DeVito Correspondence

To Whom It May Concern:

This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request the following records:

Any and all written or electronic correspondence, including attachments, sent or received by Counselor for Energy Policy Vincent DeVito containing one or more of the following words or phrases: "Bears Ears", "national monument", "uranium", "Mark Chalmers", "Andrew Wheeler", "Faegre Baker Daniels", "Mary Bono", "William Paul Goranson", and/or "Energy Fuels Resources". This request pertains to records produced between May 1, 2017 and the date this request is processed. If possible, I would like to receive the records in electronic format.

I am a reporter with Pacific Standard magazine, and the requested documents will be made available to the general public. 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,

Jimmy Tobias

Jimmy Tobias
124 Washington Place
New York, NY 10014
Phone: 248-763-0088
Email: jtoby87@gmail.com

March 19, 2018

Attn: FOIA Appeals Officer
U.S. Department of the Interior
Office of the Solicitor
1849 C Street, N.W.
MS-6556 MIB
Washington, D.C. 20240
Fax: 202-208-6677
E-mail: FOIA.Appeals@sol.doi.gov

FOIA Appeal

To Whom It May Concern:

This is an appeal under the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552 in reference to OS-2018-00303.

I very much appreciate the work of the Interior Department's FOIA officers, and want to thank you for your time and your efforts on behalf of the public's right to know. I am writing today, however, because it has been 101 days since my request was received by DOI. This period greatly exceeds the 20 days provided by the statute, thus I deem my request denied at this time. This request was assigned tracking number OS-2018-00409.

The information which I have requested is releasable under FOIA and, in my opinion, may not validly be withheld under any of the Act's exemptions.

I trust that upon re-consideration, the Department of the Interior will reverse the decision denying me access to this material and grant my original request within twenty days of receipt of this letter. However, if within twenty days I have not received a full response to my request (not merely an acknowledgement), I will deem the appeal denied and explore initiating a lawsuit to compel disclosure on one or more of these requests.

As I have made this request in the capacity of a journalist and this information is of timely value, I would appreciate the Department of the Interior expediting the consideration of my appeal in every way possible. In any case, I will expect to receive the department's decision within 20 business days, as required by the statute.

Thank you again for your assistance.

Sincerely,

Jimmy Tobias

Cc: First Amendment Project, Oakland CA