PILKIN v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (2020)

United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit.

Vitaly E. PILKIN, Appellant v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE and William P. Barr, in his Official Capacity as Attorney General of the United States, Appellees

No. 20-5110

Decided: July 08, 2020

BEFORE: Henderson and Griffith, Circuit Judges; Sentelle, Senior Circuit Judge Vitaly E. Pilkin, Pro Se R. Craig Lawrence, U.S. Attorney's Office, (USA) Civil Division, Washington, DC, for Defendants-Appellees

JUDGMENT

This appeal was considered on the record from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia and on the brief and appendix filed by appellant. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2); D.C. Cir. Rule 34(j). It is

ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that the district court's order filed April 14, 2020, be affirmed. The district court correctly concluded that decisions of the Attorney General of whether to investigate claims for possible criminal or civil prosecution are presumptively immune from judicial review. See Shoshone-Bannock Tribes v. Reno, 56 F.3d 1476, 1480 (D.C. Cir. 1995) (“In both civil and criminal cases, courts have long acknowledged that the Attorney General's authority to control the course of the federal government's litigation is presumptively immune from judicial review.”). Contrary to appellant's arguments, the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1346(b)(1), does not rebut that presumption.

Pursuant to D.C. Circuit Rule 36, this disposition will not be published. The Clerk is directed to withhold issuance of the mandate herein until seven days after resolution of any timely petition for rehearing or petition for rehearing en banc. See Fed. R. App. P. 41(b); D.C. Cir. Rule 41.

Per Curiam