Apparently information leading to a decision is vague
Asked by Ryan Carboni on February 14, 2014.
3 answers from Kel McClanahan, Shawn Musgrave and Ryan Carboni.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/hm1bg8sx7mxfv8l/FOIA_2_img037.jpg That’s the letter I got today with my address erased. Notably apparently asking for information that lead to a decision is apparently vague, and my FOIA request is being treated specially, numbered “NFP-30338.” I’ve never seen an NFP-##### FOIA number before.
Here’s the letter I mailed to them:
[Address] January 12, 2014
Federal Bureau of Investigation Records/Information Dissemination Section 170 Marcel Drive Winchester, VA 22602-4843
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT REQUEST
Dear Sir or Madam:
Description of Request: Documents, correspondence, and powerpoints regarding the decision to issue a private sector advisory on the sale of exploding targets, including those sold under the commercial name of “tannerite.”
Please search both your automated indices and the older general (manual) indices, as well as all Field Offices. Additionally, please request any applicable information from the Los Angeles, Boston, and New York, Weapons of Mass Destruction Coordinators.
I authorize you to spend up to two hours searching for responsive records, but no more. This is an individual request for personal noncommercial use, and I agree that I will pay up to $30 for fees, if necessary. Please notify me in advance if fees are expected to exceed that amount. If the file is likely to result in excess of 250 pages, I would appreciate receiving a digital copy of the file on a CD-ROM rather than in paper form.
If you have any questions, please call me at [].
Thank you for your consideration,
[name, address, etc] -------------------------<hr>
Perhaps I didn’t word my FOIA request properly… but other people certainly have requested information leading to a decision. I believe i read somewhere that FOIA law allows to request documents which had led to a decision. http://cei.org/regulatory-comments-and-testimony/foia-requests-agencies-government-shutdown-policies https://www.muckrock.com/foi/united-states-of-america-10/fbi-fact-sheet-rewording-memos-10117/
Minor update. I’m guessing NFP means “not fully processed.” I’ll make an FOIA request in the future for that acronym and for FOIA requests numbered NFP at any point in their processing between January 1st and January 30th.
The form response from the FBI wasn’t informative but I’ve figured out that they want a date. They were more vague then I was, but I digress. I think I’ll just link to the advisory myself, give some rough estimates for dates (January 1st and May 22nd) for the issuance of the advisory, dates to search for documents that lead to the decision to release the advisory, and maybe rephrase my question for completeness.
You absolutely can ask for documents that lead to a decision. Under FOIA, you either must describe the particular documents you want or the circumstances that lead to the creation of a set of documents. Your request seems to fall into the second category.
-Shawn
I reviewed the records they released in response to Ryan’s subsequent request trying to figure out what NFP meant and I can say for posterity that it appears to mean “Non-FOIPA” and includes things that they consider not to be proper FOIA/PA requests, including the BS “not reasonably described” ones or the ones that would require any work, like emails. Interestingly, they also call these response letters “Shukowsky responses” although I can’t find any etymology for that term.