Randinvestigation
It is a clone of this request.
| Tracking # |
20-18908 |
| Submitted | Jan. 17, 2020 |
| Est. Completion | None |
MuckRock users can file, duplicate, track, and share public records requests like this one. Learn more.
Communications
From: Emma North-Best
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:
Records relating to the investigation of a leak at Rand, presumably relating to Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers. The existence of this probe has been previously disclosed, including in the attached document from Judiciary Committee Hearings: Statement of Information Submitted on Behalf of President Nixon, Book IV - White House Surveillance Activities.
Background: In response to a previous FOIA request to FBI, the Bureau claimed to find well over 40,000 potentially responsive pages which OIP then claimed were already released and in the public domain (see attached). No mention was made of documents having been transferred to NARA and no obvious references to the documents appears on NARA's website. This FOIA is aimed primarily at determining what "public domain" records have already been released on the matter (outside of the Congressional reports, the Watergate FBI file and the declassified copies of the Pentagon Papers themselves), though it is also intended to include previously unreleased documents.
A quick initial response and rough estimate of potentially responsive pages would be greatly appreciated, as the matter is likely be largely moot and it is expected that it will involve minimal processing of documents for release. It will also inform decisions about filing a lawsuit against FBI/DOJ over the matter.
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:
This is an automated reply to inform you that the National Archives and Records Administration received your e-mail.
We have received your request and will respond within 20 working days. Please note that submitting duplicate requests will increase wait times.
If you have any questions, you can call our office at 301-837-3190. You can also visit our web page at www.archives.gov/research/foia.
Thank you.
From: National Archives And Records Administration – Archival Or Special Access
Dear Ms. Best,
This is in response to your January 17, 2020 Freedom of Information Act
request (20-18908) to the National Archives and Records Administration
related to "the investigation of a leak at Rand, presumably relating to
Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers." Your request was received by our unit on
January 22, 2020.
The information provided is not enough for us to locate the presumed 40,000
pages that are NOT the Congressional reports, the Watergate FBI file, and
the declassified copies of the Pentagon Papers themselves, nor do we have a
list of those "previously unreleased documents;" further, we did not
understand the FBI's response as suggesting that these pages were
transferred to the National Archives. If responsive records of the FBI were
in our custody, the FBI would have provided the responsive case file
designators to in its response.
We did conduct a search of our holdings and located one
potentially response series (Record Group 60, Entry UD 08D 7, *Files
Relating to Daniel Ellsberg and the "Pentagon Papers", 1981 - 1983*) and
will refer to NARA's FOIA unit for further processing of this series.
We do not consider this response a denial under the Freedom of Information
Act because we cannot determine without more specific information whether
the records you have requested exist. However, if you are not satisfied
with our action on this request, your options for appeal and dispute
resolution are outlined in the attached enclosure. This concludes the
processing of your request.
Sincerely,
--
Haley J Maynard | archivist
Textual Reference
National Archives at College Park, MD
From: Emma North-Best
Hi,
Thanks so much for your help with this request! I really appreciate it.
Sincerely,
Emma Best
Files
pages