FIA-22-0005 - In the Matter of Michael Kaplan

On February 8, 2022, the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) denied a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) appeal filed by Mr. Michael Kaplan (Appellant) concerning a request made to the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Public Information (OPI) for records of investigative activity related to the prosecution of Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Gang Chen. OPI denied Appellant's request for expedited processing of his request. On appeal, Appellant alleged that there was a compelling need to expedite the processing of his FOIA request because he was a journalist primarily engaged in disseminating information and the subject of his request was critical to understanding whether the federal government engages in racial profiling of Asian Americans. OHA determined that Appellant had failed to demonstrate that his request concerned a matter of current exigency to the American public or that delay in processing his request would compromise a significant recognized interest. Therefore, OHA denied Appellant's appeal.