Ben Carson, Secretary; or Pam Patenaude, Deputy Secretary
| Tracking # |
18-FI-HQ-01411 |
| Submitted | April 23, 2018 |
| Est. Completion | July 5, 2018 |
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Communications
From: Taylor Amarel
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:
I would like to obtain all emails sent to, from, or copied to Ben Carson, Secretary; or Pam Patenaude, Deputy Secretary, from January 1, 2016 to Present Day containing at least one of the following non-case-sensitive key-strings: "Reeves"
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Taylor Amarel
From: Department of Housing and Urban Development
Attached, please find a letter acknowledging the Department of Housing and Urban Development's receipt of your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, 18-FI-HQ-01411.
Thank you for your interest in the Department's programs and policies.
Best,
Ethan G. Bodell
Government Information Specialist
Office of the Executive Secretariat
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on April 23, 2018. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Department of Housing and Urban Development
Taylor,
Thanks for reaching out regarding your FOIA request, 18-FI-HQ-01411. The initial eDiscovery data pull took place on 5/1/18. This collected all emails for the two custodians in the stated timeframe. The next step is to conduct a keyword search to limit these results to only those containing one of the identified search terms. As of today, there are no available scheduling slots for the keyword search. As soon as there are available slots, the keyword search will be scheduled and I will be notified of the date, which I can pass along to you. Once the keyword search has been run, any items that match the custodian/date range/keyword combination will be consolidated and sent to me for review. I'll then work to prepare the final package for release to you as soon as possible.
Best,
Ethan G. Bodell, Esq.
Government Information Specialist
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Office of the Executive Secretariat
FOIA Branch, Room 10139
(202) 402-3450 | ethan.g.bodell@hud.gov
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~WRD000
From: Taylor Amarel
Thank you very much. I appreciate the update.
From: Department of Housing and Urban Development
Taylor,
I just wanted to send a quick update regarding the record collection for your request, 18-FI-HQ-01411. Last week I let you know that a keyword search had not yet been scheduled. I received an update last evening that new scheduling slots opened up and that the keyword search has been scheduled for 7/5/2018.
Best,
Ethan G. Bodell, Esq.
Government Information Specialist
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Office of the Executive Secretariat
FOIA Branch, Room 10139
(202) 402-3450 | ethan.g.bodell@hud.gov
From: Taylor Amarel
Thank you - much appreciated.
From: Department of Housing and Urban Development
Taylor,
My supervisor informed me that you had sent an email yesterday asking for an update on the status of your FOIA request, 18-FI-HQ-01411. Please see my email below, sent to you on May 31, 2018.
Taylor,
I just wanted to send a quick update regarding the record collection for your request, 18-FI-HQ-01411. Last week I let you know that a keyword search had not yet been scheduled. I received an update last evening that new scheduling slots opened up and that the keyword search has been scheduled for 7/5/2018.
Best,
Ethan G. Bodell, Esq.
Government Information Specialist
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Office of the Executive Secretariat
FOIA Branch, Room 10139
(202) 402-3450 | ethan.g.bodell@hud.gov<mailto:ethan.g.bodell@hud.gov>
From: Taylor Amarel
Thank you very much, I appreciate the update and look forward to receiving the documents.
From: Department of Housing and Urban Development
Good morning Taylor,
Please be advised that your FOIA request is being processed through our eDiscovery system to collect email records, and that a keyword search is scheduled for 7/5/18. After the search has been completed, results will be delivered to the FOIA Branch for review, and any responsive records will be finalized and prepared for release to you.
Best,
Ethan G. Bodell, Esq.
Government Information Specialist
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Office of the Executive Secretariat
FOIA Branch, Room 10139
(202) 402-3450 | ethan.g.bodell@hud.gov
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I'm following up on the following Freedom of Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on April 23, 2018. You had previously indicated that it would be completed on July 5, 2018. I wanted to check on the status of my request, and to see if there was a new estimated completion date. You had assigned it reference number #18-FI-HQ-01411.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Department of Housing and Urban Development
Good afternoon Taylor,
The eDiscovery search has been completed, and I have been given the responsive records for review. The initial search turned up over 2,000 records, many of which are what I would consider "false positives." These are records that technically are responsive to the request - they belong to one of the named custodians and they contain one of the keywords you provided - but which have no actual substantive content. These are things like daily news subscription emails or HUD newsletters that go out to all employees. For instance, many employees subscribe to a general news service like the New York Times that sends out short news clips and links to articles. HUD Daily News Briefings are distributed to employees every day, and feature news clips from various media sources. Because some of the terms used here are widely used throughout the media (such as Kushner or Hannity), we turned up a significant amount of records of this nature - primarily HUD News Briefings. Requesters frequently tell us they do not want these records, but it is important to find out if that is the case here before beginning the review.
If you are not interested in these types of records, I can review only the documents that contain actual substantive materials - HUD employee emails and attachments with genuine content rather than generic news material. However, I have to check first because they are within the scope of what you originally asked for.
At your convenience, please send me a quick email to advise. I do not want to spend a great deal of time reviewing records that you do not actually want, and I want to be sure we are on the same page before taking any action. I can be reached at this email address or at 202-402-3450.
Best,
Ethan
From: Department of Housing and Urban Development
Good afternoon Taylor,
I'm emailing with regard to FOIA request 18-FI-HQ-01411. I sent an email last Monday, 7/16/18, but have yet to receive a response. The eDiscovery search has been completed, and I have been given the responsive records for review. The initial search turned up over 2,000 records, many of which are what I would consider "false positives." These are records that technically are responsive to the request - they belong to one of the named custodians and they contain one of the keywords you provided - but which have no actual substantive content. These are things like daily news subscription emails or HUD newsletters that go out to all employees. For instance, many employees subscribe to a general news service like the New York Times that sends out short news clips and links to articles. HUD Daily News Briefings are distributed to employees every day, and feature news clips from various media sources. Because some of the terms used here are widely used throughout the media (such as Kushner or Hannity), we turned up a significant amount of records of this nature - primarily HUD News Briefings. Requesters frequently tell us they do not want these records, but it is important to find out if that is the case here before beginning the review.
If you are not interested in these types of records, I can review only the documents that contain actual substantive materials - HUD employee emails and attachments with genuine content rather than generic news material. However, I have to check first because they are within the scope of what you originally asked for.
At your convenience, please send me a quick email to advise. I do not want to spend a great deal of time reviewing records that you do not actually want, and I want to be sure we are on the same page before taking any action. I can be reached at this email address or at 202-402-3450.
Best,
Ethan
Ethan G. Bodell, Esq.
Government Information Specialist
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Office of the Executive Secretariat
FOIA Branch, Room 10139
(202) 402-3450 | ethan.g.bodell@hud.gov
From: Department of Housing and Urban Development
Hello, Please, let me know, viaemail to me at your earliest convenience, whether or not you are stillinterested in receiving a response to your Department of Housing and UrbanDevelopment FOIA request 19-FI-HQ-01963. I have been reassigned to process this request due to the priorprocessor’s FOIA Branch departure. You must confirm via email atwilliam.d.smith@hud.gov to me within 10 business days from the date of thisnotice that you want to continue with your request. If you do not confirm thatyou are still interested in receiving a response to your HUD FOIA requestwithin that time, your request will be administratively withdrawn. Please beadvised that such an action will not preclude you from filing this or otherrequests in the future. Currently, along withthe present incoming FOIA requests, we are still working to complete your FOIArequest as well as all the other backlogged FOIA requests. Our effort is toprovide responses to FOIA requesters who are still interested inreceiving them. We must apply theDepartments’ first in and first out FOIA procedures, as there are many requestssurrounding each other. However, if you are still interested, I assureyou that we will provide a response to your request as soon as possible. The Departmentapologizes for the delay in processing your FOIA request. HUD has experiencedchanges that have contributed to a tremendous backlog and extensive delays inthe ability to process incoming requests in a timely manner. We look forward to youremail response.
From: Department of Housing and Urban Development
Good afternoon Taylor Amarel,
Please see attached letter.
Thanks
Sandra J. Wright
Chief/Supervisor FOIA Branch II
Office of Information Management
Room 10139
(202) 402-5510
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image001
From: Department of Housing and Urban Development
Good afternoon Ms. Amarel,
Please see the attached still interested letter in reference to your FOIA request.
Thank you
From: Department of Housing and Urban Development
Rosenberg, Howard (Howard.W.Rosenberg@hud.gov) has sent you a protected message.
Read the message (https://outlook.office365.com/Encryption/retrieve.ashx?recipientemailaddress=52718-33395620%40requests.muckrock.com&senderemailaddress=Howard.W.Rosenberg%40hud.gov&senderorganization=AwF6AAAAAqkAAAADAQAAANUJ8NR79wlJj3jmqrbqafdPVT1odWRnb3Yub25taWNyb3NvZnQuY29tLE9VPU1pY3Jvc29mdCBFeGNoYW5nZSBIb3N0ZWQgT3JnYW5pemF0aW9ucyxEQz1uYW1wcmQwOSxEQz1wcm9kLERDPW91dGxvb2ssREM9Y29tpa4O%2bqSJtUyFK9STA6A8TUNOPUNvbmZpZ3VyYXRpb24sQ049aHVkZ292Lm9ubWljcm9zb2Z0LmNvbSxDTj1Db25maWd1cmF0aW9uVW5pdHMsQ049TWljcm9zb2Z0IEV4Y2hhbmdlLENOPVNlcnZpY2VzLENOPUNvbmZpZ3VyYXRpb24sREM9bmFtcHJkMDksREM9cHJvZCxEQz1vdXRsb29rLERDPWNvbQE%3d&messageid=%3cBY3PR09MB8483F1B8DBE0A98809F8C281D4259%40BY3PR09MB8483.namprd09.prod.outlook.com%3e&cfmRecipient=SystemMailbox%7ba483d1d8-b9dd-4b9c-b0ee-37718c88fea2%7d%40hudgov.onmicrosoft.com&consumerEncryption=false&senderorgid=615524c5-22e9-4bcd-a893-1180a53fc7b2&urldecoded=1&e4e_sdata=DLQNeVHDd6Aaetu0Gueqc7b6lCffdb2Gt12uCCIqlS5toohXAiEJhdYn716PjfkMsp6jckbvEuYGgG6%2bswSA%2boCTpEbBABTu45JODN7bLZGri0LlUM0mdu%2bDZjEeSvDyGwmMr3SMwlmlq9o18jsAw%2brP4GofGqLImit9PgtLI4bNskcaPSXSOZKAPNsQutX9QDpzinVjxKiEWc3Vd5bsyZktVNG5kWdE0mLgQkvdHTCcDQSwPIvu7W%2f8q%2bO%2f4b8j6LPIcx4WQaY5%2fJ0uTU441dkMpVbEbVXIjoxv0Pip%2bFm342qhR30zmOluY3iCZ%2fYisIVDzzuQmMZJ7zH5VA1rLQ%3d%3d)
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From: Department of Housing and Urban Development
Dear Ms. Amarel,
Good morning and hope you're having a nice first week of Summer. This is a "still interested" inquiry letter for the last of your pending HUD FOIA requests. I hope it is sufficiently apologetic!
I would be glad to clarify anything.
Thanks,
Howard Rosenberg
FOIA Specialist
HUD
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