Anthony P.x. Bothwell v. JOHN O. BRENNAN, Director, Central Intelligence Agency, United States of America

NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
ANTHONY P.X. BOTHWELL,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
JOHN O. BRENNAN, Director, Central
Intelligence Agency, United States of
America; CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE
AGENCY,
Defendants-Appellees.
No. 15-17323
D.C. No. 3:13-cv-05439-JSC
MEMORANDUM*
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of California
Jacqueline Scott Corley, Magistrate Judge, Presiding**
Submitted January 18, 2017***
Before: TROTT, TASHIMA, and CALLAHAN, Circuit Judges.
Anthony P.X. Bothwell, an attorney, appeals pro se from the district court’s
* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
** The parties consented to proceed before a magistrate judge. See
28 U.S.C. § 636(c).
*** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
FILED
JAN 31 2017
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS

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summary judgment in his action alleging violations of the Freedom of Information
Act (“FOIA”). We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We review de novo,
Animal Legal Def. Fund v. U.S. Food & Drug Admin., 836 F.3d 987, 990 (9th Cir.
2016), and we affirm.
The district court properly granted summary judgment on Bothwell’s FOIA
requests for records pertaining to Jean Souetre because, even if the articles
Bothwell submitted were admissible, they did not establish a genuine dispute of
material fact as to whether the Central Intelligence Agency (“CIA”) waived the
application of FOIA Exemption 3. See Pickard v. Dep’t of Justice, 653 F.3d 782,
786 (9th Cir. 2011) (setting forth criteria for determining whether a fact is deemed
“officially acknowledged”). We reject as without merit Bothwell’s contentions
regarding redaction of records and the CIA’s alleged error in failing to consider the
public interest before invoking Exemption 3.
The district court properly granted summary judgment on Bothwell’s FOIA
requests for records pertaining to David Morales because Bothwell did not raise a
genuine dispute of material fact as to whether the CIA’s search for responsive
records was inadequate. See Lahr v. Nat’l Transp. Safety Bd., 569 F.3d 964, 987-
89 (9th Cir. 2009) (concluding that agency’s declarations established that it

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conducted searches reasonably calculated to uncover responsive records and the
agency’s failure to produce or identify a few isolated documents was insufficient to
show its searches were inadequate). Bothwell’s contentions regarding the CIA’s
prior disclosure of certain records and alleged error in failing to consider the public
interest are inapposite because the CIA did not invoke an exemption in response to
Bothwell’s FOIA request pertaining to Morales.
AFFIRMED.

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