Temple of Set

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 http://www.fbi.gov<http://www.fbi.gov>/, http://www.fbi.gov/foia/ or http://www.justice.gov/oip. If you require additional assistance please contact the Public Information Officer.

Thank you,

Holly Early
Public Liaison/GIS
Record/Information Dissemination Section (RIDS)
FBI-Records Management Division
170 Marcel Drive, Winchester, VA 22602-4843
PIO: (540) 868-4593
Direct: (540) 868-4854
Fax: (540) 868-4391/4997
E-mail: foiparequest@ic.fbi.gov<mailto:foiparequest@ic.fbi.gov>
Questions E-mail: foipaquestions@ic.fbi.gov<mailto:foipaquestions@ic.fbi.gov>

Do you have further questions about the FOI/PA process? Visit us at http://www.fbi.gov/foia

Please check the status of your request online at http://www.fbi.gov/foia by clicking on the CHECK STATUS OF YOUR FOI/PA REQUEST under the FOIA INDEX located on the right side of the page. Status updates are performed on a weekly basis.

An interim response, stating the request is being processed.

An interim response, stating the request is being processed.

A letter stating the requester must agree to or prepay assessed or estimated fees in order for the agency to continue processing the request.

Dear Mr. Best,

Please check the status of your FOIPA Request at http://www.fbi.gov and access the (Freedom of Information Act) link at the bottom of the page, or http://www.fbi.gov/foia, or https://vault.fbi.gov/fdps-1/@@search-fdps, and follow the instructions below.

Check the Status of Your FOIPA Request
If your FOIPA Number is [1195846-0] please enter [1195846-000] into the system. If your FOIPA Number is [1195846-1] please enter [1195846-001] into the system. If you have any questions about the status of your FOIPA request, please e-mail foipaquestions@ic.fbi.gov.

FIND STATUS OF FOIPA- LAST UPDATED ON June 1, 2016

Please enter the whole FOIPA number-Example: [1234567-000]

FOIPA:
Results will show the Request Number, Case Type and Process Description shown below:
FOIPA:
1234567-000
Case Type:
FOIPA
Process Description (Will display the current progress of the request)
The FBI's FOIPA Program is searching the FBI's indices for potentially responsive documents.
You may be contacted via formal letter for all fees and/or negotiation issues that may apply.
NOTE: Recent requests are entered into the FOIPA database in the order that they are received. Before you can check the status, you must have received correspondence assigning a FOIPA request number and the information transferred to the online database. Status information is updated weekly. If a request has been closed within the last six months the online database will display the following: The FOIPA number entered has been closed, and appropriate correspondence has been sent to the address on file.

Thank you,

Holly Early
Public Liaison/GIS
Record/Information Dissemination Section (RIDS)
FBI-Records Management Division
170 Marcel Drive, Winchester, VA 22602-4843
PIO: (540) 868-4593
Direct: (540) 868-4854
Fax: (540) 868-4391/4997
E-mail: foiparequest@ic.fbi.gov
Questions E-mail: foipaquestions@ic.fbi.gov

Do you have further questions about the FOI/PA process? Visit us at http://www.fbi.gov/foia

Please check the status of your request online at http://www.fbi.gov/foia by clicking on the CHECK STATUS OF YOUR FOI/PA REQUEST under the FOIA INDEX located on the right side of the page. Status updates are performed on a weekly basis.

Hi Michael,

Another of your requests has come up in the negotiation queue. You probably recall that the FBI located approximately 5996 pages on this one. Anything specific you're looking for?
Best,
Becki

Rebecca Bronson
Records Management Division
Federal Bureau of Investigation
540-868-1695

Sorry to hear that. Will pass it along.
Best,
Becki

Hi Michael,

I know you said that you weren't interested in narrowing the scope on this one, but I would like to ask you to reconsider. Looking the file over, your subject appears only a handful of times. Would you be willing to possibly reduce the scope of the request to those instances and perhaps the first and last 25 pages of the file?

Please let me know.

Thanks much,
Becki

Rebecca Bronson
Records Management Division
Federal Bureau of Investigation
540-868-1695

No worries. This file deals with a child molestation case. As you can imagine, there is a large amount of third-party information pertaining to the victims, which would be exempt from disclosure. My honest recommendation would be to process the documents in which the subject organization is mentioned, then take another set as a comparison. We could do a date range, if you prefer, but if you are interested in the organization itself, it would make best sense to take a sample from the beginning and end of the file, I would think. Either way is fine, though.
Best,
Becki

Hi Michael,

That’s good to know – thanks for sharing that. It’s helpful to know what people’s research interests are. From a FOIA perspective, however, because the subject organization is mentioned so few times in the file, when it’s processed, I suspect that the documents in which the subject isn’t mentioned will be scoped out anyway. I just wanted to save you the headache of waiting so long then not getting much when it does get processed. And that’s why I suggested taking the documents in which the subject is mentioned and a sample from the beginning and end of the file, or by date range.
Best,
Becki

Hi Michael,

I understand your misunderstanding. ☺ Let me try to explain. Hopefully this will help. If it still doesn’t make sense, please consider giving me a call (540-868-1695). The subject of 1346536 is the organization, Temple of Set. The bulk of the file doesn’t deal with the organization itself, but the child molestation case. Given that distinction, information not pertaining to the organization itself would be scoped out. Does that make sense?

Again, please consider giving me a call. Sometimes it’s easier to chat.
Best,
Becki

Hi Michael,

Hope you had a good holiday and sorry for the delay in response. To answer your question, there are basically two avenues. We can process the entire file (with redactions applied as appropriate) or scope it down to the pages where the organization is mentioned and a comparison set if you’d like. If we scope it down like we had discussed, you’ll get it much faster. Or we can keep it the way it is. Either way is fine. Just know that it will take a lot longer to process at 5,996 pages than if it were scoped down. And it will cost more (the $175 quoted in the cost letter) .

Take care and talk with you soon,
Becki

Sounds like a plan – have a good weekend.

Good morning Ms. Best,

This is in reference to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request # 1346536 for FBI records concerning the Temple of Set. We are reaching out to you to determine if you are still interested in these records, or, if at this time, you would consider reducing the size of your request from 5,997 pages to under 950 pages, which will move the request to the medium track. Reducing the size of your request may accelerate the processing and allow for a more timely receipt of the information you seek, as it could potentially place your request into a smaller, faster processing track. This may also reduce duplication costs, if applicable. Currently, there is a significant time involved in processing large track cases.

Requests are processed in the order in which they are received through our multi-track processing system, and the FBI receives a voluminous amount of requests on a daily, weekly, monthly, and annual basis. Requests are divided into two primary tracks -simple (under 50 pages of potentially responsive documents) and complex (over 50 pages of potentially responsive documents). Complex requests are further divided into medium (51-949 pages), (large 950-8000 pages), and extra-large (over 8,000 pages) sub-tracks are based upon request size.

Please contact me with regards to this inquiry to let me know if you are still interested in receiving records for this request either in full (the remaining records), or reducing the request to the medium track (not to exceed 949 pages). If you reduce the size, you can request the additional records with a new FOIA request upon completion of this one.

Thank you for your time and patience. We hope to hear from you over the next few days so we can discuss these options.

Best regards,

FOIA Negotiation Team
FBI Information Management Division
540-868-1695

Need a status check? Contact FOIPA Questions (foipaquestions@fbi.gov).

Good morning Ms. Best,

We hadn't heard back from you and just wanted to follow up.

Best regards,

FOIA Negotiation Team
FBI Information Management Division
540-868-1695

Need a status check? Contact FOIPA Questions (foipaquestions@fbi.gov).

Good morning Ms. Best,

Thank you for your response. We will process your request in the manner in which you have requested.
Best regards,

FOIA Negotiation Team
FBI Information Management Division
540-868-1695

Good morning Ms. Best,

All of the pages are contained in one field office file, dating from 1987. Might you be willing to reduce the request to up to the first 950 pages of the main section of the file?

Please let us know.

Thank you again for your consideration of our request.
Best regards,

FOIA Negotiation Team
FBI Information Management Division
540-868-1695

Thanks for letting us know.
Best regards,

FOIA Negotiation Team
FBI Information Management Division
540-868-1695

A cover letter granting the request and outlining any exempted materials, if any.

A copy of documents responsive to the request.

A copy of documents responsive to the request.

This message is to notify you of a new appeal submission to the FOIAonline application. Appeal information is as follows:
* Appeal Tracking Number: DOJ-AP-2019-004301
* Request Tracking Number: 1346536
* Requester Name: Michael Best
* Date Submitted: 04/25/2019
* Appeal Status: Submitted
* Description: FBI Appeal

DOJ-AP-2019-004301 has been processed with the following final disposition: Affirmed on Appeal.
Given the nature of this request, some records are only being released to you as the requester. If you have an account in FOIAonline, you may access those records by [FOIAONLINE_HOME]. Otherwise, those responsive records will be sent via the method agreed upon with the FOIA processor.