1973 FBI Employee Telephone Directory -- Identification Division

To Whom It May Concern:

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

-- A 1973 telephone directory of all employees of the FBI's Identification Division. If multiple months are available, I am requesting the June 1973 directory.

As supporting documentation, I'm including the URL of a previously released collection of equivalent materials, namely an FBI telephone directory of officials and supervisors dated July 1975: https://www.archives.gov/files/research/jfk/releases/docid-32989712.pdf.

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,

Jennifer Wenger

Dear Director, Office of Information Policy,
I am appealing the FBI's response to my FOIA request #1480348-000, which is a request for 1973 directories of the FBI's Identification Division. I am doing so on the basis that the FBI has provided conflicting information regarding the availability of responsive materials. Here is the chain of events along with supporting materials:

In an earlier FOIA request (#1469226-000 and 1469227-000), which I'd submitted in June 2020, I had requested a telephone directory of the FBI's Identification Division for June 1973. In the request, I also said that if a division directory wasn't available, I requested a telephone directory for the entire FBI for June 1973. [FILE ATTACHED]

In July 2020, the FBI responded that "Material responsive to your request is being held in its entirety by the FBI pursuant to subsections (b)(6) and (b)(7)(C)." They sent two response letters, one for the Identification Division directory and one for the FBI directory, both of which had this response. [FILE ATTACHED]

I then contacted the organization MuckRock.com to see if they could provide guidance regarding the (b)(6) and (b)(7)(C) privacy exemptions. Because the time period for conducting an appeal had subsequently elapsed, they recommended that I submit another FOIA request and include equivalent responsive materials, which was a 1975 FBI directory of officials and supervisors. [ See https://www.archives.gov/files/research/jfk/releases/docid-32989712.pdf] The request was the same as before: a 1973 directory of the Identification Division, and specifically, June 1973 if possible.

On Dec. 22, 2020, the FBI responded as follows:

"Based on the information you provided, we conducted a search of the places reasonably expected to have records. However, we were unable to identify records responsive to your request."

Note that the FBI's acknowledgment letter, dated Nov. 6, 2020, specified in the upper righthand corner the June 1973 telephone directory of the Identification Division, while the Dec. 22, 2020, response letter specified the June 1973 FBI telephone directory for all employees.

I'm appealing this response because of the conflicting information that was communicated to me by the FBI. In July 2020, the FBI had told me that they had responsive materials but were withholding them for privacy reasons, however, when I sent them equivalent response materials with my second FOIA request, they changed their answer and said that they couldn't find anything. I'm continuing to seek the telephone directory for the FBI's Identification Division for June 1973, and the wholly unredacted 1975 FBI directory to officials and supervisors renders their original privacy concerns moot.

I thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,
Jennifer Wenger