MuckRock emails (Federal Election Commission)
It is a clone of this request.
| Tracking # |
2018-108 |
| Multi Request | MuckRock emails |
| Submitted | May 29, 2018 |
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Communications
From: Emma North-Best
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:
Copies of all emails containing the terms "MuckRock", "Muck Rock" or "MuckRock.com", excluding emails sent to or from a MuckRock.com email address. Please include the complete email exchange for each email, including any emails that are being replied to as well as any subsequent replies.
I am a member of the news media and request classification as such. I have previously written about the government and its activities. I have a reasonable expectation of publication and my editorial and writing skills are well established. I discuss and comment on the files online and make them available through non-profits such as the Internet Archive and MuckRock, 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 my primary purpose is to inform about government activities by reporting on it and making the raw data available, I 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,
Emma Best
From: Federal Election Commission
Dear Mrs. Best:
This email acknowledges receipt of your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request dated May 29, 2018.
Please note that, depending upon the nature of your request, we may be able to respond to you more quickly if you are able to state your request more specifically or narrowly, either in terms of the scope of documents you have requested or by refining the time frame of your request. If you would like to discuss this option or if you have any questions, please contact the FOIA Requester Service Center at (202) 694-1650. Please include the following tracking number in all future correspondence regarding this matter – FOIA Request 2018-108.
Thank you for contacting the Federal Election Commission.
Sincerely,
Christopher Mealy
FOIA Requester Service Center
From: Federal Election Commission
June 4, 2018
VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL
MuckRock News
C/O Emma Best
requests@muckrock.com
Re: Your Freedom of Information Act Request to the Federal Election Commission (2018-108)
Dear Ms. Best:
This letter is regarding your request for information from the Federal Election Commission ("FEC") under the Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA"), dated and received by the FEC's FOIA Requester Service Center on May 29, 2018. You requested copies of all emails containing the terms "Muckrock", "Muck Rock", or "Muckrock.com," but excluding emails sent to or from a MuckRock email address. I am writing you to clarify the date range of your request (e.g., "August 2017-the date of my request," or "January through June of 2016").
We are also hoping to clarify which offices or divisions within the FEC you would like us to search for documents within (e.g., the Public Disclosure and Media Relations Division, the Office of Inspector General, the FOIA Office, or commissioners' offices). If you need assistance identifying particular office or divisions, the FEC's Organizational Chart can be viewed at the following link on our website: https://transition.fec.gov/about/offices/offices.shtml. We currently do not have advanced capability to centrally search for documents agency-wide; therefore, if you wish for such a broad search, your request may be significantly delayed while we collect documents. If you are able to narrow your search to a specific department or area of our program, your search can be conducted more quickly.
You may reply to me to clarify your request via email at ksutphin@fec.gov<mailto:ksutphin@fec.gov> or contact me via phone at (202) 694-1557. If you have any questions or need help deciding how to narrow your request, please feel free to call me. Please note that pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(6)(A)(ii)(I), the period for the FEC to respond to your request will be tolled until we receive a response to this request for clarification.
Sincerely,
Katrina Sutphin
FOIA/PA Attorney
From: Federal Election Commission
June 12, 2018
MuckRock News
C/O Emma Best
requests@muckrock.com<mailto:requests@muckrock.com>
Re: Federal Election Commission Freedom of Information Act Request No. 2018-108
Dear Ms. Best,
According to our records, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) received a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request from you on May 29, 2018. Specifically, you requested:
Copies of all emails containing the terms "MuckRock", "Muck Rock" or "MuckRock.com", excluding emails sent to or from a MuckRock.com email address. Please include the complete email exchange for each email, including any emails that are being replied to as well as any subsequent replies.
The FOIA requires that requests "reasonably describe" the records sought such that an agency employee familiar with the subject area of the request can locate the records with a reasonable amount of effort. See 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(3)(A). We have determined that your request does not adequately describe the records sought, and are therefore unable to process it at this time.
From: Emma North-Best
I am appealing the decision that the request was not reasonably described.
1. Courts have held that just such a request is reasonably described. See attached.
2. The FEC's initial correspondence confirmed that it was, merely that it would be time consuming but that it could be completed.
3. The FEC appears to be using Microsoft Exchange as your email server, which allows the search requested to be performed centrally, such as through the In-Place eDiscovery tool.
4. Per the Department of Justice, " the fact that a FOIA request is very broad or "burdensome" in its magnitude does not, in and of itself, entitle an agency to deny that request on the basis that it does not "reasonably describe" the records sought. The key factor is the ability of an agency's staff to reasonably ascertain exactly which records are being requested and then locate them." According to the government's own clearly spelled out standard, the request is reasonably described.
From: Federal Election Commission
Dear Ms. Best,
This email concerns your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) appeal dated June 14, 2018, which was received in our office on June 20, 2018, challenging the Agency's response to FOIA Request No. 2018-108. The Agency is working to process your appeal, which has been designated as FOIA Appeal 2018-03-A. However, I wanted to explain that the FEC's FOIA Requester Service Center considers FOIA Request 2018-108 to be a pending request, as we have not received a response to the FOIA Service Center's email communications of June 1, 2018 and June 12, 2018 seeking clarification as to scope of your request. The Agency has not yet issued a decision on your initial request because we have not received a response to our correspondence seeking clarification as to the date range(s) for which you are seeking records, and whether there are particular offices or divisions to which we can limit our search for responsive records.
We would like to respond to your FOIA request and provide the records you are seeking as soon as possible. Please call me at (202) 694-1650 at your convenience, so we can discuss your request and see how the FOIA Service Center can best meet your information needs. Thank you for contacting the Federal Election Commission.
Sincerely,
Kate Higginbothom
FEC FOIA Public Liaison
From: Emma North-Best
I'm afraid we'll have to do this by email.
From: Federal Election Commission
VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL
MuckRock News
C/O Emma Best
requests@muckrock.com
Re: Your Freedom of Information Act Request to the Federal Election Commission FOIA [2018-108]
Dear Emma Best,
This email is in response to the request you filed for information under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) dated and received by the Federal Election Commission's (FEC) FOIA Requester Service Center on May 28, 2018. Specifically, you requested:
Copies of all emails containing the terms "MuckRock", "Muck Rock" or "MuckRock.com",
excluding emails sent to or from a MuckRock.com email address. Please include the complete
email exchange for each email, including any emails that are being replied to as well as any
subsequent replies.
We have searched our records and have located responsive documents, which we are releasing in part. Attached to this letter are 233 pages of responsive records the Agency located that are not exempt from disclosure. We have withheld 1,810 pages of responsive records in their entirety under FOIA Exemption B(5). Please note that our response to your request does not include documents or publications publicly available on our website or compilations of publicly available news articles.
Exemption 5 protects from disclosure inter- or intra-agency memoranda or letters that would not be available by law to a party other than an agency in litigation with the agency, including documents covered by the attorney work-product, deliberative process, and attorney-client privileges. See 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(5).
Accordingly, your FOIA request has been granted in part.
You may contact our FOIA Public Liaison, Christine McClarin at (202) 694-1485, for any further assistance and to discuss any aspect of your request. Additionally, you may contact the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) at the National Archives and Records Administration to inquire about the FOIA mediation services they offer. The contact information for OGIS is as follows: Office of Government Information Services, National Archives and Records Administration, 8601 Adelphi Road-OGIS, College Park, Maryland 20740-6001, e-mail at ogis@nara.gov<mailto:ogis@nara.gov>; telephone at 202-741-5770; toll free at 1-877-684-6448; or facsimile at 202-741-5769.
You may appeal any adverse FOIA determination. Any such appeal must be filed in writing and should follow the guidelines set forth in 11 C.F.R. § 4.8. If you have any questions, please contact the FOIA Requester Service Center at FOIA@fec.gov<mailto:FOIA@fec.gov>, or (202) 694-1650.
Sincerely,
Katrina Sutphin
FOIA/PA Attorney
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