CIA Poisons Used in Assassinations
| Tracking # |
F-2015-01587 |
| Submitted | May 1, 2015 |
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Communications
From: Jens Porup
To Whom It May Concern:
This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request the following records:
Any and all documents relating to CIA use of poison for covert assassination.
The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, and is not being made for commercial usage.
In the event that fees cannot be waived, 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,
Jens Porup
From: Central Intelligence Agency
A no responsive documents response.
From: Jens Porup
Dear CIA,
This FOIA request refers to *any* poisons ever used by the CIA for assassination. As the Church Committee clearly demonstrated in 1975, the CIA (at least at that time, *ahem*) did indeed engage in assassinations.
Please see:
I am appealing this response because your reply contradicts material that is already in the public record.
Please disclose any and all documents referring to the development, deployment, use and storage of said poisons up to today. Please also include a list of any and all persons so assasinated by poison in the history of the CIA from its creation to its present day.
This FOIA request refers to the CIA from its inception to its present day, and all details of this request should be interpreted as such.
regards
JMP
From: Jens Porup
Dear CIA,
This FOIA request refers to *any* poisons ever used by the CIA for assassination. As the Church Committee clearly demonstrated in 1975, the CIA (at least at that time, *ahem*) did indeed engage in assassinations.
Please see:
I am appealing this response because your reply contradicts material that is already in the public record.
Please disclose any and all documents referring to the development, deployment, use and storage of said poisons up to today. Please also include a list of any and all persons so assasinated by poison in the history of the CIA from its creation to its present day.
This FOIA request refers to the CIA from its inception to its present day, and all details of this request should be interpreted as such.
regards
JMP
From: Jens Porup
Dear CIA,
This FOIA request refers to *any* poisons ever used by the CIA for assassination. As the Church Committee clearly demonstrated in 1975, the CIA (at least at that time, *ahem*) did indeed engage in assassinations.
Please see:
I am appealing this response because your reply contradicts material that is already in the public record.
Please disclose any and all documents referring to the development, deployment, use and storage of said poisons up to today. Please also include a list of any and all persons so assasinated by poison in the history of the CIA from its creation to its present day.
This FOIA request refers to the CIA from its inception to its present day, and all details of this request should be interpreted as such.
regards
JMP
From: Central Intelligence Agency
A letter stating that the request appeal has been rejected.
From: Jens Porup
As the a "no responsive documents" reply is clearly untrue, given information in the public record, I am appealing this decision.
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on May 1, 2015. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #F-2015-01587.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Central Intelligence Agency
The FOIA referral NARA-NGC-2018-000375 has had its Tracking Number changed to NARA-NGC-2018-000375. This is normally due to the referral being transferred to another agency (for example, EPA to Dept. of Commerce) or to a sub-agency to process it. Additional details for this referral are as follows:
* Old Tracking Number: NARA-NGC-2018-000375
* New Tracking Number: NARA-NGC-2018-000375
* Requester Name: Jens Porup
* Date Submitted: 07/04/2018
* Long Description: CIA is referring for review eleven (11) documents responsive to the above FOIA request that is currently in litigation. See the attached.
From: Central Intelligence Agency
NARA-NGC-2018-000375 has been processed with the following final disposition: Partial Grant/Partial Denial
August 27, 2018
VIA FOIAonline
Jens Porup
C/O MuckRock News
Dept. MR 17628
P.O. Box 55819
Boston, MA 02205
Re: Freedom of Information Act Request: NGC18-195
Dear Mr. Porup:
This is in response to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request dated June 1, 2015 to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The CIA referred 22 documents that are part of the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection housed at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to us for review and direct response to you. The referrals were received March 6, 2018, March 30, 2018, and April 27, 2018, and assigned internal tracking number NGC18-195 and FOIAonline Tracking number NARA-NGC-2018-000375. In your original request to the CIA, you stated:
“I hereby request the following records: Any and all documents relating to the CIA use of poison for covert assassination.”
All of the 22 documents the CIA referred to NARA for review were publicly released as part of NARA’s JFK Assassination Records Release in 2018. The following documents were released in full: 157-10002-10084, 157-10004-10092, 157-10014-10095, 157-10014-10138,157-10014-10141, 157-10014-10155, 157-10014-10169, and 157-10014-10241. The following documents were released in part: 157-10002-10087, 157-10011-10005, 157-10011-10011, 157-10011-10017, 157-10014-10002, 157-10014-10017, 157-10014-10089, 157-10014-10093, 157-10014-10102, 157-10014-10106, 157-10014-10136, 157-10014-10151, 157-10014-10178, and 157-10014-10242. The documents can be located here: https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/release. A small number of pages have been withheld in part. These redactions were taken pursuant to the JFK Act, which provides for a much narrower set of withholdings than those authorized under the FOIA. These withholdings were originally made pursuant to Section 6 of the JFK Act, and then upheld by the President under Section 5(g)(2)(D). Under the JFK Act, no information can be withheld after 2016 unless approved by the President of the United States. The sole ground for withholding information under the JFK Act, after 2016, is pursuant to Section 5(g)(2)(D) of the Act, which identifies certain national security concerns as justification to withhold information. NARA is not withholding any additional information in these records beyond the narrow subset of information protected under Section 5(g)(2)(D) of the JFK Act which has been withheld on behalf of the CIA.
The grounds for postponement under the JFK Act are much more narrowly drawn than the exemption categories of the FOIA, therefore more information has been released under the provisions of the JFK Act than would have been released under the provisions of the FOIA. It is extremely unlikely that information withheld under the JFK Act would be released under a FOIA review. Nevertheless, if you would like to request a FOIA review of documents that have information deleted, please write to us citing the specific document:
Special Access and FOIA Staff (RD-F)
8601 Adelphi Road, Room 5500
College Park, MD 20740
By phone: 301-837-3190
By fax: 301-837-1864
By email: specialaccess_foia@nara.gov
This completes the processing of your FOIA request.
If you are not satisfied with our action on this request, you have the right to file an administrative appeal within ninety (90) calendar days from the date of this letter via regular U.S. mail or email. By filing an appeal, you preserve your rights under FOIA and give the agency a chance to review and reconsider your request and the agency’s decision. If you submit your appeal in writing, please address it to the Deputy Archivist of the United States (ND), National Archives and Records Administration, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, Maryland 20740. Both the letter and the envelope should be clearly marked “Freedom of Information Act Appeal.” If you submit your appeal by e-mail please send it to FOIA@nara.gov, also addressed to the Deputy Archivist of the United States. Please be sure to explain why you believe this response does not meet the requirements of the FOIA. All correspondence should reference your case tracking number NGC18-195 and your FOIAonline tracking number.
If you would like to discuss our response before filing an appeal to attempt to resolve your dispute without going through the appeals process, you may contact our FOIA Public Liaison Gary M. Stern for assistance at:
National Archives and Records Administration
8601 Adelphi Road, Room 3110
College Park, MD 20740-6001
301-837-1750
garym.stern@nara.gov
If you are unable to resolve your FOIA dispute through our FOIA Public Liaison, the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS), the Federal FOIA Ombudsman’s office, offers mediation services to help resolve disputes between FOIA requesters and Federal agencies. The contact information for OGIS is:
Office of Government Information Services
National Archives and Records Administration
8601 Adelphi Road–OGIS
College Park, MD 20740-6001
ogis@nara.gov
ogis.archives.gov
202-741-5770
1-877-684-6448
Thank you for contacting the National Archives and Records Administration.
Sincerely,
/s/ 8.27.2018
Jodi L.Foor
Deputy FOIA Officer
National Archives and Records Administration
Office of General Counsel
301-837-2099
FOIA@nara.gov
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