Rick Perry Energy
| Tracking # |
HQ-2017-00299-F |
| Submitted | Dec. 16, 2016 |
| Est. Completion | None |
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Communications
From: Michael Best
To Whom It May Concern:
This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request the following records:
Records from 2015 and 2016 relating to or mentioning Rick Perry, including communications received from or sent to Mr. Perry, as well as emails mentioning him.
I am a member of the news media and request classification as such. I have previously written about the government and its activities for AND Magazine, MuckRock and Glomar Disclosure and have an open arrangement with each. My articles have been widely read, with some reaching over 100,000 readers. As such, as I have a reasonable expectation of publication and my editorial and writing skills are well established. In addition, I discuss and comment on the files online and make them available through the non-profit Internet Archive, 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.
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,
Michael Best
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Dec. 16, 2016. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Ruda, Anjelica M. (CONTR)
Good Afternoon Mr. Best,
I am the analyst assigned to your Department of Energy FOIA request for:
"Records from 2015 and 2016 relating to or mentioning Rick Perry, including communications received from or sent to Mr. Perry, as well as emails mentioning him."
We have previously received similar requests that fit your time frame. Would you be interested in accepting the document released in those requests in response to your request? The documents would be concerning:
1.) The correspondence logs from a search of the Office of the Executive Secretariat Electronic Document Online Correspondence and Concurrence System (eDOCS) for Rick Perry. The documents released in response to this request will also be released to you in response to your request. The eDOCS system tracks all formal correspondence to and from the Offices of the Secretary, Deputy Secretary, and Under Secretaries of Energy, and is where records of such correspondence are likely to be found. Then any correspondence of interest from the subject logs may be requested by submitting a new FOIA request for any specific item(s) using the eDOCS control number(s).
2.) A search of electronic correspondence for the following accounts:
-the secretary for DOE
-the deputy secretary
-the chief of staff
-the associate deputy secretary
-the head of the Southwestern Power Administration
-Under Secretary for Science and Energy
-Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
-Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy
With emails to or from:
-Rick Perry
-Brandy Marty
-Brian Newby
-Jay Kimbrough
-Ray Sullivan
Please let me know if these records would satisfy your request.
Thank you,
Anjelica Ruda, Esq.
Central Research, Contractor to the
U.S. Department of Energy
1000 Independence Ave., SW
Washington, DC 20585
202-586-1355
From: Michael Best
No, I am not interested in limiting the scope of my request. Process it as is.
From: Ruda, Anjelica M. (CONTR)
Good Morning Mr. Best,
Thank you for your response. In order to perform the search then, I will need to discuss with you what e-mail accounts you request searched along with a couple other points. Please give me a call at 202-586-1355 or let me know a number and time I can reach you at.
Thank you,
Anjelica Ruda
From: Michael Best
All email accounts, as this process is entirely possible and explicitly does NOT meet the standard for "unreasonable and burdensome search" per both statute and case law.
Further, I do not communicate by phone. If you wish to get me to reduce the scope of my request, which I will not do, or to tell me that the search is impossible (which it is not) or not required by law (which it is) then you shall to do so in writing, where it shall be memorialized indefinitely and put on public display along with my other FOIA requests filed through MuckRock and all associated correspondence.
Thanks!
From: Ruda, Anjelica M. (CONTR)
Good Afternoon Mr. Best,
To quickly and efficiently process your request, I need your assistance.
To conduct an efficient search, we need the names of the relevant custodians and/or program offices. Please provide the names of the DOE custodians and/or program offices which you would like searched.
Suggestions of searches would be: senior officials in the Office of Management or the Office of the Executive Secretariat. These would be examples of efficient searches and where records of such requested correspondence are likely to be found.
Please respond with which suggestion meets your needs.
Thank you,
Anjelica Ruda
-
~WRD000
From: Michael Best
Please search the accounts of senior officials in the Office of Management and the Office of the Executive Secretariat as well as the secretary for DOE, the deputy secretary, the chief of staff, the associate deputy secretary, the head of the Southwestern Power Administration, Under Secretary for Science and Energy, Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy with emails to or from Rick Perry, Brandy Marty, Brian Newby, Jay Kimbrough, Ray Sullivan per your suggestion.
Thank you for your help with this.
From: Ruda, Anjelica M. (CONTR)
Great, thank you for your response.
Anjelica Ruda
-
~WRD000
From: Ruda, Anjelica M. (CONTR)
Dear Mr. Best,
Attached is a copy of the interim letter for your Department of Energy FOIA request HQ-2017-00299-F.
Thank you,
Anjelica Ruda, Esq.
Central Research, Contractor to the
U.S. Department of Energy
1000 Independence Ave., SW
Washington, DC 20585
202-586-1355
From: Marti Ayers
Mr. Best:
Please find your final response to the above FOIA request. If you have questions, please feel free to contact me at the number/email below.
Marti Ayers
Paralegal Specialist / FOIA Officer | Office of General Counsel
Southwestern Power Administration
marti.ayers@swpa.gov<mailto:Marti.Ayers@swpa.gov> | Office 918-595-6609
1 W 3rd St, Suite 1600, Tulsa, OK 74103
Attorney Work Product Privileged Document/ Attorney-Client Privileged Communication: This electronic transmission is intended only for the person(s) named above. It may contain information that is confidential and protected from disclosure by the attorney-client privilege and/or work product doctrine or exempt from disclosure under other applicable laws. Any use, distribution, copying or other disclosure by any other person is strictly prohibited. Do not forward or re-transmit without the permission of the sender or the Office of General Counsel, Southwestern Power Administration. If you have received this transmission in error, please notify the sender at the number or e-mail address above.
From: Ruda, Anjelica M. (CONTR)
Dear Mr. Best,
We received the email search results back from for your Department of Energy FOIA request HQ-2017-00299-F. I attached the interim letter for reference. The only responsive document we received back was a campaign blast email from Ricky Perry on behalf of a U.S. House of Representative soliciting campaign contributions. This was to Secretary's Moniz public email address. Would you be willing to waive this document as responsive to your request?
We are almost finished the review process for the other portion of your request for the edocs log of correspondence to or from Rick Perry and should be able to release this to you in the next couple of weeks since it has already gone through the review process for another request.
It would be helpful if you would waive the campaign email blast, as the remaining document has already been through the review process and no new documents would need to be reviewed to finish processing your request. I also do not believe this is the type of responsive document you were looking for.
Please reply with confirmation if you are agreeable to waiving this document or let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you,
Anjelica Ruda
From: Ruda, Anjelica M. (CONTR)
Good Morning Mr. Best,
We have still not received a response from you for the below e-mail. Please respond to the below email if you are still interested in this request. If we do not receive a response from you by May 29, 2017, we will assume you are no longer interested in this matter and close this request.
You can give me a call at 202-586-1355 if you would like to discuss further.
Thank you,
Anjelica Ruda
From: Emma Best
Sorry, I just now saw your response. Yes, I'm fine with excluding the email blast. If that's the only thing that turned up, then closure is the correct move.
Thanks for your help, and sorry again for my delay in responding.
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