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

Competitive Enterprise Institute filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit seeking to compel disclosure of records from the Department of State related to the December 2015 Paris Agreement and the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Bonn in November 2017 (2017 COP). The complaint mentioned four FOIA requests: one for correspondence regarding “validators,” which the complaint described as “unpaid outside voices” that promoted the Obama administration’s stance on the Paris Agreement; one for the correspondence of the State Department’s chief economist, who allegedly offered his office to colleagues for the purpose of “advancing the [Obama] administration’s climate agenda”; one for encrypted instant messages during 2017 COP; and one for correspondence relating to accommodation arrangements at the 2017 COP.