[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 2 (Friday, January 3, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Page 409]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-28386]


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DEPARTMENT OF STATE

[Delegation of Authority No. 479]


Delegation of the Authority To Invoke the Deliberative-Process 
Privilege

Authority

    By virtue of the authority vested in the Secretary of State, 
including section 1 of the State Department Basic Authorities Act, as 
amended (22 U.S.C. 2651a), and to the extent authorized by law, I 
hereby delegate the authority to assert the deliberative-process 
privilege in judicial and administrative proceedings.

Delegation

    This authority is delegated to the Assistant Secretaries of State 
and their equivalents. For purposes of this delegation, equivalents 
include but are not limited to Ambassadors-at-Large, Special Envoys, 
and the Legal Adviser.
    The authority delegated herein may be re-delegated to Deputy 
Assistant Secretaries of State and their equivalents.

Guidelines

    The deliberative-process privilege may be invoked only with respect 
to internal or inter-agency records, information, and communications 
that are pre-decisional and deliberative. Records, information, and 
communications are pre-decisional if they were created or shared prior 
to the adoption of the policy being discussed, regardless of whether 
the policy was ever implemented. Records, information, and 
communications are deliberative if their release would expose opinions, 
assessments, advice, or recommendations offered in the course of agency 
decision-making, or the internal process of agency decision-making.
    The deliberative-process privilege may be invoked only if 
disclosure of the records, information, or communications at issue 
would harm or inhibit Department deliberations or decision-making or 
would otherwise harm legitimate Department interests. The privilege may 
not be asserted for the purpose of avoiding embarrassment. The 
privilege may be asserted only in coordination with the Office of the 
Legal Adviser.
    The individual invoking the privilege must personally review the 
records, information, or communications at issue, and must have 
intimate familiarity with the underlying subject matter. The individual 
invoking the privilege may consult with other individuals or offices, 
as appropriate, to obtain the required familiarity and make the 
required determinations.

Exclusions

    The authority to invoke other discovery privileges, such as the 
state-secrets privilege, is not delegated herein.

Implementation

    The Secretary, Deputy Secretary, and Under Secretaries may exercise 
the authority delegated herein. This delegation does not repeal or 
affect any delegation of authority currently in effect.
    This delegation does not rescind or disapprove of any of the 
Department's prior invocations of the deliberative-process privilege.
    This delegation of authority shall be published in the Federal 
Register.

    Dated: December 17, 2019.
Michael R. Pompeo,
Secretary of State, U.S. Department of State.
[FR Doc. 2019-28386 Filed 1-2-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4710-08-P