Untitled

Nick Mazzi filed this request with the National Security Agency of the United States of America.
Tracking #

MDR-115727
Submitted Jan. 5, 2022
Due Feb. 3, 2022
Est. Completion None
Status
Awaiting Response

Communications

From: Nick Mazzi

Subject: Freedom of Information Act Request: Untitled

Mail

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:

I'm requesting a Mandatory Declassification Review (MDR) under EO 13526 (Section 3.5) of the following documents:
The minutes of the 226th SIGINT Committee meeting.
The minutes of the 50th meeting of the SORS sub-committee.

EO 13526 requires a final answer within 365 days (please ignore language in this request regarding FOIA or its statutory requirements), I look forward to hearing from you within this time.

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,

Nick Mazzi

From: National Security Agency

Subject: None

Mail (Postmarked March 6, 2022)

A no responsive documents response.

From: Nick Mazzi

Subject: RE: Freedom of Information Act Request: Untitled

Mail

To whom it may concern,
I'd like to appeal regarding the adequacy of the search for the relevant records. Based on declassified documents, it's known that the NSA has a representative on the SIGINT Committee and its sub-committees, and that copies of minutes from these meetings were provided to the NSA via its representative. Therefore, a reasonable assumption would be that these minutes remain stored in the NSA's files. If they are not, please provide evidence that the file has been either moved to another agency or destroyed.

I've attached several documents to support my claims. One document is a paper written by David S. Brandwein for Studies in Intelligence, where he states that the NSA had a representative on the SIGINT Committee, it's reasonable then to assume that members were also placed on the sub-committees. Another is a partially released copy of the minutes from the 226th SIGINT Committee meeting. These minutes refer both to the presence of the NSA member, and some selected comments he offered, and the fact the NSA has previously reviewed these minutes for release.

Based on the above, I am skeptical that no records exist within the NSA's files, and request that another search be made. If that search also fails to locate records, but locates evidence that the records were removed or destroyed, please provide that evidence to ensure that I can make more effective requests in future.

From: National Security Agency

Subject: None

Mail (Postmarked Feb. 22, 2023)

A letter stating that the request appeal has been rejected.

From: Nick Mazzi

Subject: RE: Freedom of Information Act Request: Untitled

Mail

To whom it may concern,

To clarify the letter sent in regards to Appeal 5634, the letter specifies that the appeal has been rejected, but that a Mandatory Declassification Review case has been opened (MDR-115727). Does this mean that while the appeal on its original grounds has been rejected, the discovery of documents during the process has allowed for the opening of a new case?

Regards,
Nick

From: National Security Agency

Subject: None

Mail (Postmarked April 18, 2023)

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

From: Nick Mazzi

Subject: RE: Freedom of Information Act Request #MDR-115727

Mail

To whom it may concern,

I'd like to follow up on the status of MDR-115727.

Warm regards,
Nick

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