Competitive Enterprise Institute v. U.S. Department of State

Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the U.S. Department of State asking the federal district court for the District of Columbia to order the State Department to produce records requested by CEI related to negotiation of the Paris Agreement. CEI sought correspondence to or from two State Department employees: a diplomat who participated in negotiation of the Paris Agreement and another State Department employee who served as Capitol Hill liaison. In a <a href="https://cei.org/content/competitive-enterprise-institute-sues-state-department-again-over-paris-climate-agreement">press release</a>, CEI said the individuals were members of the State Department when a decision was made to avoid characterizing the Paris Agreement as a treaty and that the Obama administration had “cut the Senate out of the treaty process” to join the Paris Agreement. CEI alleged that the Paris Agreement and its “legal form” were “the subject of great public and media interest.”