Glomar response

The CIA cannot refuse to search for records about U.S. drone strikes on the grounds that acknowledging the existence of the records would harm national security, the U.S. Court of Appeals for Washington, D.C. ruled.

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a motion for summary judgment Wednesday in a federal Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, opposing the release of documents regarding the CIA's use of “targeted killings.”

The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. ruled yesterday that the CIA could refuse to confirm or deny the existence of records in response to a federal Freedom of Information request – issuing what is referred to as a Glomar response – and rejected a claim that the agency had waived its right to do so.

A U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. ruled that a journalist who sued the CIA under the federal Freedom of Information Act to release certain John F. Kennedy assassination records was not entitled to attorney’s fees.