Servicemaster and American Home Shield

To Whom It May Concern:

This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request the following records:

All correspondence, however formal or informal, with the entities American Home Shield and Servicemaster, over the date range January 1, 2014 until the date of this request.

This includes any subpoenas or civil investigative demands that the SEC issued to either company. This also necessarily includes any communications or responses sent from either company to the SEC. If any investigation is closed, exemption 7(A), the exemption about anticipated enforcement actions (often referred to as the "investigation" exemption), does not apply here. That’s because exemption 7(A) can only be used when there is a “reasonable expectation of enforcement proceedings.” In the event of an investigation that is now closed, there is by definition zero expectation of enforcement proceedings. I would also caution you against using exemption 5 (in which is contained the exemption for “predecisional-delibarative" material) material in a too-broad manner. This exemption can only apply in cases of opinion being rendered by a government staff member. In other words, any piece of information that is a statement of fact and not a statement of opinion cannot be redacted under exemption 5. Lastly, we remind you of your burden to redact pieces of information and not to withhold entire pages on which exempt material may appear. This burden of yours is well outlined in caselaw.

The requested documents will be made available to the public via a publicly-accessible subscriber base. And as our media company produces and sells only written articles that do not make recommendations, we have consistently been maintained as a media requester by the FTC and DOJ. Because of the public-informing function of our work, the FOIA provides that companies like any other non-exclusive media company. Also like any other media company, the public’s right to know about the functions of its government outweighs any “corporate” interest in the information The individual requester is a journalist working for a media outlet accredited by the Periodical Press Gallery of the United States Senate and House of Representatives. The FTC and DOJ also maintain the status of our publication—the Capitol Forum—as “media requester” under FOIA.

If you intend to acknowledge receipt of this request or give me an internal tracking number, please do so via the same means used to communicate this request to you. (For instance, a reply to the original email.)

We would prefer that any questions about the request be asked via the same communication method. However, if you need to explain or ask something complicated, you may call us at 202-813-1032, extension 120. We will memorialize phone conversations via email afterward. Do not send paper mail to Muckrock in Massachusetts at any address included in boilerplate below. Any paper mail that you need to send should be sent to my Washington, DC address included below. But again, I strongly prefer that a digital communication is sent instead of, or concurrently with, any paper mail.

In the event that there are fees, please inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically--by e-mail attachment, or if the response is too large, direct download link or mailed CD-ROM.

If mailing a CD, please alert us of this fact via reply email (so we know to wait on the post), and send the CD to:

c/o Brandon Smith
The Capitol Forum
1233 20th St NW #301
Washington, DC 20036

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,

Brandon Smith
Correspondent
The Capitol Forum