Michael Hagar, who was convicted of cyberstalking and making interstate threats in 2019, filed a FOIA request seeking an unredacted email he had sent threatening to shoot employees at companies that had terminated him, along with complete header information and metadata showing the email's path through mail servers.
The FBI initially produced the email body but redacted recipient names and addresses under Privacy Act exceptions and FOIA Exemptions 6 and 7(C), which protect against unwarranted invasions of personal privacy. The agency also declined to produce header information, arguing it would require creating new records that FOIA does not mandate.
While the FBI's summary judgment motion was pending, the agency sent Hagar an unredacted copy of the email in August 2023. The magistrate judge recommended granting summary judgment, finding that producing header information would require creating new records beyond FOIA's scope, and alternatively that such information would be exempt under privacy protections.
The Fifth Circuit affirmed on multiple grounds. The court found Hagar's claim for the recipient information became moot once he received the unredacted email. Regarding the header information, the court ruled that FOIA does not require agencies to create new records, only to provide access to existing ones. The FBI demonstrated that extracting metadata would require copying and pasting header information into separate files.
The appeals court also rejected Hagar's challenges to various procedural rulings, including the magistrate judge's authority to manage pretrial scheduling and dismiss his premature summary judgment motion. The court dismissed Hagar's judicial misconduct claims throughout the litigation.