Trump Pardons and Commutations

April 6, 2017

Mr. Dave Maass

MuckRock News
DEPT MR 35041
411A Highland Ave
Somerville, MA 02144-2516

Re: Freedom of Information Act Request: FOIA 2017-268723
(Acknowledgement/partial response)

Dear Mr. Maass:

This correspondence is in response to your Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) request dated and received in the Office of the
Pardon Attorney (OPA) on April 5, 2017. Pursuant to the Freedom of
Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552 et seq., you requested the following:

1. all communications between the Office of the Pardon Attorney
and the White House since March 15, 2017;
2. agency records related to pardon or commutation requests
transmitted to the White House since March 15, 2017;
3. all records received from the White House regarding
commutations and pardons since March 15, 2017; and
4. a list of all commutations or pardons granted by President
Donald J. Trump

In response to parts 2-4 of you're above request, I have
determined that we do not have any documents pursuant to your request.
As a result, we have no documents to produce, there has been no fee
assessed for the search of our records, and this will be our final
correspondence in relation to that part of your request.

With respect to part 1 of your request, please be advised that records
that deliberative communications pertaining to agency and presidential
decision-making are confidential and not available under existing case
law interpreting the Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act. In
addition, pursuant to 28 CFR § 1.5:

Petitions, reports, memoranda, and communications submitted or
furnished in connection with the consideration of a petition for
executive clemency generally shall be available only to the officials
concerned with the consideration of the petition. However, they may be
made available for inspection, in whole or in part, when in the
judgment of the Attorney General their disclosure is required by law or
the ends of justice.

Notwithstanding, I will direct a search to be performed for all OPA
email users where "eop.gov" is in the from, to, or cc field of any
email between January 20, 2017 through April 5, 2017 to ensure the most
inclusive search possible.

You may email this office at PardonAttorneyFOIA@usdoj.gov
<mailto:PardonAttorneyFOIA@usdoj.gov> for any further assistance with
your FOIA request. Additionally, you may contact the Office of
Government Information Services (OGIS) at the National Archives and
Records Administration to inquire about the FOIA mediation services
they offer. The contact information for OGIS is as follows: Office of
Government Information Services, National Archives and Records
Administration, 8601 Adelphi Road-OGIS, College Park, Maryland
20740-6001, e-mail at ogis@nara.gov <mailto:ogis@nara.gov> ; telephone
at 202-741-5770; toll free at 1-877-684-6448; or facsimile at
202-741-5769.

Sincerely,

William N. Taylor II

Executive Officer

Office of the Pardon Attorney

U.S. Department of Justice

May 4, 2017

Mr. Dave Maass

MuckRock News
DEPT MR 35041
411A Highland Ave
Somerville, MA 02144-2516

Re: Freedom of Information Act Request: FOIA 2017-268723 (Status update)

Dear Mr. Maass:

This correspondence is in response to your follow-up
email dated April 26, 2017, where you inquired about whether my
previous letter represents a judgment of the Attorney General that
disclosure is not required by the ends of justice. Please be advised
that the FOIA does not require federal agencies to answer questions,
analyze data, conduct research, or create new records in response to a
FOIA request, but rather is limited to requiring agencies to provide
access to reasonably described, nonexempt records.

As I indicated in my previous letter to you, I have
directed a search to be performed for all OPA email users where
"eop.gov" is in the from, to, or cc field of any email between January
20, 2017 through April 5, 2017 to ensure the most inclusive search
possible. However, such a search is handled by Department's Office of
the Chief Information Office and cannot be adequately performed within
the Office of the Pardon Attorney. Once I receive the results of that
search, I will immediately review the results to see if any portion of
those records, if any are located, can be disclosed to you.

I apologize for the delay and appreciate your patience as we await the
results of the search.

Sincerely,

William N. Taylor II

Executive Officer

Office of the Pardon Attorney

U.S. Department of Justice

June 5, 2017

Mr. Dave Maass

MuckRock News
DEPT MR 35041
411A Highland Ave
Somerville, MA 02144-2516

Re: Freedom of Information Act Request: FOIA 2017-268723 (Status Update)

Dear Mr. Maass:

This correspondence is in response to your request for a
status update on the above referenced FOIA. As I indicated in my
previous letter to you, I have directed a search to be performed across
all OPA email users where "eop.gov" is in the from, to, or cc field of
any email between January 20, 2017 through April 5, 2017 to ensure the
most inclusive search possible. I also indicated that such a search is
handled by the Department's Office of the Chief Information Office and
cannot be adequately performed within the Office of the Pardon
Attorney. Once I receive the results of that search, I will immediately
review the results to see if any portion of those records, if any are
located, can be disclosed to you under the FOIA. In response to your
request for an update on the timing, I contacted the office that is
tapped to conduct the search. They informed me that mine is one of
many requests that they have yet complete.

Again, I apologize for the delay and appreciate your patience as we
both continue to await the results of that search.

Sincerely,

William N. Taylor II

Executive Officer

Office of the Pardon Attorney

U.S. Department of Justice

July 7, 2017

Mr. Dave Maass

MuckRock News
DEPT MR 35041
411A Highland Ave
Somerville, MA 02144-2516

Re: Freedom of Information Act Request: FOIA 2017-268124 (No Record)

Dear Mr. Maass:

This is our final correspondence in response to the
outstanding portion of your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request
dated and received in the Office of the Pardon Attorney (OPA) on March
15, 2017. Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552
et seq., you requested all communications between the Office of the
Pardon Attorney and the White House since February 22, 2017. We have
previously responded to the other 3 parts of this particular request,
so I will not address those in this response.

In response to your request, I requested an email search
be conducted by the Department's Justice Management Division using the
following search criteria. My notes indicate that I requested the
search to cover through April 5, 2017, but I was advised today that I
have to submit a separate search request for the period of 3/16/2017 -
4/5/2017. Please be advised that I am submitting that request today to
get the ball moving, but can't guarantee when I will receive the
results for review. As for the search that covers the below referenced
timeframe, the email search confirmed that we do not have any email
records pursuant to your request. As a result, we have no documents to
produce, there has been no fee assessed for the search of our records,
and this will be our final correspondence in relation to your request.

* Custodians: all OPA employees with email accounts during the
relevant date range
* Terms: "eop.gov" in the To/From/CC/BCC
* Date range: 02/08/2017 - 03/15/2017

For your information, Congress excluded three discrete categories of
law enforcement and national security records from the requirements of
the FOIA. See 5 U.S.C. § 552(c). This response is limited to those
records that are subject to the requirements of the FOIA. This is a
standard notification that is given to all our requesters and should
not be taken as an indication that excluded records do, or do not,
exist.

You may email this office at PardonAttorneyFOIA@usdoj.gov
<mailto:PardonAttorneyFOIA@usdoj.gov> for any further assistance with
your FOIA request. Additionally, you may contact the Office of
Government Information Services (OGIS) at the National Archives and
Records Administration to inquire about the FOIA mediation services
they offer. The contact information for OGIS is as follows: Office of
Government Information Services, National Archives and Records
Administration, 8601 Adelphi Road-OGIS, College Park, Maryland
20740-6001, e-mail at ogis@nara.gov <mailto:ogis@nara.gov> ; telephone
at 202-741-5770; toll free at 1-877-684-6448; or facsimile at
202-741-5769.

If you are not satisfied with my response to this request, you may
administratively appeal by writing to the Director, Office of
Information Policy (OIP), United States Department of Justice, Suite
11050, 1425 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20530-0001, or you may
submit an appeal through OIP's FOIAonline portal by creating an account
on the following web site:
https://foiaonline.regulations.gov/foia/action/public/home
<https://foiaonline.regulations.gov/foia/action/public/home> . Your
appeal must be postmarked or electronically transmitted within 90 days
of the date of my response to your request. If you submit your appeal
by mail, both the letter and the envelope should be clearly marked
"Freedom of Information Act Appeal."

Sincerely,

William N. Taylor II

Executive Officer

Office of the Pardon Attorney

U.S. Department of Justice

July 7, 2017

Mr. Dave Maass

MuckRock News
DEPT MR 35041
411A Highland Ave
Somerville, MA 02144-2516

Re: Freedom of Information Act Request: FOIA 2017-267345 (Full Grant)

Dear Mr. Maass:

This is our final correspondence in response to your
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request dated and received in the
Office of the Pardon Attorney (OPA) on 02/22/2017. Pursuant to the
Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552 et seq., you requested (1)
all communications between the Office of the Pardon Attorney and the
Trump Transition team; (2) all communications between the Office of the
Pardon Attorney and the White House since January 20, 2017; (3) agency
records related to pardon or commutation requests transmitted by the
Office of the Pardon attorney to the White House since January 20,
2017; (4) all records received from the White House regarding
commutation and pardons since January 20, 2017; (5) a list of all
commutations or pardons granted by President Donald J. Trump.

I have previously addressed all but one part of the above
request, which was referred back to OPA by the Office of Information
Policy (OIP) on remand. After carefully considering your request, I
have determined that 3 pages are appropriate for release with
redactions pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(6), which concerns material
the release of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
the personal privacy of third parties; and 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(8), which
concerns matters that are "contained in or related to examination,
operating, or condition reports prepared by, on behalf of, or for the
use of an agency responsible for the regulation or supervision of
financial institutions." The pages I am producing to you in part do
not pertain to the Department's role in the President's executive
clemency power, which is what I believe you were hoping to obtain.
However, I am producing these pages to you proactively based on a broad
interpretation of your request. No fee has been charged for the
search, review or production of these documents.

For your information, Congress excluded three discrete categories of
law enforcement and national security records from the requirements of
the FOIA. See 5 U.S.C. § 552(c). This response is limited to those
records that are subject to the requirements of the FOIA. This is a
standard notification that is given to all our requesters and should
not be taken as an indication that excluded records do, or do not,
exist.

You may email this office at PardonAttorneyFOIA@usdoj.gov
<mailto:PardonAttorneyFOIA@usdoj.gov> for any further assistance with
your FOIA request. Additionally, you may contact the Office of
Government Information Services (OGIS) at the National Archives and
Records Administration to inquire about the FOIA mediation services
they offer. The contact information for OGIS is as follows: Office of
Government Information Services, National Archives and Records
Administration, 8601 Adelphi Road-OGIS, College Park, Maryland
20740-6001, e-mail at ogis@nara.gov <mailto:ogis@nara.gov> ; telephone
at 202-741-5770; toll free at 1-877-684-6448; or facsimile at
202-741-5769.

If you are not satisfied with my response to this request, you may
administratively appeal by writing to the Director, Office of
Information Policy (OIP), United States Department of Justice, Suite
11050, 1425 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20530-0001, or you may
submit an appeal through OIP's FOIAonline portal by creating an account
on the following web site:
https://foiaonline.regulations.gov/foia/action/public/home
<https://foiaonline.regulations.gov/foia/action/public/home> . Your
appeal must be postmarked or electronically transmitted within 90 days
of the date of my response to your request. If you submit your appeal
by mail, both the letter and the envelope should be clearly marked
"Freedom of Information Act Appeal."

Sincerely,

William N. Taylor II

Executive Officer

Office of the Pardon Attorney

U.S. Department of Justice

July 7, 2017

Mr. Dave Maass

MuckRock News
DEPT MR 35041
411A Highland Ave
Somerville, MA 02144-2516

Re: Freedom of Information Act Request: FOIA 2017-268723 (Status Update
- Pending Search)

Dear Mr. Maass:

Per the emailed response I provided on your other
request, this correspondence is in response to your email dated July 7,
2017, requesting a status update on the above referenced FOIA request
you submitted on April 5, 2017. I just resubmitted a request for an
additional email search to cover the period through April 5, 2017. As
soon as I receive the results of that search from the Justice
Management Division, I will review any documents returned and follow up
with you. I cannot predict at this time when I will receive the
results of the search, but you are welcome to check back if you don't
hear from me in the next 30 days.

You may email this office at PardonAttorneyFOIA@usdoj.gov
<mailto:PardonAttorneyFOIA@usdoj.gov> for any further assistance with
your FOIA request. Additionally, you may contact the Office of
Government Information Services (OGIS) at the National Archives and
Records Administration to inquire about the FOIA mediation services
they offer. The contact information for OGIS is as follows: Office of
Government Information Services, National Archives and Records
Administration, 8601 Adelphi Road-OGIS, College Park, Maryland
20740-6001, e-mail at ogis@nara.gov <mailto:ogis@nara.gov> ; telephone
at 202-741-5770; toll free at 1-877-684-6448; or facsimile at
202-741-5769.

Sincerely,

William N. Taylor II

Executive Officer

Office of the Pardon Attorney

U.S. Department of Justice

September29,2018 Mr.DaveMaass MuckRockNews
DEPTMR35041
411AHighlandAve
Somerville,MA02144-2516 Re: FOIA2017-268723 PartialGrant/Denial,Recordsnotreasonablydescribed DearMr.Maass: Iapologizeforourdelayedfinalresponsetoyourrequest,butt his correspondence isinresponsetoyourFreedomofInformationAct(FOIA)request datedand receivedintheOfficeofthePardonAttorney( “PARDON” )on April5, 2017 . Pursuantto theFreedomofInformationAct ,5U.S.C.§552 etseq .,yourequested thefollowing: (1) allcommunicationsbetweentheOfficeofthePardonAttorneyandtheWhiteHousefromM arch15,2017toApril5,2017; (2) agencyrecordsrelatedtopardonorcommutationrequeststransmittedtotheWhiteHousefromM arch15,2017toApril5,2017; (3) allrecordsreceivedfromtheWhiteHouseregardingcommutationsandpardonsfromMarch 15,2017toApril5,2017;and (4) alistofallcommutationsorpardonsgrant edbyPresidentDonaldJ.Trump Withregardtorequestnumberfourabove,pleaseseeourwebsiteat https://www.justice.gov/pardon/clemencyrecipients ,whichlistseachofthePresident’sclemencygrantstodate. Whiletherewerenograntsofclemencyatthetimeofyourrequest,Ipreviouslyindicatedthatweimmediately and proactivelydisclose the records assoonassuchdecisionsarereachedbythePresident. Withregardtorequestnumbers1-3above,pleasebeadvisedthata properFreedomofInformationActrequestforrecordsmustreasonablydescribetherecordssought. See U.S.C.§ 552(a)(3)(A). Aftercarefullyreviewingyourrequest,Ihavedeterminedthatyoudidnotreasonablydescribethesubjectofyourrequest. Youfailedtoidentifythedocumentssoughtwithanymodicumofspecificityandtherefore yourrequest wasoverlybroadandburdensome. Iinviteyoutomakeanew,clearerrequest forrecordsrelatedtoaspecifictopic,clemencycase. Youarealsowelcome tocontactmetosetupagoodtimeforustodiscussyourrequestviaphonesothatImayassistyouwithmakingarequestfordocumentsthatwillidentifypotentiallyresponsiverecordswithinourpossessionorcontrol. Foryourinformation,CongressexcludedthreediscretecategoriesoflawenforcementandnationalsecurityrecordsfromtherequirementsoftheFOIA. See5U.S.C.§552(c). ThisresponseislimitedtothoserecordsthataresubjecttotherequirementsoftheFOIA. Thisisastandardnotificationthatisgiventoallourrequestersandshouldnotbetakenasanindicationthatexcludedrecordsdo,ordonot,exist. Youmayemailthisofficeat PardonAttorneyFOIA@usdoj.gov foranyfurtherassistancewithyourFOIArequest. Additionally,youmaycontacttheOfficeofGovernmentInformationServices(OGIS)attheNationalArchivesandRecordsAdministrationtoinquireabouttheFOIAmediationservicestheyoffer.ThecontactinformationforOGISisasfollows:OfficeofGovernmentInformationServices,NationalArchivesandRecordsAdministration,8601AdelphiRoad-OGIS,CollegePark,Maryland 20740-6001,e-mailat ogis@nara.gov ;telephoneat202-741-5770;tollfreeat1-877-684-6448;orfacsimileat202-741-5769. Ifyouarenotsatisfiedwithmyresponsetothisrequest,youmayadministrativelyappealbywritingtotheDirector,OfficeofInformationPolicy(OIP),UnitedStatesDepartmentofJustice,Suite11050,1425NewYorkAvenue,NW,Washington,DC20530-0001,oryoumaysubmitanappealthroughOIP'sFOIAonlineportalbycreatinganaccountonthefollowingwebsite: https://foiaonline.regulations.gov/foia/action/public/home Yourappealmustbepostmarkedorelectronicallytransmittedwithin90daysofthedateofmyresponsetoyourrequest.Ifyousubmityourappealbymail,boththeletterandtheenvelopeshouldbeclearlymarked“FreedomofInformationActAppeal.” Sincerely, WilliamTaylorII ExecutiveOfficer OfficeofthePardonAttorney U.S.DepartmentofJustice