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  Speaker 1: Under the second prong, DOJ has promulgated regulations that provide,
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  Speaker 1: in relevant part, that requests shall be processed on all
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  Speaker 1: expedited basis under whenever it's determined that they involve a
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  Speaker 1: matter of widespread and exceptional media interest in which there
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  Speaker 1: exist possible questions about the government's integrity and affect public confidence.
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  Speaker 1: A regulation promulgated in response to the second prong expressed
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  Speaker 1: delegation of authority to an individual agency is entitled to
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  Speaker 1: judicial deference, as in each agency's reasonable interpretation of its
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  Speaker 1: own regulations. El-Fayed 7. Citing United States v. Mead Corp.
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  Speaker 1: 2001 However, when a case involves a constructive denial, the
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  Speaker 1: court has no agency reasoning to which it could defer.
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  Speaker 1: It has only the post hoc arguments of government counsel.
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  Speaker 1: Democracy Forward 2019 Accordingly, a court need not give blanket
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  Speaker 1: deference to an agency's constructive denial of an expedited processing request.
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  Speaker 1: Part 3 Analysis DDF argues that it's entitled... to expedited
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  Speaker 1: processing on two bases. PI's memorandum at 15. First, DDF
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  Speaker 1: argues that it's entitled to expedition under DOJ's own regulations
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  Speaker 1: because it has established that there is no material factual dispute,
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  Speaker 1: that its FOIA requests involve a matter of widespread and
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  Speaker 1: exceptional media interest in which there exist possible questions about
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  Speaker 1: government integrity that affect public confidence. Second, DDF argues that
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  Speaker 1: that it's entitled to expedited processing under the compelling need
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  Speaker 1: prong of the FOIA statute because DDF is an entity
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  Speaker 1: primarily engaged in disseminating information and there is urgency to
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  Speaker 1: inform the public of the information sought in the request,
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  Speaker 1: which relates to the federal government's activities. The court shall
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  Speaker 1: address each argument in turn. Upon doing so, the court
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  Speaker 1: concludes that DDF is entitled to expedited processing under DOJ's regulations,
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  Speaker 1: but not the compelling need Prong of FOIA. A. DDF
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  Speaker 1: has shown that it's entitled to expedited processing under DOJ's
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  Speaker 1: regulations because its requests concern matters of widespread and exceptional
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  Speaker 1: media interest in which there exist possible questions about government
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  Speaker 1: integrity that affect public confidence. To qualify for expedited review
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  Speaker 1: under CFR 28 Section 16.5, a requester must show that 1.
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  Speaker 1: There is widespread and an exceptional media interest in a
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  Speaker 1: specific matter, and 2. that coverage of the specific matter
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  Speaker 1: raises possible questions about the government's integrity that affect public confidence.
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  Speaker 1: In evaluating whether there is widespread and exceptional media interest,
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  Speaker 1: courts in this district consider 1. the number of articles
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  Speaker 1: cited in the expedited processing request, 2. the dates of
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  Speaker 1: those articles were published, 3. whether those articles were published
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  Speaker 1: in a variety of publications, and 4. whether the articles...
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  Speaker 1: indicate that there is widespread national attention on the issue.
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  Speaker 1: As to whether the relevant coverage raises possible questions of
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  Speaker 1: government integrity that affect public confidence, a requester need not
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  Speaker 1: point to actual evidence of government misconduct, they need only
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  Speaker 1: show possible questions regarding government integrity. The primary way to
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  Speaker 1: determine whether such possible questions exist is by examining the
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  Speaker 1: state of public coverage of the matter at issue, and
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  Speaker 1: whether the coverage surfaces possible ethics issues to potentially significant
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  Speaker 1: as to reduce public confidence in government institutions. The court
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  Speaker 1: shall consider whether DDF has met its burden on this
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  Speaker 1: standard with respect to each of its FOIA requests at issue.
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  Speaker 1: Because the case concerns DOJ constructive denial of expedited processing,
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  Speaker 1: the court shall review the record de novo. Upon doing so,
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  Speaker 1: the court concludes that DDF is entitled to expedited processing
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  Speaker 1: under the relevant DOJ regulation. 1. DDF's July 22, 2025 request.
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  Speaker 1: DDF has shown that it's entitled to expedited processing under
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  Speaker 1: CFR 28, Section 16.5 for its July 22, 2025 request
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  Speaker 1: to DOJ CRM, which sought records from DOJ's investigation of
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  Speaker 1: Epstein and or Maxwell that refer to variations of the
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  Speaker 1: term Donald Trump and Mar-a-Lago. DDF's July 22 request clearly
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  Speaker 1: showed that there was a widespread and exceptional media interest
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  Speaker 1: in DOJ's investigation into Epstein and Maxwell and its connection
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  Speaker 1: to the keywords identified by DDF. DDF Request cites more
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  Speaker 1: than two dozen articles concerning the connection between DOJ's investigation
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  Speaker 1: of Epstein and Maxwell and the keyword identified by DDF.
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  Speaker 1: These articles were written close to time to DDF's request
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  Speaker 1: and appeared in a range of prominent newspapers. including the
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  Speaker 1: New York Times, Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, major
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  Speaker 1: wire services, including the Associated Press and Reuters, and well-known
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  Speaker 1: broadcast outlets including ABC, BBC, Fox News, and NPR. Most importantly,
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  Speaker 1: the substance of these articles indicates widespread national attention to
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  Speaker 1: the issue, as illustrated in the following titles. Trump lashes
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  Speaker 1: out at supporters for fixating on Epstein hoax. An accuser's
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  Speaker 1: story suggests how Trump might appear in the Epstein files.
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  Speaker 1: Trump tells supporters not to waste their time on the
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  Speaker 1: Epstein files. They're not happy. DDF has their form at
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  Speaker 1: the first prong of 28 CFR 16.5. DDF also established
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  Speaker 1: that the widespread media coverage raises possible questions about the
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  Speaker 1: government's integrity that affect public confidence. The primary way to
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: determine whether such possible questions exist is by examining the
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  Speaker 1: state of public coverage of the matter at issue and whether,
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  Speaker 1: that coverage surfaces possible ethics issues so potentially significant as
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  Speaker 1: to reduce public confidence in governmental institutions. A Reuters poll
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  Speaker 1: that was cited by DDF in its requested revealed that
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  Speaker 1: 69% of Americans thought the federal government was hiding details
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  Speaker 1: about Epstein's clients. Furthermore, reporting on the issue highlighted the
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  Speaker 1: apparent inconsistency between Donald Trump's pre-election promise to declassify the
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  Speaker 1: Epstein files and his administration's post-election handling of the files.
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  Speaker 1: This reporting also explored Donald Trump's friendship with Epstein. For instance,
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  Speaker 1: the Wall Street Journal reported that President Trump had written
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  Speaker 1: a birthday note to Epstein in 2003, which included a
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  Speaker 1: drawing of a naked woman, Trump's name written below the
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  Speaker 1: woman's waist, in what appeared to be his handwriting, and
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  Speaker 1: a note referencing a secret the two men shared. Defense
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  Speaker 1: responds at 19, citing multiple sources. All in all, the
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  Speaker 1: coverage cited by DDF surfaced possible ethical issues that had
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  Speaker 1: the potential to reduce public confidence in governmental institutions. Accordingly,
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  Speaker 1: the court concludes that DDF is shown it's entitled to
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  Speaker 1: expedited processing under 28 CFR section 16.5E14 on its July 22nd,
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  Speaker 1: 2025 request to DOJ CRM. All right, folks, we're going
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  Speaker 1: to wrap up right there. And in the next episode,
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  Speaker 1: we're going to pick up with number two. DDF's July 28th,
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  Speaker 1: 2025 request. All the information that goes with this episode
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  Speaker 1: can be found in the description box.