Case 1:16-Cv-00126-RC Document 275 Filed 07/15/16 Page 1 of 74
Case 1:16-cv-00126-RC Document 275 Filed 07/15/16 Page 1 of 74 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA DENNIS L. MONTGOMERY, : : Plaintiff, : Civil Action No.: 16-0126 (RC) : v. : Re Document Nos.: 52, 125, 143, 164, : 166, 181, 201, JAMES RISEN, et al., : 221, 210, 236, : 239, 253, 256, Defendants. : 264, 269, 270 MEMORANDUM OPINION RESOLVING ALL PENDING MOTIONS AND GRANTING DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT I. INTRODUCTION The twists and turns of this case could fill the pages of a book. In fact, much of it already has. In October 2014 Defendant James Risen authored, and his co-defendants Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Company (collectively, “Defendants”)1 published, Pay any Price: Greed, Power, and Endless War. One of the book’s chapters focuses heavily on Plaintiff Dennis Montgomery, who claimed to have developed several technologies that the government subsequently employed in the war on terrorism in the years following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. One of those technologies, Montgomery claimed, could detect hidden numbers and letters that appeared in Al Jazeera broadcasts. Government officials purportedly concluded that those strings of letters and numbers identified airline flight numbers or longitudinal and latitudinal coordinates representing targets of 1 Defendants note that Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Company is improperly sued as “HMH Holdings, Inc.” See Defs.’ Mot. for Summ. J. & Mem. Supp. at 1, ECF No. 201. Although the Court refers generally to “Defendants” throughout this opinion, for ease of reference the Court will refer to “Houghton Mifflin” when referring only to the publishing company defendants.
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