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By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
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SDNY COURT, Oct 15 – The video of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Turkey, which it is clear the US government has a copy of, is being sought under the Freedom of Information Act.

On October 15 U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Paul A. Engelmayer held oral arguments. Inner City Press live tweeted them, here:

Plaintiff's lawyer: The CIA director told Congress his agency produced many reports. But we don't know how many.

Judge Engelmayer: Would it make sense for me to review, ex parte and in camera, some sort of summary, and not all the responsive documents?

Plaintiff's lawyer: Yes. The President spoke about it, and even the result, that maybe Prince MBS did it. So yes, your Honor should review it. It can no longer be withheld as exempt. Judge Engelmayer: Are there are document I ought to review directly?

 Plaintiff's lawyer: There is a tape of the murder. They can't really denying having it. You can see it on C-SPAN.

Judge Engelmayer: Maybe the word "I" interrupted. I'm not sure what was meant by that bumpy sentence from the President. Judge Engelmayer: He went on to say, from those things, you can conclude that the Crown Prince did, or that he didn't. Meaning, draw your own conclusion. Plaintiff's lawyer: He said, "They say he may have done it." I read that as a summary of the CIA's report.

Judge Engelmayer: The tape is like the Zapruder film of the killing. Let me turn to the government, Mr. Aronoff.

AUSA Aronoff: What we're talking about is a narrow set of statements by public officials. Judge Engelmayer: What if want more? That's in my discretion

AUSA Aronoff: The amount of information the government has about this is itself classified... The volume could be significant to foreign adversaries, showing if we have a lot or a little.

Judge Engelmayer: Let's drill down on the President's remarks. The "They" here seems to be the CIA. So he's acknowledging the CIA dug into it. AUSA Aronoff: That is probably fair. (Laughs). The CIA director acknowledged that CIA had written products.

Judge Engelmayer: Unless the US had something to do with the killing [of Khashoggi], you only came upon the tape afterward. So how can you withhold it under FOIA? AUSA Aronoff: I don't want to resist the question, but...

Judge Engelmayer makes his second reference to Zapruder, asking How could the CIA review the killing without reviewing the tape? It'd be like the Warren Commission reviewing the Kennedy killing without watching the Zapruder film.

Judge Engelmayer has heard arguments from both sides, revolving at the end around whether the video of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi should be made public under the Freedom of Information Act. He's taken motions for summary judgment under advisement.

The case is Open Society Justice Initiative v. Central Intelligence Agency et al., 19-cv-234 (Engelmayer)

   Meanwhile as Inner City Press reported earlier this month, Open Society Justice Initiative and a group of law professors, represented by a Washington lobbyist firm, has sued on the theory that their First Amendment rights to support the UN-affiliated International Criminal Court have been impaired. Fine. Interesting.  

Now on October 9, the plaintiffs have asked for oral argument on their motion for a preliminary injunction: "Re: Open Society Justice Initiative, et al. v. Trump, et al. Case No. 1:20-cv-8121-KPF – Request for Oral Argument Dear Judge Polk Failla: We represent Plaintiffs in the above-referenced action. We write in compliance with Your Honor’s Individual Rules of Practice 4(E) to request that the Court schedule oral argument on Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction. Plaintiffs’ Motion seeks to protect their rights under the First and Fifth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution and to prevent the government from acting ultra vires under the governing statute. Plaintiffs respectfully suggest that oral argument would assist the Court in making its decision by elucidating the key points of difference between the parties on these issues."

But the parties should be aware: the UN is no friend of free speech.   

 Under current Secretary General Antonio Guterres, the UN roughed up and has banned Inner City Press 823 days now, for its questions about Guterres' failures on Cameroon (a France-supported mass killing event not taken up by the ICC) and his undisclosed links to convicted UN bribers at CEFC China Energy. Video here, background here. 

 Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric - a US as well as French citizen - helped organize the rough up then initially promised on camera to at least answer Inner City Press' request questions, here. He has since stopped, and said "Mr. Lee's status remains unchanged."

 With that unacted on, and Guterres' head of media accreditation Melissa Fleming - a US citizen - denying Inner City Press' application for re-accreditation last months without even giving a reason, the ICC / Trump complaint says:

“The executive order and the regulations impermissibly restrict plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights to freedom of speech by prohibiting them from providing the speech-based services and assistance described above, including with respect to ICC investigations and prosecutions that the United States supports. The executive order and the regulations also lack the clarity required by the Fifth Amendment as to which acts subject a person to enforcement or designation, or which persons they cover.”   Yeah.  

The plaintiffs' lawyers are Shrutih Ramlochan-Tewarie and Nicholas Marcus Renzler of Foley Hoag LLP. The plaintiffs are The Open Society Justice Initiative, Diane Marie Amann, Milena Sterio, Margaret deGuzman and Gabor Rona.    Are these professors, and Foley Hoag, really for free speech with regards to the UN and ICC? So far, it seems not.

Their case is Open Society Justice Initiative et al v. Trump et al, 1:20-cv-08121 (Failla)

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