National Security Agency acknowledged working "with a broad range of commercial partners and research associates," but refused to "confirm [ or] deny" whether it even had a relationship with Google.
Judge Leon agreed and accepted the Agency's conclusion that the requested documents -- if they exist! -- were protected under a very special FOIA exemption. This is Exemption 3, which says material need not be disclosed if it is covered by a separate statute that prohibits disclosure; and the NSA, wouldn't you know, just happens to be covered by such a statute that broadly shields information about "the organization or any function of the National Security Agency, [or] any information with respect to the activities thereof."
