Operation Ghost Stories (Office of the Attorney General - New York)

Emma North-Best filed this request with the Office of the Attorney General - New York of New York.
Tracking #

G000963-122717
Submitted Jan. 9, 2017
Est. Completion None
Status
No Responsive Documents

Communications

From: Michael Best

Subject: Freedom of Information Law Request: Operation Ghost Stories (Office of the Attorney General - New York)

Email

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the New York State Freedom of Information Law (1977 N.Y. Laws ch. 933), I hereby request the following records:

Any and all records relating to Operation Ghost Stories, AKA the Illegals Program. Please see below for more details, as simply searching blindly for those words only would constitute a search carefully conducted to locate the minimum number of records possible, if not none. Please also note that I am NOT limiting my request to previously released materials.

According to the FBI (https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/operation-ghost-stories-inside-the-russian-spy-case) Operation Ghost Stories was an operation that went on for over a decade, targeting Russian operatives in the United States. These have included but are not limited to Anna Chapman, Mikhail Anatolyevich Vasenkov (Juan Lazaro) and Vicky Peláez, Andrey Bezrukov and Yelena Vavilova (Donald Heathfield and Tracey Lee Ann Foley), Vladimir and Lidiya Guryev (Richard and Cynthia Murphy), Mikhail Kutsik and Nataliya Pereverzeva (Michael Zottoli and Patricia Mills), Mikhail Semenko, "Christopher Metsos" (Pavel Kapustin) and Alexey Karetnikov. Note that their identities have been widely reported not only by the mainstream media, but by the government itself in various court filings (http://documents.nytimes.com/criminal-complaints-from-the-justice-department), press releases (https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/ten-alleged-secret-agents-arrested-united-states), website postings (https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/operation-ghost-stories-inside-the-russian-spy-case), FOIA releases (https://vault.fbi.gov/ghost-stories-russian-foreign-intelligence-service-illegals/documents), photographs (https://vault.fbi.gov/ghost-stories-russian-foreign-intelligence-service-illegals/images) and videos (https://vault.fbi.gov/ghost-stories-russian-foreign-intelligence-service-illegals/videos).

Please include all correspondence relating to this case, including negotiations relating to the associated prisoner swaps, plea deals, etc.

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. As such, my primary purpose is to inform about government activities by reporting on it and making the raw data available and I therefore request that fees be waived. Per DOJ guidance, I meet all three standards for fee waivers.

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,

Michael Best

From: Office of the Attorney General - New York

Subject: **FOIL MAILBOX NO LONGER ACTIVE**

Email

Please be advised that, as of Friday, December 16, 2016, this is an unmonitored e-mail account. FOIL requests submitted to this e-mail account will not be processed.

If you are attempting to submit a FOIL request, please direct your correspondence to https://nyag.mycusthelp.com/WEBAPP/_rs/SupportHome.aspx.

For all other inquiries, requests, or concerns, please visit https://ag.ny.gov/contact-attorney-general.

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From: Office of the Attorney General - New York

Subject: Welcome to the NYS OAG FOIL Request Center!

Portal

Dear Emma Best, Thank you for registering with the New York State Offices of the Attorney General FOIL Records Portal.  Once your email address has been verified, you can log in to the FOIL Records Portal to update any contact or password information and to track the progress of your request. (https://nyag.mycusthelp.com/WEBAPP/_rs/RequestLogin.aspx?) Login: requests@muckrock.com To verify your email address, click the link below to activate your account and create a password. If you have never used this system, your account has been created by a staff person at the New York State Offices of the Attorney General . To access your account, you need to create a password by clicking the link below. This will allow you to access your request, manage account information, and retrieve responsive records.

From: Office of the Attorney General - New York

Subject: [NYS OAG FOIL Request Center] General FOIL Request :: G000963-122717

Portal

Re: FOIL Request #G000963-122717

Dear Ms. Best:

This is an automated reply to your above-referenced FOIL request.  Please do not respond to this message.

Within five business days, you will receive a written acknowledgment of the receipt of your request with a statement of the approximate date when your request will be granted or denied.

New York State Office of the Attorney General

From: Office of the Attorney General - New York

Subject: [NYS OAG FOIL Request Center] General FOIL Request :: G000963-122717

Portal

January 04, 2018

RE:  Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) Request Reference # G000963-122717

Dear Ms. Best:

Pursuant to Public Officers Law §89(3)(a), the Office of the Attorney General acknowledges receipt of the above-referenced FOIL request.

We are performing a diligent search for the records you request.  We will notify you of the status of your request on or before February 02, 2018.

If we should locate any documents that respond to your request, and if we provide them in electronic format, we will notify you of any fee in advance.  If we provide paper copies, we will also notify you of any fee in advance; for paper copies, the first five pages would be provided free of charge, and the cost for the remaining pages would be $.25 per page.

Sincerely,

Michael Jerry
Assistant Attorney General

Please visit the NYS OAG FOIL Request Center to view frequently asked questions, monitor request progress, and submit future requests. (https://nyag.mycusthelp.com/WEBAPP/_rs/SupportHome.aspx)
View this request in the My Request Center. (https://nyag.mycusthelpadmin.com/WEBAPP/ZAdmin/ServiceRequests/https://nyag.mycusthelp.com/WEBAPP/_rs/RequestEdit.aspx?rid=3375&coid=)

From: Office of the Attorney General - New York

Subject: [NYS OAG FOIL Request Center] General FOIL Request :: G000963-122717

Portal

February 2, 2018

RE:  Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) Request Reference # G000963-122717

Dear Ms. Best:

This email is in response to the above-referenced FOIL request.

Please be advised that the Office of the Attorney General has conducted a diligent search and has located no records that respond to your request.

Accordingly, this FOIL request is now closed.

Sincerely,

Michael Jerry
Assistant Attorney General

Please visit the NYS OAG FOIL Request Center to view frequently asked questions, monitor request progress, and submit future requests. (https://nyag.mycusthelp.com/WEBAPP/_rs/SupportHome.aspx)
View this request in the My Request Center. (https://nyag.mycusthelpadmin.com/WEBAPP/ZAdmin/ServiceRequests/https://nyag.mycusthelp.com/WEBAPP/_rs/RequestEdit.aspx?rid=3375&coid=)

From: Emma North-Best

Subject: RE: Freedom of Information Law Request #G000963-122717

Portal

Hi,

Thanks so much for your help with this request! I really appreciate it.

Sincerely,
Emma Best

Files

There are no files associated with this request.