FBI: Hans Bethe

Dear Mr. Hovden,

The FBI has received your Freedom of Information Act/Privacy (FOIPA) request and it will be forwarded to Initial Processing for review. Your request will be processed under the provisions of FOIPA and a response will be mailed to you at a later date.

Requests for fee waivers and expedited processing will be addressed once your request has been assigned an FOIPA request number. You will receive written notification of the FBI’s decision.

Information regarding the Freedom of Information Act/Privacy is available at http://www.fbi.gov<http://www.fbi.gov>/ or http://www.fbi.gov/foia/<http://www.fbi.goiv/foia/>. If you require additional assistance please contact the Public Information Officer.

Thank you,

Lauren McGuinn
Public Liaison/GIS
Record/Information Dissemination Section (RIDS)
FBI-Records Management Division
170 Marcel Drive, Winchester, VA 22602-4843
PIO: (540) 868-4593
Direct: (540) 868-4286
Fax: (540) 868-4391/4997
E-mail: foiparequest@ic.fbi.gov<mailto:foiparequest@ic.fbi.gov>
Questions E-mail: foipaquestions@ic.fbi.gov<mailto:foipaquestions@ic.fbi.gov>
The FBI has launched eFOIA! You can now make a FOIA request using this link https://efoiapub.tmbc.me/#home

Do you have further questions about the FOI/PA process? Visit us at http://www.fbi.gov/foia

Please check the status of your request online at http://www.fbi.gov/foia by clicking on the CHECK STATUS OF YOUR FOI/PA REQUEST under the FOIA INDEX located on the right side of the page. Status updates are performed on a weekly basis.

An interim response, stating the request is being processed.

Dear Mr. Hovden,

Please check the status of your FOIPA Request at http://www.fbi.gov and access the (Freedom of Information Act) link at the bottom of the page, or http://www.fbi.gov/foia, or https://vault.fbi.gov/fdps-1@@search-fdps, and follow the instructions below.

Check the Status of Your FOIPA Request

If your FOIPA Number is [1195846-0] please enter [1195846-000] into the system. If your FOIPA Number is [1195846-1] please enter [1195846-001] into the system. If you have any questions about the status of your FOIPA request, please e-mail foipaquestions@ic.fbi.gov<mailto:foipaquestions@ic.fbi.gov>.

FIND STATUS OF FOIPA- LAST UPDATED ON February 17, 2016

Please enter the whole FOIPA number-Example: [1234567-000]

FOIPA:

Results will show the Request Number, Case Type and Process Description shown below:

FOIPA:

1234567-000

Case Type:

FOIPA

Process Description (Will display the current progress of the request)

The FBI’s FOIPA Program is searching the FBI’s indices for potentially responsive documents.

You may be contacted via formal letter for all fees and/or negotiation issues that may apply.
NOTE: Recent requests are entered into the FOIPA database in the order that they are received. Before you can check the status, you must have received correspondence assigning a FOIPA request number and the information transferred to the online database. Status information is updated weekly. If a request has been closed within the last six months the online database will display the following: The FOIPA number entered has been closed, and appropriate correspondence has been sent to the address on file.

Thank you,

Holly Early
Public Liaison/GIS
Record/Information Dissemination Section (RIDS)
FBI-Records Management Division
170 Marcel Drive, Winchester, VA 22602-4843
PIO: (540) 868-4593
Direct: (540) 868-4286
Fax: (540) 868-4391/4997
E-mail: foiparequest@ic.fbi.gov<mailto:foiparequest@ic.fbi.gov>
Questions E-mail: foipaquestions@ic.fbi.gov<mailto:foipaquestions@ic.fbi.gov>

Do you have further questions about the FOI/PA process? Visit us at http://www.fbi.gov/foia

Please check the status of your request online at http://www.fbi.gov/foia by clicking on the CHECK STATUS OF YOUR FOI/PA REQUEST under the FOIA INDEX located on the right side of the page. Status updates are performed on a weekly basis.

A letter stating the requester must agree to or prepay assessed or estimated fees in order for the agency to continue processing the request.

An interim response, stating the request is being processed.

Dear Mr. Hovden,

The FBI has received your additional correspondence regarding your Freedom of Information Act/Privacy (FOIPA) request and it has been forwarded to Initial Processing or the assigned analyst for review. If appropriate, a response will be forthcoming.

Additional information regarding the FOIPA may be accessed at http://www.fbi.gov/, http://www.fbi.gov/foia/ or http://www.justice.gov/oip.

If you require additional assistance please contact me.

Thank you,

Holly Early
Public Liaison/GIS
Record/Information Dissemination Section (RIDS)
FBI-Records Management Division
170 Marcel Drive, Winchester, VA 22602-4843
PIO: (540) 868-4593
Direct: (540) 868-4854
Fax: (540) 868-4391/4997
E-mail: foiparequest@ic.fbi.gov<mailto:foiparequest@ic.fbi.gov>
Questions E-mail: foipaquestions@ic.fbi.gov<mailto:foipaquestions@ic.fbi.gov>

Do you have further questions about the FOI/PA process? Visit us at http://www.fbi.gov/foia

Please check the status of your request online at http://www.fbi.gov/foia by clicking on the CHECK STATUS OF YOUR FOI/PA REQUEST under the FOIA INDEX located on the right side of the page. Status updates are performed on a weekly basis.

Good morning Mr. Hovden,

I'm contacting you about the FOIA request you made for records concerning Hans Bethe. As you probably recall, the FBI located approximately 1200 pages that are potentially responsive to your request. I just wanted to let you know about the potential waiting time for a request of this size. Once requests go over a certain size, usually in the 50-100 page range, they become increasingly complex, greatly slowing down the time required for processing. Generally the larger the file, the longer it takes to process. Given our current workload and staffing levels, it may be a very long time before you would begin to receive material from this request.
We contact folks with requests of this size to see if there might be a way to possibly narrow the scope of the request. Is this something you might be willing to consider? I can help you decide how to reduce the scope. We can narrow the request by date, or if you are looking for something specific, we can approach it that way.
Please let me know how you would like to proceed. I can be reached at 540-868-1695<tel:540-868-1695>, Monday - Friday from 7:00 am until 3:30 pm, Eastern time, or you can reply to this email if you prefer.
Thanks much,
Becki

Rebecca Bronson
Records Management Division
Federal Bureau of Investigation
540-868-1695

Good morning Mr. Hovden,

I hadn't heard back from you and just wanted to follow up.

Looking forward to speaking with you soon.
Best regards,
Becki

Hi Robert,

Thanks for getting back to me on this. Looking at the dates of the files, everything we have runs from 1947 forward. Is there anything specific that you’re looking for? Perhaps we can approach it that way.
Best,
Becki

Robert,

That’s good to know, thanks for sharing your research interest. If we reduce the scope to everything from 1970 and before, that takes the request down to 1149 pages, just to let you know.
Best,
Becki

Hi Robert,

I’ll let them know your preference, but can’t guarantee the order in which they will be processed.
Best,
Becki

An interim response, stating the request is being processed.

Good morning,

Your request is still waiting to be assigned to an analyst.
Best,
Becki

Good morning,

Your request is waiting to be assigned to an analyst.
Best,
Becki

Good morning Mr. Hovden,

Your request is still waiting to be assigned to an analyst. If you would like to speed the process along, we could speak again about narrowing the scope of the request. You had mentioned an interest in receiving material prior t to 1955, I believe it was. We could look at narrowing the request to those materials and see if that would get the request out of the large track. You are always welcome to request additional material later if you would like.

Would you be willing to consider that?
Best,
Becki

Good morning,

Please check the status of your FOIPA Request at http://vault.fbi.gov by clicking on "Check Status of Your FOI/PA Request" on the right side of the page, and follow the instructions below.

Check the Status of Your FOIPA Request:
If your FOIPA Number is [1195846-0] please enter [1195846-000] into the system. If your FOIPA Number is [1195846-1] please enter [1195846-001] into the system. If you have any questions about the status of your FOIPA request, please e-mail foipaquestions@ic.fbi.gov<mailto:foipaquestions@ic.fbi.gov<mailto:foipaquestions@ic.fbi.gov%3cmailto:foipaquestions@ic.fbi.gov>>.

FIND STATUS OF FOIPA- Request statuses are updated weekly
Please enter the whole FOIPA number-Example: [1234567-000]
FOIPA:
Results will show the Request Number, Case Type and Process Description shown below:
FOIPA:
1234567-000
Case Type:
FOIPA
Process Description (Will display the current progress of the request)
The FBI's FOIPA Program is searching the FBI's indices for potentially responsive documents.

NOTE: Recent requests are entered into the FOIPA database in the order that they are received. Before you can check the status, you must have received correspondence assigning a FOIPA request number and the information transferred to the online database. Status information is updated weekly. If a request has been closed within the last six months the online database will display the following: The FOIPA number entered has been closed, and appropriate correspondence has been sent to the address on file.
Best regards,

Rebecca Bronson
Records Management Division
Federal Bureau of Investigation

540-868-1695

A copy of documents responsive to the request.