Case 1:20-cv-01275 Document 1 Filed 05/14/20 Page 1 of 5

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

DAVID CODREA )
)
) COMPLAINT
) (Freedom of Information
) Act, 5 U.S.C. §552)
Plaintiff, )
)
v. )
)
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, )
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW )
Washington, DC 20530 )
)
Defendant. )
____________________________________)

Comes now David Codrea (“Codrea”), by and through undersigned

counsel, and allege as follows:

1. This is an action under the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. §

552, for injunctive and other appropriate relief and seeking the disclosure and

release of agency records improperly withheld from Plaintiff by Defendant

Department of Justice (“DOJ”).

JURISDICTION AND VENUE

2. This Court has jurisdiction over this matter pursuant to 28 U.S.C.

§1331 and 5 U.S.C. §552(a)(4)(B).

3. Venue lies in this district under 28 U.S.C. §1391(e).

PARTIES
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4. Plaintiff David Codrea (“Codrea”) is an adult male resident of the state

of Ohio and an internet blogger and Second Amendment journalist. In 2011,

Codrea was named “Journalist of the Year” by the Second Amendment

Foundation for his groundbreaking work exposing the “Fast and Furious”

ATF “gunwalking” scandal, and was a co-recipient of Soldier of Fortune

Magazine’s “2nd Amendment Freedom Fighter Award,” and Jews for the

Preservation of Firearms Ownership’s “David and Goliath Award” for his

work on that story. He was also named a 2014 Defender of Liberty by the

Second Amendment Foundation.

5. Defendant Department of Justice is an agency within the meaning of 5

U.S.C. § 552(f). Defendant DOJ has possession, custody and control of

records to which Plaintiff seeks access.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

6. On January 28, 2020, Plaintiff transmitted a Freedom of Information

Act (“FOIA”) request to Defendant DOJ. The FOIA was submitted via the

Online Portal because the fax number was not working. A true and correct

copy of the FOIA is attached as Exhibit “A.”

7. Plaintiff’s FOIA requested three discrete sets of documents:

• Any and all Statements of Interest filed in lawsuits dealing with

and/or related to the Second Amendment to the United States
Constitution; and

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• Any and all documents and records related to enforcement of the

Second Amendment via 34 U.S.C. § 12601; and

• Any and all documents and records related to deliberations or

discussions, including emails, correspondence or memoranda,
related to protecting and defending the Second Amendment.

8. After submitting the FOIA, the DOJ provided an acknowledgement

letter to undersigned and assigned the request as a “complex track”. See

Exhibit “B”.

9. The DOJ did not determine whether it would comply with the request

or state how many documents would be produced and what exceptions, if any,

would be invoked.

10.Pursuant to FOIA, 5 U.S.C. §552(a)(6)(A)(i), Defendant DOJ had

twenty (20) business days in which to produce the requested records. This

period has expired.

11. Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. §552(a)(6)(A)(i), Defendant was required to

determine whether to comply with the request within twenty (20) working

days of receipt and to notify Plaintiff immediately of its determination, the

reasons therefore, and the right to appeal any adverse determination.

12. The DOJ extended the time limit to respond to the request by an

additional ten (10) days, which has lapsed as of the date of this Complaint.

13. As of the date of this Complaint, DOJ has failed to: (i) to fully comply

with Plaintiff’s FOIA request; (ii) notify Plaintiff of any such determination

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or the reasons therefore; (iii) advise Plaintiff of the right to appeal any adverse

determination; or (iv) produce all the requested records or otherwise

demonstrate that the requested records are exempt from production.

14. Because Defendant has failed to comply with the time limit set forth

in 5 U.S.C. §552(a)(6)(A), Plaintiff is deemed to have exhausted any and all

administrative remedies pursuant to 5 U.S.C. §552(a)(6)(C).

COUNT I
(Violation of FOIA, 5 U.S.C. §552 Against DOJ)

15. Plaintiff realleges the preceding paragraphs as if fully stated herein.

16. Defendant DOJ is unlawfully withholding records requested by

Plaintiff pursuant to 5 U.S.C. §552.

17. Plaintiff is being irreparably harmed by reason of Defendant’s

unlawful withholding of records responsive to Plaintiff’s FOIA request, and

Plaintiff will continue to be irreparably harmed unless Defendant DOJ is

compelled to conform their conduct to the requirements of the law.

WHEREFORE, Plaintiff respectfully requests that the Court:

(1) Order Defendant to conduct a search for any and all responsive records

to Plaintiff’s FOIA request and demonstrate that it employed search methods

reasonably likely to lead to the discovery of records responsive to Plaintiff’s

FOIA request;

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(2) Order Defendant to produce, by a date certain, any and all non-exempt

records responsive to Plaintiff’s FOIA request, and a Vaughn index of any

responsive records withheld under claim of exemption;

(3) Enjoin Defendant from continuing to withhold any and all non-exempt

records responsive to Plaintiff’s FOIA request;

(4) Grant Plaintiff an award of attorneys’ fees and other litigation costs

reasonably incurred in this action pursuant to 5 U.S.C. §552(a)(4)(E); and

(5) Grant Plaintiff such other relief as the Court deems just and proper.

Dated: May 14, 2020

Respectfully Submitted,

DAVID CODREA

/s/ Stephen D. Stamboulieh

Stephen D. Stamboulieh
Stamboulieh Law, PLLC
P.O. Box 4008
Madison, MS 39130
(601) 852-3440
stephen@sdslaw.us
DC District Court Bar# MS0009
Counsel for Plaintiff

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Stamboulieh Law, PLLC

P.O. Box 4008, Madison, MS 39130 | (601) 852-3440 | stephen@sdslaw.us

January 28, 2020

Office of the Attorney General Via Online Portal

Douglas Hibbard
Chief, Initial Request Staff
Office of Information Policy
Department of Justice
Suite 11050
1425 New York Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20530-0001
Fax: (202) 514-1009

RE: Freedom of Information Act Request

Dear FOIA Officer:
This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), 5 U.S.C. § 552. I
represent journalist David Codrea1 in this request.
The United States filed a Statement of Interest in the case J. Michael Brown, et al. v. Jones
County Junior College, et al., Civil Action No. 2:19-cv-00127-KS-MTP [Docket 23], pending in
the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, Eastern Division.2
The Statement of Interest states:
Imagine a society in which a citizen must petition the government for permission
to meet with his fellow citizens. Imagine further that such requests must be made
at least three days in advance of the requested meeting, and that the government
has unbridled discretion to determine who may meet with whom, and about what
they might speak. Such extreme preconditions to speech might not be out of place
in Oceania, the fictional dystopian superstate in George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-
Four. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution, however, ensures
that preconditions like these have no place in the United States of America.

1
David Codrea writes for Ammoland Shooting Sports News. See
https://www.ammoland.com/author/david-codrea/.
2
A copy of the Statement of Interest can be found online at:
https://www.scribd.com/document/439394219/Free-Speech-DOF-Filing#from_embed
Exhibit "A"
 Case 1:20-cv-01275 Document 1-2 Filed 05/14/20 Page 2 of 2
Office of the Attorney General
Douglas Hibbard
Chief, Initial Request Staff
January 28, 2020

Further, the Statement of Interest states that the College’s “speech policies do not pass First
Amendment muster in at least two major respects: they operate as a prior restraint on all student
speech and contain no exception for individuals or small groups; and they further grant school
officials unbridled discretion to determine with students may speak, and about what they might
speak.” The United States further states that the Attorney General enforces 34 U.S.C. § 12601
“which provides in relevant part that governmental authorities and their agents may not ‘engage
in a pattern or practice by law enforcement officers… that deprives persons of rights, privileges,
or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States’” and that the
Attorney General “may in a civil action obtain the appropriate equitable and declaratory relief to
eliminate the pattern or practice.”
Because the information sought is believed to be with your agency, Mr. Codrea hereby
requests the following information for the time period of January 2014 until present:
• Any and all Statements of Interest filed in lawsuits dealing with and/or related to
the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution; and

• Any and all documents and records related to enforcement of the Second
Amendment via 34 U.S.C. § 12601; and
• Any and all documents and records related to deliberations or discussions,
including emails, correspondence or memoranda, related to protecting and defending the Second
Amendment.
Mr. Codrea is willing to pay up to $100 for the processing of this request. Mr. Codrea also
requests a fee waiver as these materials are greatly in the public interest and because the requested
records will be distributed free of charge on the internet and will increase the public’s awareness
on the Department of Justice’s and the Attorney General’s intervention and/or filing of Statements
of Interests in matters of constitutional cases. Additionally, because Mr. Codrea would be
considered “media”, he is entitled to a fee waiver. See Edmonds Inst. v. DOJ, 460 F. Supp.2d 63,
72 (D.D.C. 2006); Votehemp, Inc. v. DEA, 237 F. Supp. 2d 55, 58 (D.D.C. 2002).
Pursuant to FOIA, Mr. Codrea anticipates your response within 20 (twenty) business days.
Should you require additional information, I can be contacted at 601-852-3440 or via email at
stephen@sdslaw.us.
Best regards,

cc: David Codrea

 Case 1:20-cv-01275 Document 1-3 Filed 05/14/20 Page 1 of 2
U.S. Department of Justice
Office of Information Policy
Sixth Floor
441 G Street, NW,
Washington, DC 20530-0001

Telephone: (202) 514-3642

February 26, 2020

Stephen Stamboulieh
Stamboulieh Law, PLLC
P.O. Box 4008
Madison, MS 39130
stephen@sdslaw.us Re: DOJ-2020-002031

Dear Stephen Stamboulieh:

This is to acknowledge receipt of your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request

dated and received in this Office on January 28, 2020 in which you requested various records
pertaining to the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, dating from January 1,
2014.

The records you seek require a search in and/or consultation with another Office, and
so your request falls within “unusual circumstances.” See 5 U.S.C. 552 § (a)(6)(B)(i)-(iii)
(2018). Because of these unusual circumstances, we need to extend the time limit to respond
to your request beyond the ten additional days provided by the statute. For your information,
we use multiple tracks to process requests, but within those tracks we work in an agile manner,
and the time needed to complete our work on your request will necessarily depend on a variety
of factors, including the complexity of our records search, the volume and complexity of any
material located, and the order of receipt of your request. At this time we have assigned your
request to the complex track. In an effort to speed up our process, you may wish to narrow the
scope of your request to limit the number of potentially responsive records so that it can be
placed in a different processing track. You can also agree to an alternative time frame for
processing, should records be located, or you may wish to await the completion of our records
search to discuss either of these options. Any decision with regard to the application of fees
will be made only after we determine whether fees will be implicated for this request.

We regret the necessity of this delay, but we assure you that your request will be
processed as soon as possible. If you have any questions or wish to discuss reformulation or an
alternative time frame for the processing of your request, you may contact this Office by
telephone at the above number or you may write to the Office of Information Policy, United
States Department of Justice, Sixth Floor, 441 G Street, NW, Washington, DC 20530-0001.
Lastly, you may contact our FOIA Public Liaison, Valeree Villanueva, at the telephone number
listed above to discuss any aspect of your request.

Additionally, you may contact the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS)
at the National Archives and Records Administration to inquire about the FOIA mediation

Exhibit "B"
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-2-

services they offer. The contact information for OGIS is as follows: Office of Government
Information Services, National Archives and Records Administration, Room 2510, 8601
Adelphi Road, College Park, Maryland 20740-6001; e-mail at ogis@nara.gov; telephone at
202-741-5770; toll free at 1-877-684-6448.

Sincerely,
Initial Request Staff
Office of Information Policy
U.S. Department of Justice