Shaun L.S. Donovan email search (HUD)
| Submitted | Nov. 29, 2010 |
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Communications
From: Jason Smathers
To Whom It May Concern:
This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request the following records:
All emails and corresponding attachments sent to (to:, cc: or bcc:) or from Shaun L.S. Donovan (or any person who communicates on his behalf) where the email contains any of the following keywords in the subject or body: "just between us" "breach" "big trouble" "too late" "stupid" "bad company" "perception issue" "the real objective" "very slippery slope" or "true disaster". Limit responsive emails to those sent between 01/20/2009 and the date this request is processed. If he does not use email, expand the search to all methods of communication which he does use.
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,
Jason Smathers
Filed via MuckRock.com
185 Beacon St. #3
Somerville, MA 02143
Daytime: (857) 488- 3081
E-mail: requests@muckrock.com
From: Department of Housing and Urban Development
From: Jason Smathers
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Freedom of Information Act Appeal
Senior Counsel, Office of General Counsel
Portals Building, Suite 200
1250 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20024
(202) 708-2568
March 9, 2011
HUD Senior Counsel,
I hereby submit this Freedom of Information Act Appeal to you. I
appeal the assessment of fees contained in a letter signed by Vicky J.
Lewis, dated February 9, 2011 and having FOIA Control Numbers
11-FI-HQ-00567 and FI-485098 which were noted as received on November
29, 2010.
My FOIA request was for emails to or from a specific person,
containing specific keywords. Vicky J. Lewis has asked that I pay
$10,500 in advance to process this request.
In a previous request, HUD attempted to charge $8,500 for a similar
search. Upon appeal, the request was remanded and responsive records
are still anticipated. See FOIA Control Numbers 10-FI-HQ-02522 and
FI-484146
Ms. Lewis incorrectly determined that my request falls under the fee
category of other requestor. I appeal. I make this request with the
intention to turn the responsive records into a distinct work using my
editorial skills. I have an agreement with MuckRock to publish an
article concerning HUD. MuckRock has published my news articles in the
past. MuckRock has the proven ability to distribute work to an
audience. Please bill me according to the news media fee category.
Furthermore, Ms. Lewis incorrectly is requiring the payment of search
fees which are exempt for news media requestors. See the first
paragraph of her letter which states “This assessment of fees is based
upon direct contractor costs. Please be advised that under provision
24 CFR 15.110(k), HUD has the authority to contract private sector
sources to ***search for responsive documents*** and pass through the
contractor costs even if the costs are higher than the charges HUD
would have charged.” Emphasis added.
HUD does not have the authority to circumvent the Freedom of
Information Act’s fee requirements which state “fees shall be limited
to reasonable standard charges for document duplication when records
are not sought for commercial use and the request is made by an
educational or noncommercial scientific institution, whose purpose is
scholarly or scientific research; or a representative of the news
media” which prohibits charging search fees for news media requestors.
Nor does HUD have the authority to charge for the first 100 pages of
a news media request, even when processed by a private sector source.
Even if I were an “other requestor”, the first two hours must be
waived even if the search is done by an outside contractor.
Furthermore, $10,500 is not a reasonable fee. From experience and
belief, a search of an e-mail box for specific keywords is a routine
operation. Copying the responsive records to CD is also a routine
operation. This same FOIA request has been completed by other offices
for no charge, as it has not met the minimum fee requirements. When
determining the fee to copy the records, the fee should be reasonable.
No HUD policy can allow for a fee in violation of the Freedom of
Information Act requiring fees to provide only for the recovery of
direct costs.
Furthermore, the FOIA as amended in 2007 does not permit the charging
of fees for requests which fail to meet a deadline. The twenty day
deadline for this request has passed. HUD did not request an
extension. Even if an extension were requested, more than 30 days have
passed. For this reason, no search fees can be charged even if I am
considered an “other requestor” furthermore, if my appeal on this
matter is successful as I would expect no search or duplication fees
are allowed for a news media requestor.
Please instruct Ms. Lewis to process this request without charging for
search fees. As stated in my initial request, I agree to up to $30 in
fees to cover a reasonable standard charge for duplicating the
responsive records past the first one hundred pages.
Regards,
/s/Jason Smathers
From: Housing and Urban Development
From: Jason Smathers
Carole W. Wilson,
I am writing in response to your letter seeking further clarification concerning FOIA Control Numbers 11-FI-HQ-00567 and FI-485098.
Attached you will find a letter from MuckRock agreeing to publish an article written by myself concerning HUD.
You asked for specific information about my professional journalistic use of the information. I intend to take the information responsive to this request and use my editorial skills to turn it into a unique work then publish it to an audience on MuckRock.com.
My request is for emails having a match from a list of keywords. The list of keywords was developed considering the work of the agents who investigated Lehman Brothers. The results are expected to show problems in HUD that Shaun L.S. Donovan was aware of.
You also requested examples of previously published work. You can view any story on www.witnessesuntome.com. Look at the news media items on this site by selecting news from the menu. Furthermore, you will find two articles penned by myself on MuckRock.com. These articles along with my agreement with MuckRock.com demonstrate a solid basis for my work to be published.
Best Regards,
Jason Smathers
From: Department of Housing And Urban Development
From: Department of Housing And Urban Development
From: Jason Smathers
You state that my request is too broad, I appeal.
You first attempted to charge me $10,000 in search fees and mentioned nothing about the request being too broad. You were willing to process the request fro $10,000. After HUD general council remanded this request to you for processing granting the news media fee benefit, you stated my request is too broad. I appeal. This is an obvious further attempt to avoid processing a simple request.
I have asked for emails to or from a specific person having specific keywords in the emails. This is a very specific request and can be handled with a single simple computer search of these electronic records. My request is very specific and I appeal your determination that it is too broad.
Please quit playing games and process this request as required by the Freedom of Information Act.
From: Jason Smathers
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Nov. 29, 2010. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thank you for your help.
From: Jason Smathers
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Nov. 29, 2010. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thank you for your help.
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 Nov. 29, 2010. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thank you for your help.
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 Nov. 29, 2010. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thank you for your help.
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 Nov. 29, 2010. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thank you for your help.
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 Nov. 29, 2010. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thank you for your help.
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 Nov. 29, 2010. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thank you for your help.
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 Nov. 29, 2010. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thank you for your help.
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 Nov. 29, 2010. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thank you for your help.
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 Nov. 29, 2010. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thank you for your help.
From: Department of Housing and Urban Development
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