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Angelina Jolie Drops 2-Year Legal Battle With FBI Over Investigation Into Ex-Husband Brad Pitt
Angelina Jolie dropped her federal lawsuit against the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation over records related to her ex-husband, Brad Pitt, In Touch can exclusively report.
According to court documents obtained by In Touch, Jane Doe, who is believed to be Angelina, 49, informed the court of her decision on Wednesday, September 25.
The filing read, “The parties to this action hereby stipulate to dismiss this action with prejudice, with each party to bear its own fees and costs.”
The case was filed by under the pseudonym Jane Doe in March 2022. In the heavily redacted lawsuit, it revealed Angelina filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the FBI in 2021.
She asked for certain records related to the FBI’s investigation into Brad, 60, over the infamous incident, aboard a private plane on September 14, 2016, that preceded the couple’s divorce.
In a separate legal battle, Angelina detailed the incident, claiming Brad was physically and verbally abusive to her and their children.
She said he grabbed her by the head and shook her. Angelina said Brad also choked one of the children and struck another in the face. On top of that, Angelina said he poured beer on her and wine of their children.
Brad has disputed Angelina’s version of events for years. He denied the accusations.
His lawyer Anne Kiley previously said, “Brad has owned everything he’s responsible for from day one — unlike the other side — but he’s not going to own anything he didn’t do. He has been on the receiving end of every type of personal attack and misrepresentation.”
She added, “Thankfully, the various public authorities the other side has tried to use against him over the past six years have made their own independent decisions. Brad will continue to respond in court as he has consistently done.”
The FBI and the L.A. County Department of Children and Family Services launched investigations following the airplane incident. In November 2016, a FBI spokesperson announced no charges would be brought against Brad.
“The FBI has conducted a review of the circumstances and will not pursue further investigation. No charges have been filed in this matter,” the rep said.
In her lawsuit, Angelina claimed the FBI never contacted her before making the public announcement. “[Angelina] was not informed of the FBI’s closure of the investigation prior to the public statement, nor was she informed of the FBI’s reasons for closing the investigation or making the unusual decision to publicly announce the closure of the investigation, despite the statutory obligation to provide victims earliest possible notice of the status of an investigation,” her suit read.
Angelina said she filed her Freedom of Information Act with the FBI to demand they produce investigation records, “in an attempt to better understand the FBI’s investigation and obtain the requested information to ensure that her children received [redacted].” She said the FBI took six months to produce 91 extensively redacted pages.
Her suit said, “[Angelina] and her children still do not have a clear picture of how the FBI handled the matter, nor any better understanding as to why it was abruptly closed without any advance notice to [redacted], who continue to be affected by the FBI’s unusual public statement closing the investigation and announcing that charges would not be filed against [Brad].”
The suit continued, “As one example, the FBI’s public statement has served as a basis for the widely-reported claim that the FBI exonerated and “cleared” [Brad]. The FBI did not, in fact, clear [Brad] of wrongdoing. The FBI’s 2021 FOIA Response demonstrates, among other things, that the FBI Special Agent in charge of investigating whether Mr. DOE committed a federal crime prepared a statement of probable cause (which has been withheld in full by the FBI) and presented it to the Assistant United States Attorney and the Chief of the Criminal Division at the United States Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles.”
Angelina claimed, “This misstatement has contributed to the ongoing harm [redacted] by delegitimizing their experience, making it difficult to demonstrate in ongoing family law proceedings.” In the suit, the actress claimed the FBI withheld 45 pages in full.
For the past two years, the parties have gone back and forth about exchanging additional documents. Now, the fight is over.
As In Touch previously reported, Angelina and Brad are still in the middle of a nasty $350 million fight over a French winery they purchased during their marriage.
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