50 More Fun Words (2018) (Department of the Interior, Office of the Secretary)

Submitted on Thursday, June 13, 2019 - 10:51am
Submitted form:
Your Name: Emma Best
Mailing Address: MuckRock News DEPT MR 75273 411A Highland Ave
City: Somerville
State or Country: MA
Zip or Postal Code: 02144
Address Type: Business
Daytime Phone Number: 6172991832
Fax Number:
E-mail Address: requests@muckrock.com
Confirm E-mail Address : requests@muckrock.com
Your Organization:
Are you filing the request on behalf of another party? No
If so, who are you filing the request on behalf of?
Contact Information Certification:
Bureau/Office: Office of the Secretary (OS)
Relevant park, refuge, site or other location:
Request Description:
To Whom It May Concern:

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

Copies of emails sent to or from either the director's office (or equivalent) as well as their chief of staff (or equivalent) and executive director (or equivalent) containing any of the following 50 (non-case sensitive) words between 1 January 2018 and the present:

1. damn
2. damnit
3. goddamn
4. goddam
5. goddammit
6. webcomic
7. hurt
8. accuse
9. accused
10. allege
11. alleges
12. alleged
13. disgrace
14. disgraced
15. worry
16. worries
17. worried
18. lost
19. perjury
20. perjured
21. lie
22. lies
23. lied
24. 1001
25. 1621
26. game
27. marijuana
28. drug
29. activist
30. activists
31. riot
32. soda
33. reward
34. prize
35. save
36. kill
37. decimate
38. punish
39. punishment
40. penalize
41. penalized
42. shred
43. wipe
44. erase
45. delete
46. bastard
47. bitch
48. bitched
49. bitching
50. dessert

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,

Emma Best

Attachments:

https://cdn.muckrock.com/outbound_composer_attachments/TheEmmaBest/71139/Fee20category20and20search20parameters_lE4cwr1.pdf

Requester's Communication Preferences: Electronic communication via email
Document Disclosure Preferences: Electronic copies via email
Select the applicable reason why you are requesting expedited processing:
Justification for Expedited Processing:
Expedited Processing Certification:
Please select the appropriate statement: I am requesting a waiver or reduction of fees.
I agree to pay fees up to this particular amount:
To assist in determining my requester category to assess fees, you should know that I am: a representative of the news media and this request is made as part of a news gathering effort and not for commercial use
Affiliated Organization:
Check the boxes to the right to confirm that you meet the Department's fee waiver criteria:
- Disclosure of the information is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the Government.
- Disclosure of the information is not primarily in my commercial interest.
Please explain why your request for a waiver of fees or a reduction in fees is justified.:
I am a member of the news media and request classification as such. I have previously
written about the government and its activities, with some reaching over 100,000
readers in outlets such as Gizmodo, MuckRock, Motherboard, Property of the People,
Unicorn Riot, and The Outline, among others. As such, as I have a reasonable
expectation of publication and my editorial and writing skills are well established. In
addition, I discuss and comment on the files online and make them available through
non-profits such as the library Internet Archive and the journalist non-profit MuckRock,
disseminating them to a large audience. While my research is not limited to this, a great
deal of it, including this, focuses on the activities and attitudes of the government itself.
As such, it is not necessary for me to demonstrate the relevance of this particular
subject in advance.
Further, case law states that “proof of the ability to disseminate the released information
to a broad cross- section of the public is not required.” Judicial Watch, Inc. v. Dep’t of
Justice, 365 F.3d 1108, 1126 (D.C. Cir. 2004); see Carney v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 19 F.
3d 807, 814-15 (2d Cir. 1994). Further, courts have held that "qualified because it also
had “firm” plans to “publish a number of . . . ‘document sets’” concerning United States
foreign and national security policy." Under this criteria, as well, I qualify as a member of
the news media.
Additionally, courts have held that the news media status "focuses on the nature of the
requester, not its request. The provision requires that the request be “made by” a
representative of the news media. Id. § 552(a)(4)(A)(ii)(II). A newspaper reporter, for
example, is a representative of the news media regardless of how much interest there is
in the story for which he or she is requesting information." As such, the details of the
request itself are moot for the purposes of determining the appropriate fee category.
As my primary purpose is to inform about government activities by reporting on it and
making the raw data available, I request that fees be waived.

Dear Ms. Best,

Please find attached the acknowledgement letter for FOIA request
OS-2019-00969.

Thank you,
Daylyn Whitley
--
Department of the Interior
Office of the Secretary, FOIA Office
1849 C Street, NW, MS-7328
Washington, D.C. 20240
os_foia@ios.doi.gov
(202) 513-0765 - phone
(202) 219-2374 - fax

Dear Ms. Best,

Please find attached the 20-Day Clarification Letter for FOIA Request
OS-2019-00969
Regards,
Colin McManus

--
Department of the Interior
Office of the Secretary, FOIA Office
1849 C Street, NW, MS-7328
Washington, D.C. 20240
os_foia@ios.doi.gov
(202) 513-0765 - phone
(202) 219-2374 - fax