Jobe v. National Transportation Safety Board

Issue: (1) Whether Exemption 5 of the Freedom of Information Act " which provides that federal agencies need not release privileged "inter-agency or intra-agency memorandums or letters" " includes an unwritten "consultant corollary," under which documents prepared by private, outside consultants are deemed "intra-agency memorandums or letters"; and (2) whether any "consultant corollary" in FOIA Exemption 5 could ever render "intra-agency" the communications between an agency and (1) employees of a private, regulated company with an economic interest in the agency"s actions; or (2) the representative of a foreign government.