Presidential Inaugural

To Whom It May Concern:

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

Records of the invitation to or application submitted by VMI for the Corps of Cadets to participate in the upcoming inaugural of President-elect Donald Trump, VMI’s response to any invitation, communications between the VMI leadership and others on participation, and records showing any class, group, or other category of cadets exempt or excused from participating or for whom participation in the inaugural is options with the reason and the approval authority.

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 5 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Tom Nash, a citizen of Virginia, in coordination with Anonymous.

The following is an update to my original request.

I am also requesting the following:

1. A list of the information required information on each cadet by the United States Secret Service. I am not requesting this actual information on cadets themselves, just the information fields being requested. If a form or other notification was sent to cadets listing what they needed to provide, that will suffice.
2. Copy of all notifications to cadets and any follow-ups regarding their participation in the inaugual activities. Again, I am not asking for all the emails a sample of the ones sent to all cadets without speific names will suffice.
3. Records showing similar notifications to #1 and #2 to the Corps for the past 4 Presidential Inaugurals.
4. If participation in the Inaugural parade is optional, records showing who made that decision and any approval by the Board of isitors. A a minimum this shoudl include who ade the decision and any BOV involvement/approvals. These would not constitute "working papers".
5. If participation in the Inaugural is optional for any cadets provide the records showing if participation was optional or mandatory in the past 5 Presidential Inaugural Parades that VMI participated in.

ALSO, once the list of cadets participating in the Inaugural is finalized, provide records showing: 1) Total cadets in the Corps; 2) total attending the Inaugural; 3) total not attending the inaugural and the reason (NCAA athlete, guard or military duty, declined to participate, etc.) as well as the size of the Corps and the total number of Cadets that participated in the last 5 inaugural parades.

For additional clarification, all these communications include, without exception, anything posted to Post-view

FOIA ON CLUB CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS

TO AVOID UNNECESSARY DELAYS IN PROCESSING, I REQUEST NOW THAT ANY ESTIMATED COST TO FILL MY REQUEST BE PROVIDED.

YOU DO NOT NEED TO ASK ME IF I WANT YOU TO PREPARE A COST ESTIMATE IF THERE IS ONE.

Due to the passage of time in processing this request resulting in the Inaugural already occurring, this FOIA is updated to be current as follows:

1. Records relating to VMI participation in the Inaugural of President Donald Trump:
a. The invitation received by VMI or application submitted by VMI for the Corps of Cadets to participate in the inaugural of President-elect Donald Trump
b. VMI’s response to any invitation, communications between the VMI leadership and others on participation from the initial request through VMI’s withdrawal from the parade and to date.
c. Notifications to the Corps of participation in the Inaugural parade.
d. Any class, group, or other category of cadets exempt or excused from participating or for whom participation in the inaugural is options with the reason and the approval authority.
e. Communications with the Inaugural Planners outside VMI showing the reasons VMI did not participate.

2. Records relating to the participation of individual cadets in the Inaugural parade:
a. The information required on each cadet by the United States Secret Service (USSS). I am not requesting the actual Personal Identifiable Information (PII) on cadets themselves, just the information fields being requested (name, social security number, photo, etc.). If a form or other notification that was sent to cadets listing the information they needed to provide, that will suffice.
b. Copy of the Instructions received by VMI to submit cadets for USSS Screening
c. Copy of the instructions sent to cadets for USSS screening
d. Copy of the results from the USSS screen (Adrian or other report) showing those approved and not approved with the reason. I understand PII identifying the specific person will be redacted.
e. Copy of the report(s) that show each error and how it was corrected.
f. Process VMI used to quality control the information submitted to the USSS for the background check.
g. For Cadets who did not pass the USSS background check, have they been provided the reason for the denial? Please provide this communication.
h. All communications with cadets to obtain the information in #2a
i. All notifications to cadets and any follow-ups regarding their participation in the inaugural activities. Again, I am not asking for all the emails, just a sample of the ones sent to all cadets without specific names will suffice.
j. Notification(s) to cadets if they were or were not approved to participate in the Inaugural with the reason. Again, I am not asking for all the emails a sample of the ones sent to all cadets without specific names will suffice.
k. Records showing similar to #1c, #d, 2a for the past 4 Presidential Inaugurals, the most recent Governor of Virginia Inaugural., visits by Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary Hillary Clinton.
l. If participation in the Inaugural parade was optional, records showing who made that decision and any approval by the Board of Visitors or other authority. A minimum this should include who made the decision and any BOV involvement/approvals. These would not constitute "working papers".
m. If participation in the Inaugural was optional for any cadets provide the records showing if participation was optional or mandatory in the past 5 Presidential Inaugural Parades that VMI participated in.
n. The final list of cadets that were planned for the Inaugural Parade: 1) Total cadets in the Corps; 2) total approved to attend the Inaugural; 3) total who were not going to attend the inaugural and the reason (NCAA athlete, guard or military duty, declined to participate, etc.); 4) number of cadets who did not respond to the information requested for the USSS check; and 5) number of cadets who requested to attend the inaugural but were denied and the reason.

I have a credit card paid confirmation, please check again.

I also noted VMI published a long article on the Inaugural within the last 24 hours mentioning some of the simejects of my FOIA. I conclude from that the records responsive to my FOIA are immediately available, will not require the full 5 days, will definately not require any extension, and there shoudl be no search fee required.

Someone will be calling the Finance Office Monday to resolve this

I have confirmation the fee was paid please complete the FOIA