No. 20-827October Term 2020Decided Jul 13, 2022Updated May 25, 2026
United States v. Zubaydah
This case was about whether Abu Zubaydah could obtain testimony from former CIA contractors for use in a Polish investigation into his alleged mistreatment at a CIA site in Poland.
Case status
Decided 7-2 · July 13, 2022
Read the opinion (PDF)- Current stage
- Decided
- Latest event
- Decision released Jul 13, 2022
- What it's about
This case was about whether Abu Zubaydah could obtain testimony from former CIA contractors for use in a Polish investigation into his alleged mistreatment at a CIA site in Poland. The United States argued that letting discovery go forward would reveal state secrets by confirming or denying the existence of a clandestine CIA facility there.
Question presented
Whether the court of appeals erred when it rejected the United States ’ assertion of the state-secrets privilege based on the court ’ s own assessment of potential harms to the national security, and required discovery to proceed further under 28 U.S.C. 1782(a) against former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) contractors on matters concerning alleged clandestine CIA activities.
- Case path
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit / Decision released Jul 13, 2022
- Area
Administrative Law
Timing
Decided July 13, 2022
The Court released its decision on July 13, 2022 without hearing oral argument.
Documents
Activity
Docket activity3
Brief added: Questions Presented
May 25, 2026 | Court records
Opinion added: opinion
Mar 3, 2022 | Court records
Brief added: Petition
Dec 17, 2020 | Court records
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Grounding
- Grounding
- Primary-source trail available.
- Note
- Plain-English explainer. Official filings and opinions remain authoritative.
- Checked
- Jul 25, 2026
- Method
- Methodology