BOLO on alleged Iranian threat to Pentagon leader (Department of Defense, Office of the Secretary of Defense)
| Tracking # |
21-F-0171 #21-F-0171 |
| Multi Request | BOLO on alleged Iranian threat to Pentagon leader |
| Submitted | Oct. 29, 2020 |
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Communications
From: Matthew Petti
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:
- The BOLO bulletin issued in response to a September 22, 2020 incident involving a senior Pentagon official allegedly tailed by an Iranian national in a vehicle with Virginia license plates; and
- Any other reports on the above-referenced incident.
According to NBC News, a leader at the Department of Defense "left the Pentagon that evening in a government-owned black SUV driven by a member of his security detail, when an unknown vehicle immediately began to follow them, officials said. The driver, identified as an Iranian national, was in a vehicle with Virginia license plates and trailed closely behind the official SUV for five to seven miles, at times driving aggressively, according to officials who described a report on the incident that was created by the Pentagon." (https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/top-u-s-officials-were-briefed-active-threat-against-pentagon-n1245273)
The NBC News report states that the Department of Defense later issued a Be on the Lookout (BOLO) alert about the incident and "shared the information with federal law enforcement."
If any part of these documents are exempt from disclosure, please be sure to review and release all reasonably segregable nonexempt portions of responsive documents, as the FOIA requires.
I request that I be properly classified as a media requester. I am an investigative journalist who has written numerous articles on topics of public interest for the Asia Times, Responsible Statecraft, the National Interest, Reason Magazine, America Magazine and the Armenian Weekly, and I am requesting these documents in an editorial capacity. Please contact me if you have any questions about my media status.
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,
Matthew Petti
From: Department of Defense, Office of the Secretary of Defense
Dear Matthew Petti,
The status of your FOIA request #21-F-0171 has been updated to the following status 'Received'. To log into the PAL Application click on the Application URL below.
Sincerely,
OSD/JS FOIA Requester Service Center
From: Department of Defense, Office of the Secretary of Defense
Dear Matthew Petti,
Case Number 21-F-0171 has been assigned to the request you submitted. In all future correspondence regarding this request please reference case number 21-F-0171.
Regards,
OSD/JS FOIA Requester Service Center
From: Department of Defense, Office of the Secretary of Defense
Good Afternoon Mr. Petti,
Please find attached both FOIA Request 21-F-0171 which has been received in our office on November 09, 2020, as well as our office's interim response. Please refer to your assigned case number 21-F-0171 in all future correspondences. If you have any questions or wish to narrow the scope of this request, to potentially expedite our response, please feel free to contact me directly.
Respectfully,
Vivian Gales-Wilkes
Government Information Specialist
Washington Headquarters Service
Vivian.d.gales-wilkes.civ@mail.mil
(571) 372-0436
From: Matthew Petti
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on FOIA Request 21-F-0171, copied below, and originally submitted on Sept. 1, 2020. Thank you for your attention to my request so far. Would you be able to provide an estimated completion date?
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
Best regards,
Matthew
From: Matthew Petti
To whom it may concern:
In my previous email about FOIA Request 21-F-0171, I stated that it had been originally submitted on Sept. 1, 2020. That was a typographical error. To clarify, I was asking about FOIA Request 21-F-0171, originally submitted on Oct. 29, 2020 and copied below. Thank you again for your attention to this matter.
Best regards,
Matthew
From: Department of Defense, Office of the Secretary of Defense
Dear Mr. Petti,
Please find attached both FOIA Request 21-F-0171 which has been received in our office on
November 9, 2020, as well as our office's final response.
V/R
Vivian Gales-Wilkes
Washington Headquarters Service
Government Information Specialist (FOID)
OFC: (571) 372-0436
vivian.d.gales-wilkes.civ@mail.com <mailto:vivian.d.gales-wilkes.civ@mail.com>
From: Matthew Petti
To whom this may concern,
I am Matthew Petti and I am writing in regards to a request under the Freedom of Information Act.
On November 9, 2020, I submitted a request for "the BOLO bulletin issued in response to a September 22, 2020 incident involving a senior Pentagon official allegedly tailed by an Iranian national in a vehicle with Virginia license plates" to the Office of the Secretary of Defense via an online portal. On February 15, 2021, Government Information Specialist Vivian Gales-Wilkes informed me that the request (numbered 21-F-0171) had been forwarded to the Department of the Army. You may find both a description of the initial request and Ms. Gales- Wilkes' response attached to this letter.
Can you confirm that you have received the forwarded request from the Office of the Secretary of Defense? Furthermore, would you be able to confirm whether the request is still being processed under tracking number 21-F-0171, or whether a new tracking number has been assigned? I look forward to hearing back from you at your earliest convenience; in the future, feel free to use this email address to contact me regarding the request.
Best regards,
Matthew Petti
From: Department of Defense, Office of the Secretary of Defense
Dear Mr. Petti,
Please find attached both FOIA Request 21-F-0171 which has been received in our office on
November 09, 2020, as well as our office's final response.
V/R
Vivian Gales-Wilkes
Washington Headquarters Service
Government Information Specialist (FOID)
OFC: (571) 372-0436
vivian.d.gales-wilkes.civ@mail.com <mailto:vivian.d.gales-wilkes.civ@mail.com>
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 29, 2020. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response. You had assigned it reference number #21-F-0171.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Department of Defense, Office of the Secretary of Defense
CLASSIFICATION: UNCLASSIFIED
Greetings Mr. Petti,
We apologize for the delay in response to your request. However, we wanted to look further in to this matter.
There is no record of the Office of the Secretary of Defense FOIA Office referring this case to our office. However, as you have brought this matter and request to our office's attention, we will begin to process your request. Our office will assign a new tracking number.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.
Thank you,
DA FOIA Office
-
~WRD000
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 29, 2020. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response. You had assigned it reference number #21-F-0171.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 29, 2020. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response. You had assigned it reference number #21-F-0171.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 29, 2020. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response. You had assigned it reference number #21-F-0171.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Department of Defense, Office of the Secretary of Defense
CLASSIFICATION: UNCLASSIFIED
Greetings,
Please find attached the final response to your FOIA request.
Thank you,
DA FOIA Office
-
~WRD000
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