Reading Room Document
Effect of Appropriations Rider on Access of DOJ Inspector General to Certain Protected Information
Section 540 of the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016, effectively prohibits the Department of Justice, for the remainder of fiscal year 2016, from denying the Department's Office of the Inspector General ("OIG") timely access to materials requested by OIG, or preventing or impeding OIG's access to such materials, pursuant to the Federal Wiretap Act (Title III of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968); Rule 6(e) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure; or section 626 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. As a result, the Department may (and must) disregard the limitations in those statutes in making disclosures to OIG for the remainder of the fiscal year. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at www.justice.gov/olc/file/2016-04-27-approp-doj-ig-access/download.
The OLC's Opinions
Opinions published by the OLC, including those released in response to our FOIA lawsuit