Summary
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dismisses America First Legal Foundation’s action seeking to compel the Department of Justice to require Hunter Biden to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The court holds that the Foundation failed to plausibly allege a cognizable informational injury because the provisions it sought to enforce did not themselves mandate disclosure of information. The court grants the Government’s motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction, denies the Foundation’s summary-judgment motion as moot, and dismisses the case.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the Foundation plausibly alleged an Article III injury in fact based on an informational injury arising from the Government's failure to require Hunter Biden to register under FARA.
- Whether the Foundation could establish standing based on alleged extreme non-enforcement of FARA.
- Whether jurisdictional discovery was warranted to investigate the alleged extreme non-enforcement.
- Whether the Foundation's summary-judgment motion and the Government's motion to strike should be denied or granted as moot after dismissal.
Holdings
- A plaintiff does not allege a cognizable informational injury when it seeks to compel compliance with a statutory registration or enforcement requirement rather than the statutory provision that mandates disclosure of information. Because FARA's disclosure requirement applies only after registration statements or updates are filed, the Foundation did not plausibly allege deprivation of information that the statute required the Government to disclose.
- The Foundation could not establish standing merely by characterizing the Government's failure to enforce FARA against Biden as extreme non-enforcement. A plaintiff must first establish an injury in fact, and the complaint did not allege a general policy of abandoning FARA enforcement.
- Jurisdictional discovery was unwarranted because no additional facts could cure the Foundation's failure to allege a cognizable informational injury.
Key quotations
“Those provisions “do[] not mandate the disclosure of any information.”” (8)
“The complaint does not allege “a general policy” of non-enforcement.” (10)
Factual background
The America First Legal Foundation is a nonprofit organization that gathers and disseminates official information, including foreign-agent registration statements. It alleged that Hunter Biden acted as an agent of foreign principals, including Burisma and two Chinese energy companies, but had not registered under FARA. After the Department of Justice did not require Biden to register, the Foundation claimed that the Government's inaction deprived it of information it was statutorily entitled to receive and sought an order compelling enforcement.
Procedural history
The Foundation first filed a complaint with the Department of Justice alleging that Hunter Biden was required to register as a foreign agent. After the Department neither adjudicated the complaint nor required registration, the Foundation filed this action. The parties submitted cross-motions, but the court addressed Article III standing first, dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, denied the Foundation's summary-judgment motion as moot, granted the Government's request to excuse Local Civil Rule 7(n) compliance, and denied the motion to strike as moot.