MDR Request: OLC Memo re Withdrawal of OLC CIA interrogation opinions

To Whom It May Concern:

This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request the following records:

I seek a Mandatory Declassification Review (MDR) of two Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) Memoranda. The first is the "Memorandum re the Withdrawal of Office of Legal Counsel CIA Interrogation Opinions" (hereafter MEMO1). MEMO1 was dated April 15, 2009.

The second OLC memorandum requested under MDR is titled "Memorandum re Withdrawal of the Office of Legal Counsel Opinion," dated June 11, 2009 (hereafter MEMO2). Both MEMO1 and MEMO2 were addressed from OLC to the Attorney General of the United States.

The existence of both memoranda were revealed in an April 25, 2014 blog posting by the National Security Archive, which said the titles noted above, among other OLC memoranda titles it posted, were revealed to them via FOIA. The URL for that information is http://nsarchive.wordpress.com/2014/04/25/forty-seven-office-of-legal-counsel-memo-titles-that-the-doj-did-not-use-b5-to-redact/.

I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as I believe this request is in the public interest. The existence and content of numerous OLC opinions has been a matter of ongoing public interest for some years now, not least since the Department of Justice itself released the OLC opinions concerning both the CIA and Department of Defense interrogation programs. I believe citations regarding such interest would be superfluous, but a few of the most recent would include:

http://jurist.org/paperchase/2014/08/cia-rendition-victims-urge-obama-to-name-them-in-senate-report.php

http://www3.law.harvard.edu/journals/hlpr/files/2013/06/Lochner-for-the-Executive-Branch.pdf

The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, processed by a representative of the news media/press and is made in the process of news gathering and not for commercial usage. Furthermore, an analysis of these documents will be published at the news/commentary website Firedoglake, more specifically, at its affiliated site, The Dissenter, or similar news distribution website. The distribution of such news analysis will be available free at no cost to the public, without any payment to this requester, and in general is not for commercial usage.

In the event that fees cannot be waived, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I note that in the case that fees cannot be waived, I am willing to pay up to $100 in search and copying costs. By this stated willingness I do not waive my right to appeal any such denial of fee waiver.

I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not. Should portions of the documents not be releasable, I ask that segregable portions be released.

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,

Jeffrey Kaye