Treasury Europol gag order

To Whom It May Concern:

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

1. All documents relating to a gag order requested by the Department of Treasury for the European Union law enforcement agency Europol regarding the March 2012 report of the Joint Supervisory Body on the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program.
See the January 8, 2015 presentation by the EU Ombudsman, Emily O'Reilly, on the subject for context: http://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/activities/speech.faces/en/58671/html.bookmark

2. All correspondence with Europol, the JSB, and Ms. O'Reilly regarding the March 2012 report

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

I request that fees be waived as I believe this request is in the public interest and on the basis of my status as a demonstrated freelance journalist who works specifically in the area of FOIA journalism.

See: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/26/stingray-surveillance-technology-irs-cellphone-tower

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,

William Green

To Whom It May Concern:

I am formally appealing your determination that payment is required to process my request.

Given that I failed to offer payment within the required 20 days of the original notification in February, my original request is, as I understand it, legally expired. The position of the Treasury seems to be that I am barred from refiling this request in perpetuity without offering payment, even if I've adjusted my fee waiver request as I have in this case.

I request that you consider this new request and my newly adjusted fee waiver request on their own merits. As I stated in my original request, I believe that I now qualify as a representative of the news media, which I did not at the time of my original request, and as such am entitled to a fee waiver. A change in the circumstances of my request to that degree surely alone merits the consideration of my request on its face.

If payment is required in this case then it would seem that the Treasury Department is asserting that the fee waiver status of a request is permanently bound to the substance of the request, and not based on the circumstances of the requestor.

If I need to let a certain additional amount of time elapse before I can refile this request to be considered anew, I would appreciate being informed of that amount.

Sincerely,
William Green

I wanted to follow up on my appeal, 2015-01-141, received on December 7, 2015. What is the status of my appeal?

Sincerely,
William Green

To Whom It May Concern:

Could you please resend the final response? It has not been received.

Thank you.