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Case docket

WP Company LLC v. U.S. Small Business Administration — D.D.C., No. 1:20-cv-01240

WP Company LLC v. U.S. Small Business Administration — 25 court filings in the archive, mostly from UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT, filed between May 12, 2020 and December 13, 2021. Among them: 5 opinions, 1 complaint and 1 declaration.

Case facts

CourtUNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT (17 filings); U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (3 filings)
Filings25 public filings (1 undated)
Filed2020-05-12 – 2021-12-13
Document typesopinions (5), complaint (1), declaration (1), memorandum or brief (1)
Original PDFs25 of 25

Case summary

Eleven news organizations led by WP Company LLC, publisher of The Washington Post, sued the U.S. Small Business Administration under the Freedom of Information Act in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, No. 1:20-cv-01240-JEB, for loan-level data on the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loans program. On November 5, 2020 the court granted the plaintiffs summary judgment, entered judgment for them and ordered the SBA to release the names, addresses and precise loan amounts of all borrowers under both programs. It denied a stay on November 24, awarded $122,347.02 in fees and costs on January 21, 2021, and in a fifth opinion on December 13, 2021 granted the SBA summary judgment on its withholding of loan payment status and borrower tax-identification numbers under FOIA Exemptions 4 and 6.

Case at a glance

PartiesPlaintiffs: WP Company LLC d/b/a The Washington Post, Bloomberg L.P., Dow Jones & Company, Inc., Pro Publica, Inc., The New York Times Company, American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. d/b/a ABC News, American City Business Journals, Cable News Network, Inc., NBCUniversal Media, LLC d/b/a NBC News, The Associated Press and The Center for Investigative Reporting d/b/a Reveal. Defendant: U.S. Small Business Administration. The opinions are issued jointly with Center for Public Integrity v. SBA, No. 20-1614
Court and docketU.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, No. 1:20-cv-01240 (Judge James E. Boasberg; earlier filings are docketed -ABJ)
ProgramPaycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) program under the CARES Act
ClaimsFreedom of Information Act claims for declaratory and injunctive relief over the SBA's refusal to disclose the identities of PPP and EIDL borrowers, their precise loan amounts and other loan-level details, and later over its withholding of loan payment status, DUNS numbers and borrower tax-identification numbers
Disposition or statusSummary judgment for the plaintiffs and judgment entered November 5, 2020, with release of borrower names, addresses and precise loan amounts ordered; stay denied and the release deadline set at December 1, 2020; $122,347.02 in fees and costs awarded January 21, 2021; summary judgment for the SBA on the remaining withholdings December 13, 2021
Status checked2026-09-23 · against DOJ press releases through 2026-09-22; court docket not yet read

What did the court order the SBA to release?

The names, addresses and precise loan amounts of all individuals and entities that obtained COVID-related loans under the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loans program, by November 19, 2020. After the court lifted its temporary stay and denied the agency's motion to stay, the deadline became December 1, 2020.

What did the later rounds decide?

The July 15, 2021 opinion records that after the summary-judgment ruling the SBA found additional responsive data, released much of it, and withheld loan payment status, DUNS numbers and borrower tax-identification numbers; the court found those withholdings insufficiently supported and gave the agency another chance. In the December 13, 2021 opinion the court found the SBA's showing on remand sufficient and granted it summary judgment on payment status and tax-identification numbers under Exemptions 4 and 6.

How large were the programs the data covered?

The first opinion states that the SBA processed an unprecedented $717 billion in loans via the PPP and the separate EIDL program in the months after the CARES Act was passed on March 27, 2020, and that the government initially refrained from disclosing the identities of the recipients, the specific amounts they obtained and other loan-level details.

Summary written from the documents on this page; every sentence is sourced.

Filings

25 public filings from this case, in filing-date order; undated filings are listed last.

  1. SBA's Response to WSJ Reporter Rolfe Winkler — WP Co. v. SBAPDF
  2. SBA's Response Letters to Bloomberg's Zachary Mider — Wp Co. v. SBA (D.D.C.)PDF
  3. The Washington Post's Expedited FOIA Request — WP Co. v. SBAPDF
  4. SBA's Expedited-Processing Denials to Bloomberg's Zachary Mider — WP Co. v. SBAPDF
  5. FOIA complaint — WP Co. v. SBAPDF
  6. Amended complaint — WP Co. v. SBAComplaint · PDF
  7. SBA answer to amended complaint — Wp Co. v. SBA (D.D.C.)PDF
  8. Vaughn declaration (William Manger, SBA) — WP Co. v. SBADeclaration · PDF
  9. Memorandum in support of cross-motion for summary judgment — Wp Co. v. SBA (D.D.C.)Memorandum or brief · PDF
  10. Government combined reply brief — Wp Co. v. SBA (D.D.C.)PDF
  11. Second Declaration of William Manger — WP Co. v. SBAPDF
  12. Plaintiffs' reply in support of cross-motion for summary…PDF
  13. Memorandum opinion (WP I) — WP Co. v. SBAOpinion · PDF
  14. Order granting summary judgment (WP I) — WP Co. v. SBAPDF
  15. SBA motion for stay pending appeal — Wp Co. v. SBA (D.D.C.)PDF
  16. Plaintiffs' opposition to SBA motion for stay — WP Co. v. SBAPDF
  17. SBA reply in support of stay pending appeal — WP Co. v. SBAPDF
  18. Memorandum opinion denying stay (WP II) — WP Co. v. SBAOpinion · PDF
  19. Memorandum opinion on attorney fees (WP III) — WP Co. v. SBAOpinion · PDF
  20. NFIB amicus brief supporting withholding of SSNs, EINs, and loan status — Wp Co. v. SBA (D.D.C.)PDF
  21. Plaintiffs' reply in support of supplemental cross-motion for…PDF
  22. Memorandum opinion on supplemental cross-motions (WP IV) — Wp Co. v. SBA (D.D.C.)Opinion · PDF
  23. SBA second supplemental motion for summary judgment — Wp Co. v. SBA (D.D.C.)PDF
  24. Memorandum opinion (WP V) — WP Co. v. SBAOpinion · PDF
  25. undatedSBA's Response to Plaintiffs' Statement of Material Facts — WP Co. v. SBAPDF

More documents from this docket

1 more document from the same CourtListener docket (gov.uscourts.dcd.217945) is in the archive but is not among the 25 filings above.

  1. Investigative ReportingMotion

Other cases in the archive from UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT.

Court, dates and docket numbers are as recorded on the filings.

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