Today, Americans for Public Trust filed a Reply Brief in Support of Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment. Since filing the lawsuit in July 2021, the CDC has made multiple supplemental productions, raising doubts as to the adequacy of the CDC’s initial FOIA response. One of the key issues outlined in APT’s brief is the agency’s assertion of the deliberative process privilege, which the agency used liberally to withhold records showing teachers’ unions gaining early access to CDC’s draft school reopening guidance. APT contends that the sharing of the guidance, and further, the incorporating of teachers’ union feedback into subsequent drafts of the guidance, effectively waives any right of the CDC to claim the privilege. It has also been discovered that the CDC has released documents in other FOIA responses, that should have been included in the initial response to APT’s FOIA request. Therefore, APT contends that the initial search conducted by the CDC was neither reasonable, nor adequate.
The motion can be read in full here.
