FBI-DHS Joint Intelligence Bulletins (Department of Homeland Security)
| Tracking # |
2014-OIA-00011 ; 2014-HQAP-00026 |
| Submitted | Oct. 9, 2013 |
| Est. Completion | None |
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Communications
From: Melissa Hill
To Whom It May Concern:
This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request the following records:
I would like any and all records relating to FBI-DHS Joint Intelligence Bulletins that were drafted and/or released between 2002-2013. This includes any and all records and communications preserved in electronic or written form, including, but not limited to, final copies of FBI-DHS Joint Intelligence Bulletins, drafts, correspondence, documents, data, videotapes, audio tapes, faxes, files, guidance, e-mails, guidelines, evaluations, instructions, analyses, memoranda, agreements, notes, orders, policies, procedures, protocols, reports, rules, technical manuals, technical specifications, training manuals or studies.
I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as I believe this request is in the public interest. The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, processed by a representative of the news media/press and is made in the process of news gathering and not for commercial usage.
In the event that fees cannot be waived, 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,
Melissa Hill
From: Withnell, Elizabeth (CTR)
To Melissa Hill:
On behalf of the Freedom of Information Act Officer of the Office of Intelligence and Analysis in the Department of Homeland Security, I am acknowledging your FOIA request, submitted to the DHS FOIA Office and referred to I&A, for "any and all records relating to FBI-DHS Joint Intelligence Bulletins that were drafted or released between 2002-2013." You note that the request "includes any and all records and communications preserved in electronic or written form, including but not limited to final copies [of these bulletins], drafts, correspondence" etc.
As a preliminary matter, we have initially identified well over 100 final Joint Intelligence Bulletins that are potentially responsive to your wide-ranging request. Even assuming that each of these was the product of only three drafts - a low estimate in our opinion -- the number of documents and pages that I&A will need to process in response to your request could number in the thousands - and that doesn't include any "instructions, notes, memoranda" or other documents you have requested. Moreover, once we have completed our processing, I&A will need to consult with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (or refer the information) as you have requested joint bulletins. In light of this, we cannot estimate when we might complete work on your request. Additionally, your fee waiver justification - that the information will be made available free of charge to the general public as part of MuckRock's public information service - is not a sufficient basis for us to conclude, at least at this juncture, that a fee waiver is warranted for this material.
Given these considerations, would you be willing to narrow your request to include only finished FBI-DHS Joint Intelligence Bulletins or otherwise identify more precisely what you are interested in obtaining? We endeavor to be as responsive to our requesters as possible in the shortest amount of time necessary and believe that if you can highlight your specific interests we will be better able to serve you.
If you construe the message as a denial of access, you are entitled to an administrative appeal, which you must submit within 60 days to Associate General Counsel (General Law), U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Washington, D.C. 20528, following the procedures outlined in the DHS regulations at 6 C.F.R. § 5.9. Your envelope and letter should be marked "FOIA Appeal." Copies of the FOIA and DHS regulations are available at www.dhs.gov/foia. Please reference 2014-OIA-00011 in any future correspondence.
Elizabeth Withnell for Priscilla Waters
Freedom of Information Act Office
Office of Intelligence and Analysis
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
202-447-3328
From: Melissa Hill
Ms. Withnell,
As a follow-up, I am willing to narrow my request to only the finished version of the FBI-DHS Joint Intelligence Bulletins. If you have any further questions about this revision, please contact me again.
Thank you,
Melissa Hill
From: Withnell, Elizabeth (CTR)
Thanks for letting us know.
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 Oct. 9, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #2014-OIA-00011.
Thank you for your help.
From: I&AFOIA
Good afternoon Ms. Hill,
Please find attached an interim letter pertaining to your FOIA request to DHS I&A.
V/r,
Priscilla Waters, J.D.
FOIA Officer
Department of Homeland Security
Office of Intelligence and Analysis
UNCLASS: Priscilla.Waters@hq.dhs.gov<mailto:Priscilla.Waters@hq.dhs.gov>
UNCLAS Phone: (202) 447-4883
From: Melissa Hill
December 9 , 2013
Priscilla Waters
FOIA Officer
Office of Intelligence and Analysis
Re: Request 14-OIA-0011
Ms. Waters,
This is a reformulation of my request for waiver of fees for 14-OIA-0011. As requested, I am providing additional information on my request for a fee waiver from the DHS’s Office of Intelligence & Analysis. I am a journalist who is entitled to a media requester status under the FOIA statute. I am a volunteer reporter with Twin Cities Indymedia website, which publishes online content on local, national and international topics. The 2007 FOIA amendments further define the news media category to include: "any person or entity that gathers information of potential interest to a segment of the public, uses its editorial skills to turn the raw materials into a distinct work, and distributes that work to an audience."
Further, I am using the service of MuckRock.com to make the documents easily available to the general public and any other journalists who use this service. MuckRock facilitates users' requests and releases the information to the general public without a charge to view the documents to any visitor to the website. Journalists, such as myself, use muckrock.com to help manage our requests and bring the documents to the attention of a wider audience.
Also, I would like to emphasize I’m not a commercial requestor. I have no commercial interest in requested documents and I should not be subject to commercial requester fees under any circumstances. I have no intent to sell or otherwise profit from the information I receive, and any released materials will be posted fully online at MuckRock.com and used in potential news stories so that the public can better understand the workings of the Department of Homeland Security and its component agencies.
Finally, to answer the other inquiries in your letter, my request is for any and all final joint intelligence bulletins regardless of subject matter. In the case of joint intelligence bulletins, in whole or part, which may contain currently classified materials, I ask that you to release all unclassified portions of otherwise exempt documents. I ask that you justify all deletions by reference to specific exemptions to FOIA and I reserve the right to appeal your decision to withhold any information.
Thank you for your prompt attention, and I look forward to your response.
Melissa Hill
From: I&AFOIA
Good afternoon Ms. Hill,
I acknowledgement receipt of your response, however I must direct you to the following language in our November 25, 2013 correspondence to you:
If you construe my action to date to be a denial of access, you may submit an administrative appeal. Should you wish to do so, you must send your appeal and a copy of this letter, within 60 days of the date of this letter, to: Associate General Counsel (General Law), U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Washington, D.C. 20528, following the procedures outlined in the DHS FOIA regulations at 6 C.F.R. § 5.9.
If you continue to disagree with our waiver decision, please appeal formally through the process defined above.
V/r,
FOIA Officer
Department of Homeland Security
Office of Intelligence and Analysis
UNCLASS: I&AFOIA@hq.dhs.gov
UNCLAS Phone: (202) 447-4883
From: I&AFOIA
Good afternoon Ms. Hill,
I&A FOIA sent the attached letter to you on November 25, 2013. You responded with further justification for the fee waiver in an email received on December 9, 2013. Please be advised the your informal justification will not be accepted, and that you must formally appeal I&A's denial of your fee waiver request per the following instructions, extracted from the attached letter:
If you construe my action to date to be a denial of access, you may submit an administrative appeal. Should you wish to do so, you must send your appeal and a copy of this letter, within 60 days of the date of this letter, to: Associate General Counsel (General Law), U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Washington, D.C. 20528, following the procedures outlined in the DHS FOIA regulations at 6 C.F.R. § 5.9.
Please be advised that I&A FOIA will hold your request in abeyance for no more than 30 days, beginning January 22, 2014, pending receipt of notice that you have formally appealed I&A's fee waiver denial. Your request will be closed after 30 business days in the absence of such notification.
V/r,
Priscilla Waters, J.D.
FOIA Officer
Department of Homeland Security
Office of Intelligence and Analysis
UNCLASS: Priscilla.Waters@hq.dhs.gov<mailto:Priscilla.Waters@hq.dhs.gov>
UNCLAS Phone: (202) 447-4883
From: Lasko, Linda
Ms. Hill,
Attached, please find an acknowledgment of your FOIA appeal sent to the Department of Homeland Security.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
202-343-1743 (Main FOIA Number)
202-343-4011 (Fax)
Visit our FOIA website
This communication, along with any attachments, is covered by federal and state law governing electronic communications and may contain confidential and legally privileged information. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, use or copying of this message is strictly prohibited. If you have received this in error, please reply immediately to the sender and delete this message. Thank you.
From: Melissa Hill
Ms. Walters,
I have already submitted a formal appeal to the DHS Associate General Counsel regarding the fee waiver denial. I was informed on January 23 2014 that my appeal was received and assigned a number: 2014-HQAP-00026. I am notifying you in case you have not received an update from the main FOIA office on this matter.
Melissa Hill
From: Meus, Lauren M CIV
Ms. Hill:
Please find attached the FOIA Appeal Decision for the above matter.
Thank you,
Lauren Meus
Hearing Docket Clerk
From: I&AFOIA
Good afternoon Ms. Hill,
Please find attached an acknowledgment of your FOIA request to I&A FOIA.
V/r,
FOIA Officer
Office of Intelligence and Analysis
Unclass: (202) 447-4883
Unclass: I&AFOIA@hq.dhs.gov
From: Melissa Hill
Dear FOIA Officer,
If this request is reformulated to only include unclassified documents, would you be able to provide a new estimate of the likely fees?
Thank you,
Melissa Hill
From: I&AFOIA
Good morning Ms. Hill,
Please find attached a response to your FOIA request to DHS I&A.
V/r,
Priscilla Waters
Office of Intelligence and Analysis
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Officer
Unclass: (202) 447-4883
Unclass: Priscilla.Waters@hq.dhs.gov
From: Melissa Hill
April 17, 2014
Re: FOIA Request 14-OIA-001
April 17, 2014
To whom it may concern,
Please continue processing this FOIA request for the unclassified FBI-DHS Joint Intelligence Bulletins. I agree to pay any applicable fees.
If you have any additional questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Thank you,
Melissa Hill
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 Oct. 9, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #2014-OIA-00011 ; 2014-HQAP-00026 .
Thank you for your help.
From: Burch, Ashley
Good afternoon Ms. Hill,
Please find attached an further clarification of fee category determination of your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A), dated October 25, 2013. V/R, I&A FOIA Officer
Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
I&A FOIA@hq.dhs.gov (mailto:FOIA@hq.dhs.gov(202) (202) 887-4883
From: Burch, Ashley
Good morning Ms. Hill,
Please find attached a letter of additional action to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A), dated October 25, 2013. V/R, I&A FOIA Officer
Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
I&A FOIA@hq.dhs.gov (mailto:FOIA@hq.dhs.gov(202) (202) 887-4883
From: I&AFOIA
Good morning Ms. Hill,
Please find attached a final response to your FOIA request to DHS I&A.
V/R,
Priscilla Waters
Office of Intelligence and Analysis
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Officer
Unclass: (202) 447-4883
Unclass: Priscilla.Waters@hq.dhs.gov
"The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary." Vince Lombardi
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