Is Angelina Jolie suing the FBI for their records from the 2016 plane incident?

In September 2016, something bad went down on a private plane. The whole Jolie-Pitt clan was on the plane, meaning Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and their six children (at the time, all of the kids were minors). We knew at the time that when the plane landed, Angelina took all six kids, went into hiding, hired a divorce attorney, began ghosting Brad and filed for divorce immediately. We also know that even Brad couldn’t get his story straight for weeks/months/years afterward about exactly what happened on the plane. We know it was abuse. We knew it was the red line for Jolie and there was no going back for her. We also know that Brad has been smearing her ever since. The FAA and FBI opened up an investigation into what happened on the plane, but the investigation was closed rather suddenly and without any findings released or arrests made. Now, more than five and a half years later, this was reported in Politico:

Rulings in Freedom of Information Act suits rarely capture much attention in Washington, but an intriguing decision released Monday allowing a woman to anonymously file such a case against the FBI is prompting curiosity about just who is the “JANE DOE” behind the suit. The order from U.S. District Court Chief Judge BERYL HOWELL said the case stems from an FBI investigation into allegations that the plaintiff’s “then-husband … physically and verbally assaulted” her and their children while they were traveling on board a private plane “several years ago.”

The facts Howell outlined — including a statement from the FBI confirming an inquiry into the claims and another statement that the inquiry had been concluded without action — track closely with accusations Hollywood star Angelina Jolie leveled at her then-husband Brad Pitt as she filed for divorce from him in 2016.

The mystery plaintiff also has an unusually high-powered attorney for a FOIA case: Covington & Burling partner Amanda Kramer, the former human trafficking coordinator at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan.

“I’m unable to comment on the identity of Jane Doe, who has sought to preserve the family’s privacy,” Kramer told POLITICO. “Our position is that victims and survivors should be able to access federal agency records of crimes they experienced or reported, as is common at the state level, so they can advocate for help and trauma care and legal protection for their children and themselves. Our client has been seeking such records for years and has been stonewalled and has had to resort to court action to receive those much-needed records. Legislative remedies are necessary.”

Jolie has been a frequent presence on Capitol Hill over the past year, lobbying as recently as February for reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. Biden signed the extension measure in March, an event that Jolie attended.

Kramer asked to put the whole FOIA lawsuit under seal, citing the potential impact on the privacy of her client’s minor children. But Howell declined that request, saying that allowing the suit to be filed anonymously would be sufficient to protect the children’s privacy. A lawyer representing Jolie in the divorce case did not respond to a message seeking comment.

A spokesperson for Pitt declined to comment, but pointed POLITICO to the FBI’s statement saying it was closing its inquiry without pursuing charges.

[From Politico]

TMZ also did a report on it, noting that “Angelina Jolie may be trying to sue the FBI…” TMZ’s reporting isn’t anything that Politico didn’t discuss, but they did update their story with this: “A source connected to Angelina and Brad with knowledge tells TMZ … the FBI report was given to both Angelina and Brad following the initial investigation. The source adds the information was submitted in the divorce case.” Yeah… my guess is that update came from Brad’s lawyers and “the FBI report” was probably just the FBI’s statement about not pursuing charges. I remember how quickly the FBI dropped their investigation too, and it definitely felt fishy. I don’t blame Angelina for wanting to get to the bottom of it.

You can read the actual filing here – Jolie’s name isn’t mentioned (obvs), but it is pretty clear that she is the one seeking the FBI records. One of the most notable pieces of information – which was not included in Politico or TMZ’s reporting – is that the FBI dropped their investigation without notifying Angelina. It also sounds like Jolie has been working the FBI channels for a while to try to get her hands on their records but they’ve been stonewalling her. It wasn’t like she just woke up a month ago and decided to sue the FBI. This has all been a very long road for her and she’s going to keep fighting.

Photos courtesy of Instar, Avalon Red, Backgrid.