MuckRock emails (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs)
It is a clone of this request.
| Tracking # |
18-08242-F |
| 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:
Ms. Best,
This email acknowledges receipt of your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) dated May 29, 2018, in which you are seeking the information stated in your email below.
The FOIA Service received your request on May 29, 2018, and assigned it FOIA tracking numbers 18-08242-F. Please refer to this number when communicating with the VA about this request.
Your request is too broad, in order to process your request we need clarification as to which office, the subject matter and a timeframe for us to do a thorough search of the records you are requesting. Please respond within 10 days of this email, until then your request will be placed on hold.
We appreciate your interest in the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Sincerely,
Jacqueline (Jackie) Short
VACO FOIA Service (005R1C)
Office of Privacy Information and Identity Protection (PIIP)
Quality, Privacy, and Risk (QPR)
Office of Information and Technology (OI&T)
Office: (202) 632-7426
Fax: (202) 632-7581
FOIA Service Hotline: 1-877-750-3642
Please take a moment and let us know how we did by completing a quick evaluation: Got a minute? Rate Our Service!<https://vaww.vashare.oit.va.gov/sites/QPR/Lists/QPR%20Customer%20Satisifaction%20Evaluation/Item/newifs.aspx>
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QPR’s Mission Statement:
“To instill and promote a culture of quality, privacy and risk management in collaboration with our business partners to enable a better Veteran experience.”
___________________________________________________________________________________________
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From: Emma North-Best
The request is more than adequately described, as I have provided the exact terms required. Your request for the office (all of them), the time frame (all of it) and the subject matter (already more than clear due to the precise search terms provided). A system wide email search is more than possible, and courts have recently held that just such a request is reasonably described and compelled agency compliance.
Please process the request. Thanks!!
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on May 29, 2018. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #18-08242-F.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From:
Ms. Best,
Your request requires VA to search over 476,000 mailboxes, some that will have to be broken down into groups of less than 25,000. Then once the search is done I will have to review each email for release. How long will it take, I can’t say. I can say that we are working on it now and I will get back with you if we run unto any problems.
Sincerely,
Jacqueline (Jackie) Short
VACO FOIA Service (005R1C)
Office of Privacy Information and Identity Protection (PIIP)
Quality, Privacy, and Risk (QPR)
Office of Information and Technology (OI&T)
Office: (202) 632-7426
Fax: (202) 632-7581
FOIA Service Hotline: 1-877-750-3642
Please take a moment and let us know how we did by completing a quick evaluation: Got a minute? Rate Our Service!<https://vaww.vashare.oit.va.gov/sites/QPR/Lists/QPR%20Customer%20Satisifaction%20Evaluation/Item/newifs.aspx>
[cid:image001.png@01D3A63F.FC6D0530]
QPR’s Mission Statement:
“To instill and promote a culture of quality, privacy and risk management in collaboration with our business partners to enable a better Veteran experience.”
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image001
From:
A fix is required to perfect the request.
From:
Good morning,
Please see the attached letter concerning your FOIA request to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Thank you,
Jacqueline (Jackie) Short
VACO FOIA Service (005R1C)
Office of Privacy Information and Identity Protection (PIIP)
Quality, Privacy, and Risk (QPR)
Office of Information and Technology (OI&T)
Email: vacofoiase@va.gov<mailto:vacofoiase@va.gov>
Office: (202) 632-7426
Fax: (202) 632-7581
FOIA Service Hotline: 1-877-750-3642
Please take a moment and let us know how we did by completing a quick evaluation: Got a minute? Rate Our Service!<https://vaww.vashare.oit.va.gov/sites/QPR/Lists/QPR%20Customer%20Satisifaction%20Evaluation/Item/newifs.aspx>
[cid:image001.png@01D3A63F.FC6D0530]
QPR’s Mission Statement:
“To instill and promote a culture of quality, privacy and risk management in collaboration with our business partners to enable a better Veteran experience.”
-
image001
From: Emma North-Best
Case law is explicitly on my side - the request is reasonably described.
From:
Ms. Best,
We are in receipt of your latest email dated July 30, 2018, in which you provided a Case 1:14-cv-00997-KBJ Document 45 Filed 02/28/18, MuckRock LLC v. Central Intelligence Agency. However, the case you attached as an example of emails, cites specific offices Director or Deputy Director for the 4 quarters of 2013, which is specific enough for a search. The VACO FOIA Office asserts that your request for emails for the offices (all of them), the time frame (all of it), for any emails that contain "MuckRock", "Muck Rock" or "MuckRock.com", excluding emails sent to or from a MuckRock.com email address, is too broad.
Based on the parameters above, a search of this nature would result in the majority being no records, as the search would include all VA personnel, to include medical staff, custodians, etc., additionally a request of this type with no dates to search, is much to extensive.
If you could please contact me at the below number I would be happy to discuss with you.
Ms. Doloras Johnson
VA FOIA Service-Office of Privacy Information and Identity Protection (PIIP)
Quality, Privacy, and Risk (QPR)
Office of Information and Technology (OIT)
Phone: 202-632-7233
Fax: 202-632-7581
Hotline: 1-877-750-3642
[cid:image001.jpg@01D39F28.CE861BC0]
QPR’s Mission Statement:
“To instill and promote a culture of quality, privacy and risk management in collaboration with our business partners to enable a better Veteran experience.”
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From: Emma North-Best
You may limit the search to January 1, 2010 through the present. Even if, arguendo, it did require an individual search by each staff member, such a search would take virtually no time. As you say, many would find no records - meaning they would perform three searches in less than a minute, and be done with the matter. This amount of time is trivial, and not "to [sic] extensive." Again, this is only arguendo assuming your agency doesn't have eDiscovery tools (which would be a bizarre decision to technologically cripple yourselves).
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on May 29, 2018. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response. You had assigned it reference number #18-08242-F.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From:
The request has been rejected by the agency.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on May 29, 2018. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response. You had assigned it reference number #18-08242-F.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From:
Good morning:
Please see the attached document concerning your FOIA request to the Department of Veterans Affairs FOIA Service Center.
VACO FOIA Service
Quality, Privacy, and Risk (QPR)
Office of Information and Technology (OI&T)
Fax: (202) 632-7581
vacofoiaservice@va.gov<mailto:vacofoiaservice@va.gov>
FOIA Service Hotline: 1-877-750-3642
Please take a moment and let us know how we did by completing a quick evaluation: Got a minute? Rate Our Service!<https://vaww.vashare.oit.va.gov/sites/QPR/Lists/QPR%20Customer%20Satisifaction%20Evaluation/Item/newifs.aspx>
[cid:image001.png@01D3A63F.FC6D0530]
QPR’s Mission Statement:
“To instill and promote a culture of quality, privacy and risk management in collaboration with our business partners to enable a better Veteran experience.”
-
image001
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