Haswell
Haswell v. National Railroad Passenger Corp.
Opinion
Lead Opinion
MEMORANDUM **
Anthony Haswell appeals pro se from the district court’s summary judgment in favor of Amtrak in his action under the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552 , et seq. (“FOIA”), seeking documents related to Amtrak’s retention of McKinsey & Company. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We review the district court’s findings of fact for clear error, and its conclusions of law regarding the applicability of a FOIA exemption de novo. Lane v. Dep’t of Interior, 523 F.3d 1128, 1135 (9th Cir.2008). We affirm.
The district court did not clearly err by concluding that Exemption 5 applies because the documents that Amtrak withheld are protected by the deliberative process privilege. See 5 U.S.C. § 552 (b)(5) (exempting from disclosure “interagency or intra-agency memorandums or letters which would not be available by law to a party other than an agency in litigation with the agency.”); Nat’l Wildlife Fed’n v. U.S. Forest Serv., 861 F.2d 1114, 1118 (9th Cir.1988) (explaining that Exemption 5 was intended to protect not simply deliberative material, but also the deliberative process of agencies) (emphasis in original); see also Carter v. U.S. Dep’t of Commerce, 307…