In a string of recent cases following the Supreme Court’s 2019 decision in Food Marketing Institute v. Argus Leader Media, multiple courts have held that a party submitting information to the government need not demonstrate it obtained an assurance of confidentiality from the government in order for the agency to justify withholding that information
Government Relief From COVID-19 Impacts on Federal Contracts and Grants
March 23, 2020
In the last several days, the federal government released a number of guidance documents designed to ease the impacts of COVID-19 on government contractors and grantees. The guidance is summarized below:
Contractors:
DOJ Issues FOIA Exemption 4 Guidance Following Argus Leader; Confirms That “Assurance of Confidentiality” At Time of Submission Not Currently Required
Last week, the Department of Justice issued new guidance regarding the application of Exemption 4 to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) following the Supreme Court’s decision this past June in Food Marketing Institute v. Argus Leader Media, 139 S. Ct. 2356 (2019). (Crowell & Moring previously wrote about Argus Leader here.)
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