Flynn comms (National Security Agency)
| Tracking # |
100831 |
| Submitted | Feb. 15, 2017 |
| Est. Completion | None |
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Communications
From: Michael Best
To Whom It May Concern:
This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request the following records:
Copies of all emails, letters, memos and other correspondence sent to, received from or mentioning Michael Flynn or his office from February 13 2017 and February 14 2017.
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.
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 20 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Michael Best
From: National Security Agency
An acknowledgement letter, stating the request is being processed.
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 Feb. 15, 2017. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #100831.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
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 Feb. 15, 2017. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #100831.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
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 Feb. 15, 2017. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #100831.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
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 Feb. 15, 2017. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #100831.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
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 Feb. 15, 2017. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #100831.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
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 Feb. 15, 2017. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #100831.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
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 Feb. 15, 2017. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #100831.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Feb. 15, 2017. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #100831.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Feb. 15, 2017. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #100831.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Feb. 15, 2017. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #100831.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From:
Muckrock Requester's:
The FOIA requests referenced below (NSA Case Numbers) are in our initial processing backlog queue waiting to be pulled to conduct the necessary searches; further correspondence from NSA will not be initiated until the case is pulled for this search processing step.
NSA Case Numbers: 82333, 82334, 83261, 83336, 83549, 83606, 83817, 84512, 84529, 84530, 84696, 84788, 85523, 85612, 100484, 100802, 100816, 100831, 100889, 101477, 101689, 101745, and 101994.
Regards,
NSA FOIA Office
301-688-6527
From:
Muckrock Requester's:
The FOIA requests referenced below (NSA Case Numbers) are in our initial processing backlog queue waiting to be pulled to conduct the necessary searches; further correspondence from NSA will not be initiated until the case is pulled for this search processing step.
NSA Case Numbers: 82333, 82334, 83261, 83336, 83549, 83606, 83817, 84512, 84529, 84530, 84696, 84788, 85523, 85612, 100484, 100802, 100816, 100831, 100889, 101477, 101689, 101745, and 101994.
Regards,
NSA FOIA Office
301-688-6527
From:
Muckrock Requester's:
The FOIA requests referenced below (NSA Case Numbers) are in our initial processing backlog queue waiting to be pulled to conduct the necessary searches; further correspondence from NSA will not be initiated until the case is pulled for this search processing step.
NSA Case Numbers: 82333, 82334, 83261, 83336, 83549, 83606, 83817, 84512, 84529, 84530, 84696, 84788, 85523, 85612, 100484, 100802, 100816, 100831, 100889, 101477, 101689, 101745, and 101994.
Regards,
NSA FOIA Office
301-688-6527
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following request, copied below. 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: National Security Agency
Dear Emma Best,
Please find communication regarding your FOIA Case 100831 attached to this email.
v/R
FOIA Case Officer
-
100831A_Best
From: Emma North-Best
Yes I am still interested.
From: National Security Agency
Dear Emma Best,
Thank you for confirming your continuing interest in FOIA Case 100831. We respectfully request that you provide a response to the second part of our request, asking that you narrow your request so that a reasonable search can be done. We have been advised that the records may be more reasonably searched if the focus was on a limited group, like Agency Senior Leadership. Any records located would still require a manual search to determine which items were responsive; however, it would likely limit the amount of information requiring a manual search. It is the requester's responsibility to frame requests with a sufficient particularity to ensure that searches are not unreasonably burdensome, and to enable the searching agency to determine precisely what records are being requested. Please see attached correspondence for full details.
v/R
FOIA Case Officer
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