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DEPARTMENT OF STATE v. RAY Opinion of the Court

908 F. 2d, at 1557. We denied the Government’s certiorari petition insofar as it sought review of that question, but mention it here because the Government’s burden in establishing the requisite invasion of privacy to support an Exemption 6 claim is heavier than the standard applicable to Exemption 7(C). See Department of Justice v. Reporters Comm. for Freedom of Press, 489 U. S. 749, 756 (1989). To prevail in this case under Exemption 6, the Government must establish that the invasion of the interviewees’ privacy would be “clearly unwarranted.” In attempting to meet its burden, the Government relies, in part, on the fact that the interviews with the Haitian returnees were conducted pursuant to assurances of confidentiality. In this Court, respondents have suggested that the texts of some of the reported interviews do not expressly mention such assurances. Neither the District Court nor the Court of Appeals, however, questioned the fact that promises of confidentiality had actually been made; on the contrary, after finding that such assurances had been made, both courts concluded as a matter of law that they did not outweigh the public interest in disclosure.7 Insofar as the promises of confidentiality are relevant, we of course accept the factual predicate for the Court of Appeals decision. That court’s conclusion rested, in part, on what it described as the public interest in learning “whether our government is honest to the public about Haiti’s treatment of returnees.” 908 F. 2d, at 1555. The Court of Appeals did not, however, suggest that there was any evidence in the 7

Thus, the Court of Appeals explained: “We are also mindful, as the government points out, that the returnees were promised confidentiality before they talked with U. S. government officials. That, of course, is a factor that adds weight to the privacy interests at stake here, but it is not a factor that compels us to prohibit disclosure in this case.” 908 F. 2d, at 1554; see also 725 F. Supp., at 505 (“The promise of confidentiality by the State Dept. is only one factor to be considered and, in this case, is not determinative of the outcome”).