BlueLeaks (Nevada Threat Analysis Center)
| Multi Request | BlueLeaks |
| Submitted | June 25, 2020 |
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Communications
From: Emma North-Best
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Nevada Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records:
1. Documents mentioning, describing or generated in response to the BlueLeaks release, the preceding hack or subsequent fallout, including but not limited to:
* Damage assessments
* Emails
* Interagency communications (local, state, or federal)
* Communications with the press about BlueLeaks
* Communications with Twitter or other social media or sharing platforms
2. Documents mentioning or describing Distributed Denial of Secrets (DDoSecrets)
You may limit this request to records generated between November 1, 2018 and the present.
I am a member of the news media and request classification as such. I have previously written about the government and its activities, with some reaching over 100,000 readers in outlets such as Gizmodo, MuckRock, Motherboard, Property of the People, Unicorn Riot, and The Outline, among others. 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 non-profits such as the library Internet Archive and the journalist non-profit MuckRock, 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.
As my primary purpose is to inform about government activities by reporting on it and making the raw data available, I request that fees be waived.
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 5 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Emma Best
From: Nevada Threat Analysis Center
Dear Ms. Best,
We are in receipt of your email dated June 27th, 2020, requesting records. For reference the original email content is listed below.
I wanted to take this opportunity to provide you a brief update on the processing of your request.
The department is in the process of providing you an official response and we expect that to be delivered to you by early next week. ( the week of July 6th)
Thank you for your patience and feel free to reach out to me if you should you have further questions.
Sincerely,
Major Robert Stepien
Nevada Department of Public Safety
Office 775-687-0309
Nevada Threat Analysis Center
Nevada Public Records Act Office
555 Wright Way
Carson City, NV 89711
June 27, 2020
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Nevada Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records:
1. Documents mentioning, describing or generated in response to the BlueLeaks release, the preceding hack or subsequent fallout, including but not limited to:
* Damage assessments
* Emails
* Interagency communications (local, state, or federal)
* Communications with the press about BlueLeaks
* Communications with Twitter or other social media or sharing platforms
2. Documents mentioning or describing Distributed Denial of Secrets (DDoSecrets)
You may limit this request to records generated between November 1, 2018 and the present.
I am a member of the news media and request classification as such. I have previously written about the government and its activities, with some reaching over 100,000 readers in outlets such as Gizmodo, MuckRock, Motherboard, Property of the People, Unicorn Riot, and The Outline, among others. 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 non-profits such as the library Internet Archive and the journalist non-profit MuckRock, 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.
As my primary purpose is to inform about government activities by reporting on it and making the raw data available, I request that fees be waived.
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 5 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Emma Best
Filed via MuckRock.com
From: Nevada Threat Analysis Center
Dear Ms. Best,
We are in receipt of your email dated June 27th, 2020, requesting records. For reference the original email content is listed below.
I wanted to take this opportunity to provide you a brief update on the processing of your request.
The department is in the process of providing you an official response and we expect that to be delivered to you by early next week. ( the week of July 6th)
Thank you for your patience and feel free to reach out to me if you should you have further questions.
Sincerely,
Major Robert Stepien
Nevada Department of Public Safety
Office 775-687-0309
Nevada Threat Analysis Center
Nevada Public Records Act Office
555 Wright Way
Carson City, NV 89711
June 27, 2020
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Nevada Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records:
1. Documents mentioning, describing or generated in response to the BlueLeaks release, the preceding hack or subsequent fallout, including but not limited to:
* Damage assessments
* Emails
* Interagency communications (local, state, or federal)
* Communications with the press about BlueLeaks
* Communications with Twitter or other social media or sharing platforms
2. Documents mentioning or describing Distributed Denial of Secrets (DDoSecrets)
You may limit this request to records generated between November 1, 2018 and the present.
I am a member of the news media and request classification as such. I have previously written about the government and its activities, with some reaching over 100,000 readers in outlets such as Gizmodo, MuckRock, Motherboard, Property of the People, Unicorn Riot, and The Outline, among others. 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 non-profits such as the library Internet Archive and the journalist non-profit MuckRock, 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.
As my primary purpose is to inform about government activities by reporting on it and making the raw data available, I request that fees be waived.
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 5 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Emma Best
Filed via MuckRock.com
From: Nevada Threat Analysis Center
Dear Ms. Best,
As stated in my email dated July 1, 2020, I am in receipt of your public records request dated June 27, 2020, which was directed to the Nevada Threat Analysis Center ("NTAC") via email.
Your public records request seeks records related to the BlueLeaks release, the preceding hack, or subsequent fallout, including, but not limited to, damage assessments, emails, interagency communications, communications with the press, and communications with Twitter or other social media or sharing platforms.
Nevada Revised Statute 480.535(1) states that "any criminal intelligence information or other information collected by the Nevada Threat Analysis Center, including, without limitation, any paper, records, documents, reports, materials, databases or other evidence related to actual or suspected criminal activity or acts of terrorism is confidential and must not be disclosed." As a result of NRS 480.535(1), the NTAC will not be able to produce any records in response to your public records request.
If you disagree with my interpretation of the law, please contact me so we can discuss the matter further.
Thank you,
Major Robert Stepien
Nevada Department of Public Safety
Office 775-687-0309
From: Nevada Threat Analysis Center
Dear Ms. Best,
As stated in my email dated July 1, 2020, I am in receipt of your public records request dated June 27, 2020, which was directed to the Nevada Threat Analysis Center ("NTAC") via email.
Your public records request seeks records related to the BlueLeaks release, the preceding hack, or subsequent fallout, including, but not limited to, damage assessments, emails, interagency communications, communications with the press, and communications with Twitter or other social media or sharing platforms.
Nevada Revised Statute 480.535(1) states that "any criminal intelligence information or other information collected by the Nevada Threat Analysis Center, including, without limitation, any paper, records, documents, reports, materials, databases or other evidence related to actual or suspected criminal activity or acts of terrorism is confidential and must not be disclosed." As a result of NRS 480.535(1), the NTAC will not be able to produce any records in response to your public records request.
If you disagree with my interpretation of the law, please contact me so we can discuss the matter further.
Thank you,
Major Robert Stepien
Nevada Department of Public Safety
Office 775-687-0309
From: Emma North-Best
Publishing is not a criminal activity, and is explicitly protected by the Constitution.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Nevada Public Records Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on June 25, 2020. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Nevada Threat Analysis Center
To whom it may concern,
On July 7th, 2020, the DPS officially responded to your request (see below). As referenced, the Nevada Revised Statue 480.535(1) prohibits the release of any "criminal intelligence information" or "other information" collected by the Nevada Threat Analysis Center and thus it prevents disclosure to you. The matter in full is under a current investigation into actual or suspected criminal activity. Thus, I cannot release any information regarding this breach.
Thank you
Major Robert Stepien
Nevada Department of Public Safety
Office 775-687-0309
Cell: 775-720-0901
-
~WRD000
From: Emma North-Best
So to be clear, your own personnel are being investigated for their contacts with the press? Or the press are being investigated for that? Because that was explicitly requested, and either it is part of the investigation or it isn't.