Parallel Construction Cases (DEA)

To Whom It May Concern:

This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request any and all records:

indicating the case name, docket number, and court of any and all criminal prosecutions, past or present, that involved a 'tip' deriving from NSA surveillance.

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I request that the search be of, but not limited to, the offices of the Special Operations Division, the Operations Division, the Intelligence Division, and the Office of Chief Counsel. In August 2013, Reuters reported that the DEA's Special Operations Division distributes tips from NSA surveillances to federal, state, and local law enforcement agents for use in their domestic criminal investigations. See http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/05/us-dea-sod-idUSBRE97409R20130805.

Identifying which criminal prosecutions involved those tips is critical to our system of justice. Myriad judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys have stressed that without knowing whether an investigation involved NSA surveillance, defendants might be shielded from what they are legally entitled to: exculpatory evidence and the opportunity to challenge the constitutionality of surveillance deployed in their cases. Id.; see Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 87 (1963); Klayman v. Obama, No. 13–0881(RJL), 2013 WL 6598728 (D.D.C. Dec. 16, 2013).

Moreover, in failing to disclose this information, the Government circumvents Congress's wish that a defendant be on notice when NSA surveillance is involved in his criminal prosecution. 50 U.S.C. § 1806.

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I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as I believe this request is in the public interest. 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.

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 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,

Avinash Samarth

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Sept. 25, 2014. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #14-00740-F.

Thank you for your help.