Untitled
| Tracking # |
2024-IGFP-00477 |
| Submitted | April 12, 2024 |
| Due | May 13, 2024 |
| Est. Completion | None |
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Communications
From: Dhruv Mehrotra
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:
I am looking for for copies of final reports or abbreviated final reports of internal investigations into agency employees where the primary or secondary allegation of misconduct is categorized as "Election and Political Mail – Theft, Rifling, Possession: Code (IM20)". Responsive records should be from 01/2016 until the date this request is processed.
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,
Dhruv Mehrotra
From: United States Postal Service, Office of Inspector General
FOIA
shared folder 2024-IGFP-00468 Mehrotra, Dhruv Final Response with you.
FOIA wrote:
Dear Mr. Mehrotra:Attached please find our final response to your FOIA request. Due to the size of the file/presence of PII, we are sharing access via Microsoft Windows Secure Share, a cloud-based file sharing platform. Click on the “OPEN” link below and select “register via existing form” to create a user profile and password. We recommend you save this information in a secure location for future use. If you are receiving this on a shared email account, make sure all users are aware of login and password for future use. If you should forget your password, please go to https://login.ncryptedcloud.com/account/password/reset/ to reset it. You will have access to download the documents to your local drive for the next 30 days. We are unable to grant extensions beyond this timeframe. If you have questions regarding the processing of this request, please submit them in writing to foia@uspsoig.gov. We will provide you an answer within two working days. Sincerely, USPS OIG FOIA Team
Thank you,
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Download_1
From: Dhruv Mehrotra
Hello, I'm writing to ask a question about a foia response I've received.
Firstly I wanted to thank the agency for handling this so quickly, I truly appreciate that.
- On March 19 I sent the agency a FOIA for a list of internal investigations. I received a response on 4/12.
- On 4/12/2024 I requested copies of final reports or abbreviated final reports of internal investigations into agency employees where the primary or secondary allegation of misconduct is categorized as "Election and Political Mail – Theft, Rifling, Possession: Code (IM20)".
- on 4/13 I received another spreadsheet of mail fraud investigations.
I understand now that Election and Political mail was not a tracked category until 2020, however my second request was for final reports rather than the tracking data about the investigation.
Could you call me to discuss the data I received back because I don't think its responsive to the records I requested. I am happy to limit the request to only include investigations from 2020 until Today explicitly categorized as Election or Political Mail or even further limit the request with a more limited date frame.
Thank you so much for your help with these requests. I've also sent this email using my work account dhruv_mehrotra@wired.com. Please refer to that email for my phone number
Best
Dhruv Mehrotra
From: United States Postal Service, Office of Inspector General
Dear Mr. Mehrotra:
This responds to your April 13 email with questions regarding our response to OIG FOIA request 2024-IGFP-00468 for:
* Copies of final reports or abbreviated final reports of internal investigations into agency employees where the primary or secondary allegation of misconduct is categorized as "Election and Political Mail – Theft, Rifling, Possession: Code (IM20)". Responsive records should be from 01/2016 until the date this request is processed.
This was a follow up to your FOIA 2024-IGFP-00406 which requested:
* Closed OIG investigations or other internal investigations during FY20, 21, 22, and 23. Please include a case number, narrative, supporting documents, and other relevant information.
In addition, you offered to limit the scope of your request explicitly investigations categorized as Election or Political Mail or even further limit the request with a more limited date frame.
FOIA is about the release of records we have in our possession and provides only for disclosing federal agency records and does not require government agencies to create records or to answer questions. FOIA does not let you appeal any investigative decisions or ask us to research aside from searching for responsive records.
The FOIA sheds light on an agency’s performance of its statutory duties. The FOIA provides that any person has a right, enforceable in court, to obtain access to federal agency records, unless such records (or portions of them) are protected from public disclosure by one of nine exemptions or by one of three special law enforcement record exclusions.
In your April 13 email, you indicated you believe the spreadsheet provided is not responsive to your request. Due to the large volume of investigations conducted by the USPS OIG, it is the standard practice of this office to provide a spreadsheet of all investigative work which falls within the parameters of the request. This allows us to provide releasable information in a timely manner. Otherwise, the only way to establish whether an investigation is responsive to a specific request is to review each file individually.
However, narrowing the scope to election and political mail investigations opened since January 2020, we further sorted the spreadsheet we provided and located 128 investigations. A copy courtesy copy is attached.
If you wish to select up to 20 cases off this updated spreadsheet, we will open a new FOIA case and process any available Closing Memo, Transmittal Letter, and Report of Investigation associated with those investigations. We may be able to complete processing and provide our final response within 20 days of receipt.
Because we are a small FOIA office, selecting any more than 20 investigations will categorize your request as complex and it will be added to the list to be processed in the order it is received. Please be aware, with our current backlog, we estimate it would take us up to 18 months to process all 128 investigations on the attached spreadsheet.
Sincerely,
USPS OIG FOIA Team
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OIG Election Mail Investigations Closed 2020 to 4-12-24
From:
Thanks so much for the quick response. Could I limit the request then to
the most recent 20 investigations on the spreadsheet.
I appreciate your time with these requests and the agencies commitment to
transparency.
Best
From: United States Postal Service, Office of Inspector General
Dear Mr. Mehrota:
Would you like the most recent received or most recent closed?
Sincerely,
USPS OIG FOIA Team
From:
The most recent received please
From:
I’m sorry I misspoke, the most recent closed. Sorry for the confusion.
From: United States Postal Service, Office of Inspector General
Dear Mr. Mehrotra:
This acknowledges receipt of your April 16 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for records related to the 20 most recently closed investigations classified under Allegation Code (IM20) Election and Political Mail - Theft, Rifling, Possession from the spreadsheet provided to you on 4/16/24.
FOIA request number 2024-IGFP-00477 has been assigned to your request. Your request will be processed in the order it was received.
The FOIA provides agencies 20 working days from receipt to respond to requesters. While this office routinely meets this requirement, current workloads may require additional time to provide our final response.
Sincerely,
USPS OIG FOIA Team