McKinsey & Company / CA Governor and Executive Staff: COVID-19 Emails, 2020

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the California Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:

1. All emails to/from/between Gov. Gavin Newsom and any email address originating from, or ending in, " @mckinsey.com " between the dates of 3/1/2020 and 12/31/2020.
2. All emails to/from/between former Chief of Staff to the Governor of California Ann O’Leary and any email address originating from, or ending in, " @mckinsey.com " between the dates of 3/1/2020 and 1/31/2021.
3. All emails to/from/between Cabinet Secretary Ana Matosantos and any email address originating from, or ending in, " @mckinsey.com " between the dates of 3/1/2020 and 12/31/2020.

Please make sure to include any attachments to those emails.

When providing the responsive records related to this request, please also specifically certify that no other responsive documents related to this request exist.

If it is not possible for your agency to conduct a search for emails originating from a specific domain, such as @mckinsey.com, please let me know and I can provide you with a specific list of McKinsey email addresses to search for instead.

McKinsey & Co. is a global management consulting firm whose work regarding various government responses to COVID-19, including vaccination efforts, have come under scrutiny recently in the U.S. (https://www.propublica.org/article/how-mckinsey-is-making-100-million-and-counting-advising-on-the-governments-bumbling-coronavirus-response) and in France (https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/22/business/france-mckinsey-consultants-covid-vaccine.html). The firm's government contracts were also the subject of a recent public records lawsuit in Tennessee (https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tennessee-sued-not-releasing-covid-221610057.html). McKinsey & Co. also recently came under scrutiny in the national press over potential conflicts of interest related to the firm's relationships with pharmaceutical companies and regulators (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/13/business/mckinsey-purdue-fda-records.html).

During the pandemic in 2020, the State of California had contracts with McKinsey and Company, which were disclosed on the state's COVID-19 contract disclosure website: https://covid19.ca.gov/contracts/

The requested information will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes. Disclosure of the requested information to me is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations and/or activities of the government and is not primarily in my commercial interest.

Fully understanding how the Governor of California and other State officials interacted with McKinsey & Co. consultants when developing California's COVID-19 response, including the information and advice that was provided by McKinsey & Co. during public policy-making processes, is of the highest importance to the public. Because of the requested information's historical significance, the requested records should be made available to the public with as few redactions as possible, at the lowest fee possible, as soon as possible.

In order to help determine my status to assess fees, you should know that I am a freelance journalist whose work is published frequently by print and digital news outlets and magazines. You can view my portfolio at www.erinmariemiller.com/clips. I have previously been determined a media requester by federal agencies in other FOIA requests.

As a member of the media, I request a waiver of all fees. In the event that there are fees, I am willing to pay up to $25 for the requested information. If the fee for this request exceeds this amount, please notify me in writing for permission prior to beginning work on the request.

I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Please send all documents related to this request to this email address.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Erin Marie Miller