Todashev shooting 60-day report FBI to CRD (Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division)

To Whom It May Concern:

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

The 60-day inquiry report and all supporting documents submitted by the FBI to the CRD following the shooting death of Ibragim Todashev.

Such a 60-day inquiry report is required under the MOU between the FBI and CRD outlining FBI reporting requirements for shooting death incidents (available online here: https://www.muckrock.com/foi/united-states-of-america-10/fbi-crd-agreement-on-reporting-of-injury-or-death-incidents-department-of-justice-civil-rights-division-11538/#1304867-mou-fbi).

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,

Shawn Musgrave

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 16, 2014. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #15-00023-F.

Thank you for your help.

Hello,

Apologies for the confusion — FOIA 15-00023-F is a separate request for CRD's review documents concerning the Todashev 60-day shooting report.

Per our records, the above separate FOIA request for the 60-day shooting report itself has yet to be acknowledged or assigned a unique tracking number despite being submitted to CRD more than a month ago.

Please advise immediately.

Best,
Shawn Musgrave
MuckRock

Hello,

As I noted in my previous email, the memorandum you just sent pertains to 15-00023-F, in which I requested documents pertaining to CRD's review of the FBI's 60-day report regarding the shooting of Mr. Todashev.

The present FOIA request is separate, and is for the 60-day report itself as submitted to CRD by the FBI pursuant to its obligations.

Please read the above carefully and confirm that this is a wholly separate FOIA request from 15-00023-F.

Respectfully,

Shawn Musgrave
MuckRock

Hello again,

I apologize for any confusion caused by my earlier citation of 15-00023-F in this thread. Again, I submitted two separate requests: the first for the 60-day report itself (which has not been acknowledged or assigned a tracking number) at issue here, and another for CRD documents created in the process of reviewing that report (15-00023-F).

Apologies for any confusion.

-Shawn

Hello,

Please advise as to the status of this request, which is now overdue.

Respectfully,
Shawn Musgrave
MuckRock

Director, Office of Information Policy (OIP)
United States Department of Justice
1425 New York Avenue, N. W., Suite 11050
Washington, DC 20530

January 8, 2015

To Whom It May Concern:

This is an appeal of the adequacy of search for a FOIA request submitted in October 2014, in which I requested the following from the Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division:

The 60-day inquiry report and all supporting documents submitted by the FBI to the CRD following the shooting death of Ibragim Todashev.

Please note that the CRD errantly combined the above request with a separate request for documents produced by the CRD in the course of reviewing the FBI's 60-day report (FOIA 15-00023-F), a matter which I have attempted to rectify without success or response from the CRD. This is an appeal solely for the above request for the FBI's 60-day inquiry report and all supporting documents submitted by the FBI to the CRD following the shooting death of Ibragim Todashev.)

In the attached final response letter to FOIA 15-00023-F, CRD indicated that it had been unable to locate any documents responsive to the above request that were considered to be within the possession of the CRD. As I noted in my original request, the CRD's review of the FBI's 60-day inquiry report is required under the MOU between the FBI and CRD outlining FBI reporting requirements for shooting death incidents (available online here: https://www.muckrock.com/foi/united-states-of-america-10/fbi-crd-agreement-on-reporting-of-injury-or-death-incidents-department-of-justice-civil-rights-division-11538/#1304867-mou-fbi). While the Department of Justice regulation cited in the attached letter indicates that "records originating with another component are considered to be the property of that component for the purposes of making a disclosure determination," that regulation seemingly directs the CRD to consult with the FBI on making a release determination, and not making the much broader claim that the CRD has no such documents in its possession to release.

Furthermore, DOJ regulations do not trump the Freedom of Information Act: if the CRD has the requested records in its possession, it must either release the requested records or provide a valid reason for withholding said documents.

In light of the above, I request that this FOIA request be remanded back to CRD for a good faith search for and release of responsive documents.

Respectfully,

Shawn Musgrave
MuckRock