When the National Institutes of Health ("NIH ")
failed to respond to a record request within 20 busi
ness days, as required by statute, Petitioner ("Yim ")
filed suit. Subsequently, NIH responded by provid
ing a website. When asked to to be more specific, the
agency provided a single record but was unable to con
firm that the record was responsive to the request.
The agency then produced a declaration attesting
to the existence of the requested record but the dec
laration lacked a compliant endorsement. Thus, the
agency left uncertainty as to the existence of the re
quested record. The court is therefore asked:

1. Must an agency specify which non-exempt records
are responsive to a request?

2. Can an agency respond to a record request based on
"information and belief '?

3. Must an agency confirm or deny the existence of a
non-exempt record?

Must an agency specify which non-exempt records are responsive to a request?