Joe Craig (FBI SA)
Tracking # |
1368224-000, DOJ-AP-2017-003381 |
Submitted | Feb. 20, 2017 |
Due | Jan. 15, 2019 |
Est. Completion | None |
MuckRock users can file, duplicate, track, and share public records requests like this one. Learn more.
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:
Records relating to or mentioning JOE R. CRAIG, FBI SA d. 3/6/1998.
Proof of death: This individual is listed as dead in the FBI's Dead List, which also confirms the existence of the file. Per FBI standards and regulations, an FBI file is acceptable proof of death. For your convenience, a copy of the list may be found at https://archive.org/details/FBIRIDsDeadList2015
Please conduct a search of the Central Records System, including but not limited to the ELSUR Records System, 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 for all relevant names, individuals, agencies and companies. If any potentially responsive records have been destroyed and/or transferred to NARA, then I request copies of the destruction or transfer slips as well as any other documentation relating to, mentioning or describing said transfer or destruction, to include but not be limited to confirmation that the Bureau has no other copies of said records (as the Bureau has posted copies of records that it previously said were transferred to NARA such as the Tokyo Rose file).
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. Per DOJ FOIA guidance, "a requester should be granted a fee waiver if the requested information (1) sheds light on the activities and operations of the government; (2) is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of those operations and activities; and (3) is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester." As this FOIA meets all of those requirements (see above), a fee waiver is warranted.
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: FOIPARequest
Dear Mr. Best,
The FBI has received your Freedom of Information/Privacy Act (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.
Please be advised, beginning Wednesday, March 1, 2017, you will no longer be able to submit FOIPA requests via email. On this date, FOIPARequest@ic.fbi.gov<mailto:FOIPARequest@ic.fbi.gov> will permanently be taken offline and requests will need to be submitted using the FBI’s electronic FOIPA portal at https://efoia.fbi.gov, after development and testing for two years. With this full implementation, eFOIPA will provide the FBI with an automated process for the receipt and opening of requests, replacing the current manual process and substantially reducing the time it takes to receive and open each electronic request received. Given the FBI's high volume of requests, this will significantly increase efficiency.
The terms of service for the site will be modified to allow the uploading of attachments, to remove the limitation on the number of requests received each day by the application, to remove limitation on the number of requests which may be submitted by an individual per day, and increase availability to seven days a week-24 hours a day.
The eFOIPA system will allow requests of all types – e.g.; Privacy Act, deceased individuals, policies/procedures, events, organizations, etc. Requesters will:
• Receive digital confirmation directly on their email account.
• No longer have to wait for responses to be received using standard mail.
• View transmitted responses and releases from the convenience of their smart phone or tablet.
The FBI’s eFOIPA portal was designed and developed to be the FBI’s primary means for receiving FOIA and Privacy Act requests.
Should you have questions about preparing or submitting your request using this new service, you may email foipaquestions@ic.fbi.gov<mailto:foipaquestions@ic.fbi.gov> or contact the Public Information Officer directly at 540-868-4593. Alternatively, you may submit your request using fax or standard mail.
Information regarding the FOIPA 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,
Leanna Ramsey
Public Information Officer
Record/Information Dissemination Section (RIDS) FBI-Records Management Division
170 Marcel Drive, Winchester, VA 22602-4843
Direct: (540) 868-4593
Fax: (540) 868-4391/4997
Questions E-mail: foipaquestions@ic.fbi.gov<mailto:foipaquestions@ic.fbi.gov>
PLEASE REPLY DIRECTLY TO FOIPAREQUEST@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 https://vault.fbi.gov/fdps-1/@@search-fdps. Status updates are performed on a weekly basis.
-
~WRD044
From: Federal Bureau of Investigation
A fix is required to perfect the request.
From: Michael Best
I am appealing the determination that I did not provide proof of death. Per the FBI's own standards, an FBI file is acceptable proof of death. I not only cited such an FBI file, I provided a link to it. However, this is not necessary as the file is not only in the possession of the Bureau but is managed by the Records Management Division and immediately available to all FOIA staff. The refusal to accept this is a hostile and adverse position adopted solely to obstruct and delay the FOIA process.
From: OIP-NoReply@usdoj.gov
04/06/2017 10:33 AM FOIA Request: DOJ-AP-2017-003381
From: OIP-NoReply@usdoj.gov
DOJ-AP-2017-003381 has been processed with the following final disposition: Completely reversed/remanded.
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. 20, 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 #1368224-000, DOJ-AP-2017-003381.
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. 20, 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 #1368224-000, DOJ-AP-2017-003381.
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. 20, 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 #1368224-000, DOJ-AP-2017-003381.
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. 20, 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 #1368224-000, DOJ-AP-2017-003381.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Bronson, Rebecca (RMD) (FBI)
Good afternoon Ms. Best,
Another of your requests has come for possible negotiation. The FBI has located approximately 1071 pages potentially responsive to this request. Requests are processed in the order in which they are received through our multi-track processing system, and the FBI receives a voluminous amount of requests on a daily, weekly, monthly, and annual basis. Requests are divided into two primary tracks--simple (under 50 pages of potentially responsive documents) and complex (over 50 pages of potentially responsive documents). Complex requests are further divided into medium (51-950 pages), large (951-8000 pages), and extra-large (over 8000 pages) sub-tracks based upon request size.
Simple track requests typically require the least amount of time to process. The more potentially responsive pages a request has, the more complex it becomes, greatly increasing the time required for processing. Generally, the larger the file, the longer it takes to process. A review of your request determined that it is currently in the complex request large processing track. Given our current workload and staffing levels, it may yet be a long time before you begin to receive material from this request.
Reducing the scope of your request may accelerate the processing and allow for a more timely receipt of the information you seek, as it could potentially place your request into a smaller, faster processing track. This may also reduce duplication costs, if applicable. Would you be willing to consider reducing the scope of your request? If so, I would be happy to help you to decide the best approach to take. We could potentially narrow your request by date, or if you are looking for something specific, we could approach the scope reduction process in that way.
Please let me know if you would like to potentially reduce the scope of your request. I can be reached via email at rbronson@fbi.gov, or you may call me at 540-868-1695, Monday - Friday between the hours of 7:00am and 3:00pm Eastern time.
Best regards,
Rebecca Bronson
Records Management Division
Federal Bureau of Investigation
540-868-1695
From: Bronson, Rebecca (RMD) (FBI)
Good afternoon Ms. Best,
Hadn't heard back from you and just wanted to follow up.
Best regards,
Rebecca Bronson
Records Management Division
Federal Bureau of Investigation
540-868-1695
From: Bronson, Rebecca (RMD) (FBI)
Good morning Ms. Best,
Just following up on this request - hadn't heard back.
Best regards,
Becki
From: Emma North-Best
What would the page count look like if we disregarded his application for employment with the FBI? (Sorry for the delay!)
From: Federal Bureau of Investigation
Good morning Ms. Best,
Thanks for reaching out on this request. All of the potentially responsive pages come from the subject’s FBI employment file, so if you would like, we could close this one.
Best regards,
FOIA Negotiation Team
FBI Records Management Division
Need a status check? Contact FOIPA Questions (foipaquestions@fbi.gov).
-
image001
From: Emma North-Best
All of it comes from the employment file, or the application for employment? I'm only interested in excluding the latter.
From: Federal Bureau of Investigation
Good morning Ms. Best,
His initial application to work as a messenger is in his employment file, as is his appointment as a special agent. He worked as a messenger from 1940 through 1941, when he received his appointment as an agent. I was hoping we could perhaps eliminate those pages and move the request to the medium track, but there are only 96 pages up to that point and we need to take out 124 pages for the page count to drop to 950. What you might consider, though, is narrowing the request to the subject’s permanent brief, which gives his salary history, awards, commendations, censures, and summaries of his performance evaluations through 1973, along with the remainder of the file, which would take you through the end of his career and give you 184 pages. Would you consider reducing the request in this fashion?
Best regards,
FOIA Negotiation Team
FBI Records Management Division
Need a status check? Contact FOIPA Questions (foipaquestions@fbi.gov).
-
~WRD000
From: Federal Bureau of Investigation
Good morning Ms. Best,
This is in reference to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request # 1368224 -000 for FBI records concerning Joe Craig. We are reaching out to you to determine if you are still interested in these records, or, if at this time, you would consider reducing the size of your request from 1,074 pages to under 950 pages, which will move the request to the medium track. Reducing the size of your request may accelerate the processing and allow for a more timely receipt of the information you seek, as it could potentially place your request into a smaller, faster processing track. This may also reduce duplication costs, if applicable. Currently, there is a significant time involved in processing large track cases.
Requests are processed in the order in which they are received through our multi-track processing system, and the FBI receives a voluminous amount of requests on a daily, weekly, monthly, and annual basis. Requests are divided into two primary tracks -simple (under 50 pages of potentially responsive documents) and complex (over 50 pages of potentially responsive documents). Complex requests are further divided into medium (51-949 pages), (large 950-8000 pages), and extra-large (over 8,000 pages) sub-tracks are based upon request size.
Please contact me with regards to this inquiry to let me know if you are still interested in receiving records for this request either in full (the remaining records), or reducing the request to the medium track (not to exceed 949 pages). If you reduce the size, you can request the additional records with a new FOIA request upon completion of this one.
Thank you for your time and patience. We hope to hear from you over the next few days so we can discuss these options.
Best regards,
FOIA Negotiation Team
FBI Information Management Division
540-868-1695
Need a status check? Contact FOIPA Questions (foipaquestions@fbi.gov).
From: Federal Bureau of Investigation
Good morning Ms. Best,
We hadn't heard back from you and just wanted to follow up.
Best regards,
FOIA Negotiation Team
FBI Information Management Division
540-868-1695
Need a status check? Contact FOIPA Questions (foipaquestions@fbi.gov).
From: Emma North-Best
Any suggestions on how to reduce the scope of this one? Any obvious duplications, etc.?
From: Federal Bureau of Investigation
Good morning Ms. Best,
First, my apologies for the delayed response. You may wish to consider narrowing this one to the subject’s permanent brief, which consists of 27 pages and covers the subject’s career through 1974. The subject retired in 1975; if you would like to include the remaining material, that would give you 187 pages. The permanent brief alone would place this request into the small track, while including material to the end of his career would place the request into the medium track.
Would you like to keep this a small-track request? Please let us know how you would like to proceed.
Best regards,
FOIA Negotiation Team
FBI Information Management Division
540-868-1695
Need a status check? Contact FOIPA Questions (foipaquestions@fbi.gov).
-
~WRD000
From: Emma North-Best
Let's go ahead and process all of it. Thanks!
From: Federal Bureau of Investigation
Good afternoon Ms. Best,
Your request was closed in our system on November 7 2018. If you would like to file a new request, you may submit your request electronically at https://efoia.fbi.gov (available 24 hours a day), fax it to 540-868-4391/4997, or mail it to FBI, Attn: FOIPA Request, 170 Marcel Drive, Winchester, VA 22602-4843. Please be sure to include your contact information, to include complete mailing address, on any correspondence.
Additional information about the FOIPA can be found at http://www.fbi.gov/foia.
Should you have questions about preparing or submitting your request, please feel free to reach out.
FBI FOIA Negotiation Team
Information Management Division
fbi.foipa.negotiation@fbi.gov<mailto:fbi.foipa.negotiation@fbi.gov>
540-868-1695
From: Emma North-Best
You're kind of required to tell me when you do things like this not. Waiting until I ask five months later is inappropriate. https://www.muckrock.com/foi/united-states-of-america-10/joe-craig-fbi-sa-33644/ confirms no notice was sent.
From: Federal Bureau of Investigation
Dear Ms. Best,
Please see the attached letter. Our records indicate that the letter was mailed to you on September 27, 2018. We did not receive a reply within the 30-day timeframe, and your request was closed.
You are welcome to make a new request for this material.
Best regards,
FBI FOIA Negotiation Team
Information Management Division
fbi.foipa.negotiation@fbi.gov<mailto:fbi.foipa.negotiation@fbi.gov>
540-868-1695
-
image001
From: Emma North-Best
Already did.
Files
pages