Trump Team OGE Submissions
| Tracking # |
853215, 2019-27, 19-00007-R, SOL-2018-00202 853215, 2019-27, 19-00007-R 853215, 2019-27 853215 OGE FOIA FY 17/078, 2018-06-157 OGE FOIA FY 17/078 |
| Submitted | Jan. 6, 2017 |
| Est. Completion | None |
MuckRock users can file, duplicate, track, and share public records requests like this one. Learn more.
Communications
From: Michael Best
To Whom It May Concern:
This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request the following records:
Submissions from Donald Trump, his transition team and nominees regarding financial status, potential conflicts of interest, etc. Please include OGE responses to these documents. Please include any materials submitted in 2016 up through the date of the processing of this request.
I am a member of the news media and request classification as such. I have previously written about the government and its activities for AND Magazine, MuckRock and Glomar Disclosure and have an open arrangement with each. My articles have been widely read, with some reaching over 100,000 readers. As such, as I have a reasonable expectation of publication and my editorial and writing skills are well established. In addition, I discuss and comment on the files online and make them available through the non-profit Internet Archive, disseminating them to a large audience. While my research is not limited to this, a great deal of it, including this, focuses on the activities and attitudes of the government itself. As such, it is not necessary for me to demonstrate the relevance of this particular subject in advance. Additionally, case law states that “proof of the ability to disseminate the released information to a broad cross-section of the public is not required.” Judicial Watch, Inc. v. Dep’t of Justice, 365 F.3d 1108, 1126 (D.C. Cir. 2004); see Carney v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 19 F.3d 807, 814-15 (2d Cir. 1994). Further, courts have held that "qualified because it also had “firm” plans to “publish a number of . . . ‘document sets’” concerning United States foreign and national security policy." Under this criteria, as well, I qualify as a member of the news media. Additionally, courts have held that the news media status "focuses on the nature of the requester, not its request. The provision requires that the request be “made by” a representative of the news media. Id. § 552(a)(4)(A)(ii)(II). A newspaper reporter, for example, is a representative of the news media regardless of how much interest there is in the story for which he or she is requesting information." As such, the details of the request itself are moot for the purposes of determining the appropriate fee category. As such, my primary purpose is to inform about government activities by reporting on it and making the raw data available and I therefore request that fees be waived.
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: Jennifer Matis
Mr. Best,
This acknowledges receipt of your January 6, 2017, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for "Submissions from Donald Trump, his transition team and nominees regarding financial status, potential conflicts of interest, etc. Please include OGE responses to these documents. Please include any materials submitted in 2016 up through the date of the processing of this request." Your request was received on January 9, 2017 and assigned tracking number OGE FOIA FY 17/078.
I need to speak to you to clarify the scope of documents requested. Can you please provide a telephone number at which you can be reached, or give me a call at the number below?
Thanks,
Jen
Jennifer Matis
OGE FOIA Team
202-482-9216
jennifer.matis@oge.gov<mailto:jennifer.matis@oge.gov>
OGE Confidential Notice: This email, including all attachments, may constitute a Federal record or other Government property that is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed. This email also may contain information that is privileged, confidential, or otherwise protected from disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the intended recipient or the employee or agent responsible for delivering the transmission to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, copying or use of this email or its contents is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender by responding to the email and then immediately delete the email.
From: Michael Best
No, I communicate by email only. Also, I will not be limited the scope of my request. However, if you wish to ask me to anyway and explain why you feel this is necessary, feel free to do so in writing and I will give it the proper consideration.
From: USOGE
Please see attached correspondence.
Thanks,
Jen
Jennifer Matis
OGE FOIA Team
OGE Confidential Notice: This email, including all attachments, may constitute a Federal record or other Government property that is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed. This email also may contain information that is privileged, confidential, or otherwise protected from disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the intended recipient or the employee or agent responsible for delivering the transmission to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, copying or use of this email or its contents is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender by responding to the email and then immediately delete the email.
From: Michael Best
You realize that the scope of the request you are suggesting I change mine to mirror is BROADER than the request I actually submitted, right? Beyond that, my request did "reasonably describe the desired record in sufficient detail to enable Office personnel to locate the records with a reasonable amount of effort." However, if you wish to take my "too broad" request and broaden it further in order to make it "not too broad" then I will agree to this, provided you do not exclude any materials that would be respondent to the criteria I set out in my original request. In other words, you may add the criteria you suggest to the criteria I specified.
From: Michael Best
Please confirm receipt of my response sent on 1/28/2017. For your convenience, here it is again:
You realize that the scope of the request you are suggesting I change mine to mirror is BROADER than the request I actually submitted, right? Beyond that, my request did "reasonably describe the desired record in sufficient detail to enable Office personnel to locate the records with a reasonable amount of effort." However, if you wish to take my "too broad" request and broaden it further in order to make it "not too broad" then I will agree to this, provided you do not exclude any materials that would be respondent to the criteria I set out in my original request. In other words, you may add the criteria you suggest to the criteria I specified.
From: USOGE
The issue with your request isn’t that it is too broad; the issue is that we do not have sufficient information to identify which records are being sought. In our experience, this kind of clarification is much easier to accomplish in a telephone conversation. However, since you decline to communicate with us by telephone, we are doing our best to clarify your request in writing. Based on our understanding of your request, we believe that the language we proposed (copied below) would fully encompass all records sought by your original request. Again, if that understanding is wrong, please describe what additional records are included in your request but not encompassed by the proposed language. As the FOIA Officer indicated in her letter, unless and until OGE receives additional information from you, your request will be deemed to seek the records described below (and only those records) and will be processed accordingly. Conversely, if you are not interested in some of the records described below, please let us know which records should be excluded.
Communications between OGE and the Trump Presidential Transition Team and/or any federal agency that pertain to any of the following topics, as they relate to Trump Administration Cabinet-level nominees:
1. public financial disclosure reports of Cabinet-level nominees
2. ethics agreements involving blind trusts, divestment, or screening or recusal arrangements
3. conflict of interest waivers
4. certificates of divestiture
5. ethics pledge waivers
6. ethics issues involving Cabinet-level nominees
7. the continued application of E.O. 13490, including the ethics pledge, after the end of the Obama Administration
In addition, vetting packages for Trump Administration Cabinet-level nominees, and related records.
Thanks,
Jen
Jennifer Matis
OGE FOIA Team
-
~WRD000
From: Michael Best
Ah, thank you for clarifying. What you proposed will be fine.
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 Jan. 6, 2017. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: USOGE
Hello,
We are currently processing the responsive documents, which are voluminous. Our goal is to try to provide a final response by the end of March.
Thanks,
Jen
Jennifer Matis
OGE FOIA Team
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 Jan. 6, 2017. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: USOGE
We are still processing the responsive records. I have updated the expected date of completion to be June 30, 2017.
For future reference, you may track the status of your FOIA request online at: https://extapps2.oge.gov/FOIAStatus/FOIAInfo.nsf/SearchByFOIANumber?OpenForm. Please enter the individualized tracking number above for status information, including the estimated date of completion.
Thank you for your patience as we try to respond to all requests as expeditiously as possible.
Thanks,
Jen
Jennifer Matis
OGE FOIA Team
-
~WRD000
From: Jennifer Matis
Please see attached correspondence and records.
________________________________
OGE Confidential Notice: This message may contain Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) that requires safeguarding or dissemination control under applicable law, regulation, or Government-wide policy. This email, including all attachments, may constitute a Federal record or other Government property that is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient or the employee or agent responsible for delivering the transmission to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, copying or use of this email or its contents is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender by responding to the email and then immediately delete the email.
________________________________
From: Office of Government Ethics
Good morning,
Please find attached a second rolling response to your FOIA Request, OGE FOIA FY 17/078.
Thank you.
________________________________
OGE Confidential Notice: This message may contain Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) that requires safeguarding or dissemination control under applicable law, regulation, or Government-wide policy. This email, including all attachments, may constitute a Federal record or other Government property that is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient or the employee or agent responsible for delivering the transmission to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, copying or use of this email or its contents is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender by responding to the email and then immediately delete the email.
________________________________
From: U.S. Department of Education
This is the Department's acknowledgment of your request for information pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. § 552. Your request was forwarded to the primary responsible office(s) for action.
Any future correspondence or questions regarding your request, please contact the FOIA Public Liaison at 202-401-8365 or
EDFOIAManager@ed.gov
From: Office of Government Ethics
Please find attached a third rolling response to your FOIA Request, OGE FOIA FY 17/078.
Thank you.
________________________________
OGE Confidential Notice: This message may contain Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) that requires safeguarding or dissemination control under applicable law, regulation, or Government-wide policy. This email, including all attachments, may constitute a Federal record or other Government property that is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient or the employee or agent responsible for delivering the transmission to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, copying or use of this email or its contents is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender by responding to the email and then immediately delete the email.
________________________________
From: Office of Government Ethics
Please find attached a fourth rolling response to your FOIA Request, OGE FOIA FY 17/078.
Thank you.
________________________________
OGE Confidential Notice: This message may contain Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) that requires safeguarding or dissemination control under applicable law, regulation, or Government-wide policy. This email, including all attachments, may constitute a Federal record or other Government property that is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient or the employee or agent responsible for delivering the transmission to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, copying or use of this email or its contents is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender by responding to the email and then immediately delete the email.
________________________________
From: Office of Government Ethics
Please find attached a fifth rolling response to your FOIA Request, OGE FOIA FY 17/078.
Thank you.
________________________________
OGE Confidential Notice: This message may contain Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) that requires safeguarding or dissemination control under applicable law, regulation, or Government-wide policy. This email, including all attachments, may constitute a Federal record or other Government property that is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient or the employee or agent responsible for delivering the transmission to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, copying or use of this email or its contents is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender by responding to the email and then immediately delete the email.
________________________________
From: Office of Government Ethics
Please find attached a sixth rolling response to your FOIA Request, OGE FOIA FY 17/078.
Thank you.
________________________________
OGE Confidential Notice: This message may contain Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) that requires safeguarding or dissemination control under applicable law, regulation, or Government-wide policy. This email, including all attachments, may constitute a Federal record or other Government property that is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient or the employee or agent responsible for delivering the transmission to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, copying or use of this email or its contents is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender by responding to the email and then immediately delete the email.
________________________________
From: Office of Government Ethics
Please find attached a seventh rolling response to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. Thank you.
________________________________
OGE Confidential Notice: This message may contain Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) that requires safeguarding or dissemination control under applicable law, regulation, or Government-wide policy. This email, including all attachments, may constitute a Federal record or other Government property that is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient or the employee or agent responsible for delivering the transmission to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, copying or use of this email or its contents is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender by responding to the email and then immediately delete the email.
________________________________
From: Office of Government Ethics
Please find attached an eighth rolling response to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. Thank you.
________________________________
OGE Confidential Notice: This message may contain Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) that requires safeguarding or dissemination control under applicable law, regulation, or Government-wide policy. This email, including all attachments, may constitute a Federal record or other Government property that is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient or the employee or agent responsible for delivering the transmission to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, copying or use of this email or its contents is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender by responding to the email and then immediately delete the email.
________________________________
From: Office of Government Ethics
Please find attached a ninth rolling response to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. Thank you.
________________________________
OGE Confidential Notice: This message may contain Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) that requires safeguarding or dissemination control under applicable law, regulation, or Government-wide policy. This email, including all attachments, may constitute a Federal record or other Government property that is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient or the employee or agent responsible for delivering the transmission to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, copying or use of this email or its contents is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender by responding to the email and then immediately delete the email.
________________________________
From: Office of Government Ethics
Good afternoon the attached correspondence is in regard to your FOIA request referred to US Department of the Treasury from OGE on June 22 2018.
Terri Robertson
FOIA and Transparency
Privacy, Transparency and Records
U.S. Department of the Treasury
202-622-8903 (office)
202-339-7613 (mobile)
From: Office of Government Ethics
Please find attached a response to your FOIA request. Thank you.
________________________________
OGE Confidential Notice: This message may contain Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) that requires safeguarding or dissemination control under applicable law, regulation, or Government-wide policy. This email, including all attachments, may constitute a Federal record or other Government property that is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient or the employee or agent responsible for delivering the transmission to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, copying or use of this email or its contents is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender by responding to the email and then immediately delete the email.
________________________________
From: Office of Government Ethics
A copy of documents responsive to the request.
From: Office of Government Ethics
-
InitialAcknowledgementLetter_19_Oct_2018_01_47_14
From: Office of Government Ethics
Mr. Best,
Attached is the VA Office of General Counsel's response to your FOIA request from January 6, 2017.
Thank you for your interest in the VA.
M. Renee Baxter
OGC FOIA, Privacy Officer, and Records Mgmt.
Office of General Counsel
810 Vermont Avenue, NW, Room 1175P
Washington, DC 20024-0001
FOIA Requester Service Telephone: 202-461-7860
Send all FOIA Mail to: OGCFOIARequests@va.gov<mailto:OGCFOIARequests@va.gov>
From: Office of Government Ethics
Mr. Michael Best: Please review the attached letter which is in response to your 01/06/2017 FOIA/PA request to the Office of General Counsel. Thank you for your interest in the VA.
-
Referred Pages from OGE
From: Office of Government Ethics
Mr. Best,
Attached is the VA OGC response to the referral from the U.S. Office of Government Ethics.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us directly.
M. Renee Baxter
OGC FOIA, Privacy Officer, and Records Mgmt.
Office of General Counsel
810 Vermont Avenue, NW, Room 1175P
Washington, DC 20024-0001
FOIA Requester Service Telephone: 202-461-7860
Send all FOIA Mail to: OGCFOIARequests@va.gov<mailto:OGCFOIARequests@va.gov>
From: Office of Government Ethics
May 17, 2019 Mr. Michael Best 186 Kunkle Road
Fawn Grove, PA 17312 Re: Referral from OGE (01/30/2018) concerning OGE and the Trump transition team Assigned JMD FOIA TRACKING NUMBER: 120041 Dear Mr. Best: I am writing on behalf of the Justice Management Division (JMD) of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to acknowledge receipt of your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request dated 1/6/2017 in which you requested records concerning the subject identified above. Your request has been assigned the above tracking number. We apologize for the delay in our response. Given the passage of time, before we expend additional resources on this request, I would like to confirm whether you are still interested in receiving this information. If you are still interested, please respond within 30 working days of the date of this letter by either: Writing to: JMD FOIA 2 Constitution Square Suite 8E-300 145 N Street, NE Washington, DC 20530 E-mailing: JMDfoia@usdoj.gov Please refer to your assigned JMD FOIA TRACKING NUMBER whenever you contact the Department regarding this request. Your request will be processed as soon as possible, consistent with our existing workload. If you are no longer interested in receiving this information, you do not need to take any further action, and your request will be closed out after 30 working days from the date of this letter. Sincerely, Karen E. McFadden FOIA Contact Justice Management Division
-
IQFormatFile
From: Office of Government Ethics
Good morning Mr. Best,
Attached is the Solicitor's decision letter for your request received on
June 13, 2018.
Sincerely,
Lance Purvis
Office of the Solicitor FOIA Officer
From: Office of Government Ethics
Good Morning Mr. Best,
Please find the Department of the Treasury's response to your Freedom of Information Act request. I have attached the responsive documents and your original FOIA request.
Thank you for submitting your request to the Department of the Treasury.
Dennis G. Harter (Contractor)
From: Office of Government Ethics
Please see attached.
From: Office of Government Ethics
Please see attached.
From: Office of Government Ethics
DOC-IOS-2018-000648 has been processed with the following final disposition: Partial Grant/Partial Denial.
Records were released to the public as a result of this request. You may retrieve these records immediately using the following link: Over the next 2 hours, these records are also being added to FOIAonline's search pages, further enabling you to retrieve these documents associated with your FOIA request at any time. View Records (https://www.foiaonline.gov/foiaonline/action/public/submissionDetails?trackingNumber=DOC-IOS-2018-000648&type=referral)
From: Office of Government Ethics
See attached.
From: Office of Government Ethics
DOC-IOS-2018-000871 has been processed with the following final disposition: Full Grant.
Records were released to the public as a result of this request. You may retrieve these records immediately using the following link: View Records Over the next 2 hours, these records are also being added to FOIAonline's search pages, further enabling you to retrieve these documents associated with your FOIA request at any time. (https://www.foiaonline.gov/foiaonline/action/public/submissionDetails?trackingNumber=DOC-IOS-2018-000871&type=referral)
See attached.
From: Emma North-Best
I am appealing the decision to withhold parts of the document as "unresponsive," as this is inconsistent with recent caselaw rulings.
Files
pages