Cite as: 508 U. S. 165 (1993)
Opinion of the Court
tial. The deleted portions of the files were coded to indicate which type of source each involved. The Bureau provided no other information about the withheld materials. Id., at 33-41.
On cross-motions for summary judgment, the District Court largely rejected the Government's categorical explanations. See 751 F. Supp. 502 (NJ 1990), clarified on reconsideration, 758 F. Supp. 1021 (NJ 1991). There was no dispute that the undisclosed portions of the Snow and Forni files constituted records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes by criminal law enforcement authority in the course of a criminal investigation. The District Court concluded, however, that the Government had not met its burden of establishing that each withheld document reasonably could be expected to disclose the identity of, or information provided by, a "confidential source." Although the court evidently was willing to assume that regular FBI informants were confidential sources, it held that the FBI had to articulate "case-specific reasons for non-disclosure" of all other information withheld under Exemption 7(D). 751 F. Supp., at 508.
The Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed in
relevant part. 956 F. 2d 422 (1992). Relying on legislative history, the court stated that a source is confidential within the meaning of Exemption 7(D) if the source received an explicit assurance of confidentiality or if there are circumstances " 'from which such an assurance could reasonably be inferred.' " Id., at 433 (quoting S. Rep. No. 93-1200, p. 13 (1974)). An "assurance of confidentiality," the court said, is not a promise of absolute anonymity or secrecy, but "an assurance that the FBI would not directly or indirectly disclose the cooperation of the interviewee with the investigation unless such a disclosure is determined by the FBI to be important to the success of its law enforcement objective." 956 F. 2d, at 434.
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