John Singlaub (FBI Records)

To Whom It May Concern:

Under the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request all records related to Gen. John Kirk Singlaub. Singlaub was born July 10, 1921 in what is now Independence, California, USA. He died January 29, 2022.

ABOUT THE SUBJECT:

In May 1977, Singlaub (then the Army's third-ranking official on the Korean Peninsula) spoke out publicly against President Carter's decision to withdraw 32,000 ground troops from the Korean Peninsula.

Gen. Singlaub started the U.S. Council for World Freedom, an affiliate of the World Anti-Communist League. In addition, Gen. Singlaub was involved with the Western Goals Foundation, a private domestic intelligence group bankrolled by conservative Texas oil tycoon Nelson Bunker Hunt to gather information on leftist groups and their leaders. Gen. Singlaub’s chief function in what the Los Angeles Times called the business of “private-enterprise insurgency” was raising millions of dollars to supply arms to anti-communist paramilitaries in places such as Nicaragua, Angola, Afghanistan and Laos. He was also the chairman of the OSS Society, a group that seeks to preserve the legacy of the Office of Strategic Services, the precursor to the Central Intelligence Agency. In the early 1980s, as Congress began curtailing U.S. funding of efforts to overthrow leftist regimes in Nicaragua and elsewhere, Gen. Singlaub and his organizations remained an important conduit of materiel and financial assistance to right-wing paramilitaries, reportedly with the help of deep-pocketed conservatives and foreign governments.

SCOPE OF SEARCH:

In addition to standard practices, please search the Electronic Surveillance (ELSUR) Indices, the Microphone Surveillance (MISUR) Indices, the Physical Surveillance (FISUR) Indices, and the Technical Surveillance (TESUR) Indices.

Please include a cross-reference search of the following things to see if they contain additional records related to Gen. Singlaub: U.S. COUNCIL FOR WORLD FREEDOM, WORLD ANTI-COMMUNIST LEAGUE, WESTERN GOALS FOUNDATION, OSS SOCIETY

REQUEST FOR FEE WAIVER:

Public Interest Factors

1. The subject of the request must concern identifiable operations or activities of the Federal Government. My request satisfies this factor because it seeks records created or maintained by the FBI.

2. The records must be likely to contribute to the understanding of the subject of the request. My request satisfies this factor because it seeks information that, to my knowledge, is not already in the public domain. Of course, without already knowing what records the Bureau has, I can't say for sure whether those records are already in the public domain or what the public would learn from them; however, because Gen. Singlaub has recently died, the Bureau may now be able to release records that were not previously available via the FOIA/PA.

3. The disclosure must contribute to the understanding of the public—meaning a reasonably broad audience of persons interested in the subject—as opposed to the individual understanding of the requester. My request satisfies this factor because Gen. Singlaub was a public figure. News obituaries for Gen. Singlaub appeared in the Washington Post and the New York Times, among other publications. Thus, a broad audience of persons will likely be interested in the records I seek. I will also make any records available online for free via muckrock.com, a FOIA-and-journalism site that lets people share the results of their FOIA requests and encourages journalism around them.

4. The public's understanding must be enhanced by the disclosure to a significant extent. My request likely satisfies this factor because Gen. Singlaub has recently died—meaning that the Bureau can now release responsive records that it could not have released before. Again, I cannot be 100% sure if factor is satisfied without already knowing what records the Bureau has. However, given Gen. Singlaub's status as a U.S. Army General, a public figure, and a private funder of right-wing paramilitaries, the Bureau should deem this factor satisfied.

Commercial Interest Factors

1. The existence and magnitude of a commercial interest: I have no commercial interest whatsoever in these records; I am just a curious American citizen with an interest in his government's surveillance of its critics. Thus, this factor cuts in favor of a fee waiver.

2. The primary interest in disclosure, i.e., whether disclosure is primarily in the commercial interest of the requester: I have zero commercial interest in disclosure, therefore the public interest outweighs my (nonexistent) private interest.

Conclusion

On balance, all of the Bureau's regulatory factors tilt decisively in favor of granting me a fee waiver. If you do decide to charge me fees, please notify me in advance if you anticipate that those fees will exceed $25.

Sincerely,

Nicholas Marritz