Snow White

Emma North-Best filed this request with the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States of America.
Tracking #

1357171-000
Submitted Aug. 30, 2016
Status
Completed

Communications

From: Michael Best

Subject: Freedom of Information Request: Snow White

Email

To Whom It May Concern:

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

Records relating to what has become publicly known as Operation Snow White, which was the Church of Scientology's internal name for a major criminal conspiracy during the 1970s to purge unfavorable records about Scientology and its founder L. Ron Hubbard. As that is an unofficial name, please do not limit your search to that name. This project included a series of infiltrations and thefts from government agencies. It was one of the largest infiltrations of the United States government in history, with up to 5,000 covert agents. United States v. Mary Sue Hubbard et al. Additional information and reference that may be helpful for your search can be found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Snow_White

I am a member of the news media and request classification as such. I have previously written about the Bureau for AND Magazine, MuckRock and Glomar Disclosure.

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: Sobonya, David P. (RMD) (FBI)

Subject: RE: Freedom of Information Request: Snow White

Email

Dear Mr. Best,

The FBI has received your Freedom of Information Act/Privacy (FOIPA) request and it will be forwarded to Initial Processing for review. Your request will be processed under the provisions of FOIPA and a response will be mailed to you at a later date.

Requests for fee waivers and expedited processing will be addressed once your request has been assigned an FOIPA request number. You will receive written notification of the FBI's decision.

Information regarding the Freedom of Information Act/Privacy is available at https://www.fbi.gov<http://www.fbi.gov>/, by clicking on the SERVICES link at the top of the homepage and then click on the Freedom of Information Act/Privacy picture, or the direct link is: https://www.fbi.gov/services/records-management/foia, or by accessing the U. S. Department of Justice at https://www.justice.gov/oip. If you require additional assistance please contact us at foipaquestions@ic.fbi.gov.

Thank you,

David P. Sobonya
Public Information Officer/GIS
Record/Information Dissemination Section (RIDS)
FBI-Records Management Division
170 Marcel Drive, Winchester, VA 22602-4843
Ofc: (540) 868-4593
Direct: (540) 868-4286
Fax: (540) 868-4391/4997

From: Federal Bureau of Investigation

Subject: None

Mail (Postmarked Sept. 12, 2016)

An acknowledgement letter, stating the request is being processed.

From: Federal Bureau of Investigation

Subject: None

Mail (Postmarked Nov. 16, 2016)

A no responsive documents response.

From: Michael Best

Subject: None

Mail

I am appealing the integrity of the search. It's well known that this matter was investigated by the Bureau, and the search was not reasonably calculated to locate those records. I also identified several people involved in the matter, yet no effort was made to locate these records. In addition to cross-reference searches, case law requires the Bureau to contact former personnel to aid in locating the requested files. This was not done, nor was anything else that was reasonably calculated to locate the records. Instead, only a partial, incomplete, inadequate and incompetent search was performed.

From: OIP-NoReply@usdoj.gov

Subject: FOIA appeal received

Email

12/14/2016 04:41 PM FOIA Request: DOJ-AP-2017-001196

From: OIP-NoReply@usdoj.gov

Subject: Final Disposition, Appeal DOJ-AP-2017-000412

Email

DOJ-AP-2017-000412 has been processed with the following final disposition: Closed for other reasons -- Other -- Moot.

From: Michael Best

Subject: None

Mail

I am resubmitting this appeal as it appears you may have processed the wrong appeal before.

I am appealing the integrity of the search. It's well known that this matter was investigated by the Bureau, and the search was not reasonably calculated to locate those records. I also identified several people involved in the matter, yet no effort was made to locate these records. In addition to cross-reference searches, case law requires the Bureau to contact former personnel to aid in locating the requested files. This was not done, nor was anything else that was reasonably calculated to locate the records. Instead, only a partial, incomplete, inadequate and incompetent search was performed.

From: OIP-NoReply@usdoj.gov

Subject: Final Disposition, Appeal DOJ-AP-2017-001196

Email

DOJ-AP-2017-001196 has been processed with the following final disposition: Affirmed on Appeal -- Duplicate request or appeal.

  • Best, Michael, AP-2017-001196 & 001711, FBI - Remand for Search & Dupl

From: Federal Bureau of Investigation

Subject: None

Mail (Postmarked April 21, 2017)

A letter stating that the request appeal has been received and is being processed.

From: Federal Bureau of Investigation

Subject: None

Mail (Postmarked Aug. 10, 2017)

A copy of documents responsive to the request.

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