Mnuchin Treasury
| Tracking # |
2016-12-109 |
| Submitted | Dec. 16, 2016 |
| Due | Jan. 27, 2017 |
| Est. Completion | None |
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Communications
From: Michael Best
To Whom It May Concern:
This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request the following records:
Records from 2015 and 2016 relating to or mentioning Steve Mnuchin, including communications received from or sent to Mr. Mnuchin, as well as emails mentioning him.
I am a member of the news media and request classification as such. I have previously written about the government and its activities for AND Magazine, MuckRock and Glomar Disclosure and have an open arrangement with each. My articles have been widely read, with some reaching over 100,000 readers. As such, as I have a reasonable expectation of publication and my editorial and writing skills are well established. In addition, I discuss and comment on the files online and make them available through the non-profit Internet Archive, disseminating them to a large audience. While my research is not limited to this, a great deal of it, including this, focuses on the activities and attitudes of the government itself. As such, it is not necessary for me to demonstrate the relevance of this particular subject in advance. Additionally, case law states that “proof of the ability to disseminate the released information to a broad cross-section of the public is not required.” Judicial Watch, Inc. v. Dep’t of Justice, 365 F.3d 1108, 1126 (D.C. Cir. 2004); see Carney v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 19 F.3d 807, 814-15 (2d Cir. 1994). Further, courts have held that "qualified because it also had “firm” plans to “publish a number of . . . ‘document sets’” concerning United States foreign and national security policy." Under this criteria, as well, I qualify as a member of the news media. Additionally, courts have held that the news media status "focuses on the nature of the requester, not its request. The provision requires that the request be “made by” a representative of the news media. Id. § 552(a)(4)(A)(ii)(II). A newspaper reporter, for example, is a representative of the news media regardless of how much interest there is in the story for which he or she is requesting information." As such, the details of the request itself are moot for the purposes of determining the appropriate fee category.
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,
Michael Best
From:
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The U.S. Department of the Treasury has received the information you submitted to the TREASFOIA@TREASURY.gov<mailto:TREASFOIA@TREASURY.gov> mailbox.
If you are submitting a FOIA request, this courtesy reply does not replace the acknowledgement letter which will include a FOIA case number once your request has been entered into our FOIA Request Tracking System.
If you are seeking the status of a pending FOIA request for which you have a FOIA case number, please call (202) 622-0930 to obtain the status of your request.
Please visit our FOIA Library at http://www.treasury.gov/FOIA/Pages/reading_room.aspx.
Thank you for contacting the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
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From:
Good Afternoon,
Please see the Department of the Treasury's receipt letter pertaining to your recently submitted FOIA request. Please refer to the information provided in the receipt letter when inquiring about your FOIA request.
Respectfully,
Katelyn DeLucca
Government Information Specialist
Privacy, Transparancy, Records
Department of the Treasury
Email: TreasFOIA@treasury.gov<mailto:TreasFOIA@treasury.gov>
From:
Attention: Michael Best
Dear Mr. Best:
Attached is a copy of our acknowledgement letter regarding your FOIA request. Please review our letter for more details regarding your request.
Sincerely,
Michelle Henshaw
FOIA Case Manager, FOIA and Transparency
Privacy, Transparency, and Records
U.S. Department of the Treasury
michelle.henshaw@treasury.gov<mailto:michelle.henshaw@treasury.gov>
(202) 622-0875
From: Michael Best
On the contrary, I have reasonably described the records in a manner sufficient for someone familiar with them and your system to locate them. I provided clear guidelines and requested a keyword search, which case law says you are not allowed to flatly refuse to perform. After consulting both the statute and case law, I have determined that my request DOES meet the standard for reasonably described records sufficient to allow a search, which is the ONLY standard. As such, you shall process my request as-is. Should you fail to do so, I will appeal the matter and cite the relevant caselaw. Further, you should be aware that members of the Senate has already requested that records relating to Mr. Mnuchin be released relevant to my FOIA requests, citing the importance and public interest in the matter.
From:
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The U.S. Department of the Treasury has received the information you submitted to the TREASFOIA@TREASURY.gov<mailto:TREASFOIA@TREASURY.gov> mailbox.
If you are submitting a FOIA request, this courtesy reply does not replace the acknowledgement letter which will include a FOIA case number once your request has been entered into our FOIA Request Tracking System.
If you are seeking the status of a pending FOIA request for which you have a FOIA case number, please call (202) 622-0930 to obtain the status of your request.
Please visit our FOIA Library at http://www.treasury.gov/FOIA/Pages/reading_room.aspx.
Thank you for contacting the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
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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 Dec. 16, 2016. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #2016-12-109.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From:
[cid:image001.jpg@01D0A2E1.4C3000A0]
The U.S. Department of the Treasury has received the information you submitted to the TREASFOIA@TREASURY.gov<mailto:TREASFOIA@TREASURY.gov> mailbox.
If you are submitting a FOIA request, this courtesy reply does not replace the acknowledgement letter which will include a FOIA case number once your request has been entered into our FOIA Request Tracking System.
If you are seeking the status of a pending FOIA request for which you have a FOIA case number, please call (202) 622-0930 to obtain the status of your request.
Please visit our FOIA Library at http://www.treasury.gov/FOIA/Pages/reading_room.aspx.
Thank you for contacting the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
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image001
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 Dec. 16, 2016. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #2016-12-109.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From:
[cid:image001.jpg@01D0A2E1.4C3000A0]
The U.S. Department of the Treasury has received the information you submitted to the TREASFOIA@TREASURY.gov<mailto:TREASFOIA@TREASURY.gov> mailbox.
If you are submitting a FOIA request, this courtesy reply does not replace the acknowledgement letter which will include a FOIA case number once your request has been entered into our FOIA Request Tracking System.
If you are seeking the status of a pending FOIA request for which you have a FOIA case number, please call (202) 622-0930 to obtain the status of your request.
Please visit our FOIA Library at http://www.treasury.gov/FOIA/Pages/reading_room.aspx.
Thank you for contacting the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
-
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From: Michael Best
I responded within the 30 day period required by your letter, but you never acknowledged it or replied. I can prove that I responded within the appropriate period. Please provide the status of the request so that I know if I need to appeal or not.
From:
[cid:image001.jpg@01D0A2E1.4C3000A0]
The U.S. Department of the Treasury has received the information you submitted to the TREASFOIA@TREASURY.gov<mailto:TREASFOIA@TREASURY.gov> mailbox.
If you are submitting a FOIA request, this courtesy reply does not replace the acknowledgement letter which will include a FOIA case number once your request has been entered into our FOIA Request Tracking System.
If you are seeking the status of a pending FOIA request for which you have a FOIA case number, please call (202) 622-0930 to obtain the status of your request.
Please visit our FOIA Library at http://www.treasury.gov/FOIA/Pages/reading_room.aspx.
Thank you for contacting the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
-
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