Houghton 11.22.21

To Whom It May Concern:

You are receiving this correspondence as a request under the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. subsection 552. I am requesting the following:

All bureau and field office files covering Troy Harold Houghton (born 1933). Mr. Houghton may have used the aliases Troy Boyle, Troy Epick, Troy Haughton, and Dan Alderman. Mr. Houghton was the pacific regional director and California coordinator for the Minutemen organization, founded by Robert Bolivar DePugh in 1960, and resided primarily in San Diego, California (at 6523 Celia Vista Drive, 92115). Mr. Houghton was convicted on weapons charges connected to the Federal Firearms Act in 1966, along with Mr. DePugh and Walter Patrick Peyson, but disappeared in 1967 before he could serve his sentence. Bureau files found in the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection at the National Archives show documents responsive to this request, identifying Mr. Houghton by name. I have attached copies of a bureau file and a newspaper clipping for reference. I am requesting all documents directly identifying Mr. Houghton by name and indirectly as a source of information.

Please conduct a search of the Central Records System, including but not limited to the Electronic Surveillance (ELSUR) Indices, the Microphone Surveillance (MISUR) Indices, the Physical Surveillance (FISUR) Indices, and the Technical Surveillance (TESUR) Indices, for both main-file records and cross-reference records.

I am a member of the news media, and I am asking you waive any fees associated with this request. I have written for Philly Voice and Atlas Obscura. Please take note of the Office of Management and Budget guidelines published March 27, 1987 (52 FR 10012) that include electronic publications and other nontraditional publishers as representatives of the news media.

This request is not being made for commercial purposes. All documents will be provided to the general public without charge.

In the event that there are fees, I am willing to pay up to $250. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

I look forward to your response within 20 working days, as the statute requires. If access to the records I am requesting will take longer, please contact me with information about when I might expect copies or the ability to inspect the requested records.

If you deny any or all of this request, please cite each specific exemption you feel justifies the refusal to release the information and notify me of the appeal procedures available to me under the law.

Sincerely,

Robert Skvarla, Jr.