Documents: FOIA Suit on the Legal Basis of Syrian Airstrikes

In May 2017, the nonprofit Protect Democracy filed suit under the Freedom of Information Act to obtain the Trump administration's legal justification behind the U.S. airstrikes in Syria during April of that year. The litigation produced proof of a seven-page legal memo analyzing the legal basis for the strikes, which the Justice Department has not yet released. Months later, on February 8, 2018, Senator Tim Kaine requested the release of that memo in a letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

Justin Florence of Protect Democracy announced the lawsuit on Lawfare in May, and you can find a copy of the initial complaint in his original post. But we thought it would be worthwhile to provide the relevant legal documents generated by the suit over the last few months. We've also included Kaine's letter to Tillerson.

• Motion for Preliminary Injunction (5/22/17)
• Order Granting in Part and Denying in Part a Preliminary Injunction (7/13/17)
• Government declarations (11/17/17)
  • Vaughn index containing description of withheld legal memo
  • Declaration of Patricia Gaviria, Director, Information Management Division, Office of the Director of National Intelligence
  • Declaration of Paul P. Colborn, Special Counsel in the Office of Legal Counsel
• Motion for Summary Judgement (12/8/17)
• Second Declaration of Paul P. Colborn (1/9/18)
• Reply Memorandum in Support of the Cross Motion for Summary Judgment (1/23/18)
• Kaine letter to Tillerson (1/8/18)