Ed Reinecke
| Tracking # |
1364395-000 |
| Submitted | Jan. 3, 2017 |
| Est. Completion | None |
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Communications
From: Michael Best
To Whom It May Concern:
This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request the following records:
Ed Reinecke, whose death has been widely reported. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/28/us/politics/edward-reinecke-died-watergate-perjury-case.html
Please conduct a search of the Central Records System, including but not limited to the Electronic Surveillance (ELSUR) Indices, the Microphone Surveillance (MISUR) Indices, the Physical Surveillance (FISUR) Indices, and the Technical Surveillance (TESUR) Indices, for both main-file records and cross-reference records of both HQ and all field offices for all relevant names, agencies, organizations, companies and events including but not limited to those cited in the previous obituary including, but not limited to, a cross-reference search with the Watergate file and all individuals associated with that file. If previously released records are available, then I request a rolling release consisting of those records while additional records are located and processed for release.
I am a member of the news media and request classification as such. I have previously written about the government and its activities for AND Magazine, MuckRock and Glomar Disclosure and have an open arrangement with each. My articles have been widely read, with some reaching over 100,000 readers. 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 the non-profit Internet Archive, 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. Additionally, 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 such, my primary purpose is to inform about government activities by reporting on it and making the raw data available and I therefore request that fees be waived.
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,
Michael Best
From: FOIPARequest
Good afternoon Mr. Best,
Before the FBI can process your Freedom of Information Act/Privacy (FOIPA) request you must provide the following information highlighted with an “X” Mark.
_____A current and complete mailing address is required as the FBI does not send releases and/or correspondence by electronic means. (Unless the request has already been submitted through eFOIPA.)
_____Proof of death is required such as: (death certificate, obituary, written media, recognized source that can be documented, Who’s Who in America, FBI file that indicates subject is deceased, or the Social Security Death Index Page). Proof of death is not required if date of birth is 100 years ago or greater but a date of birth is needed
__x___A website link in itself does not satisfy the proof of death requirement (Please provide the actual documentation and source)
_____The U. S. Department of Justice DOJ-361 Form<https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/u-s-department-of-justice-form-361-certification-of-identity.pdf/view> (Certification of Identity) requires an original and legible signature
_____ The U. S. Department of Justice DOJ-361 Form<https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/u-s-department-of-justice-form-361-certification-of-identity.pdf/view> (Certification of Identity) and/or privacy waiver must be completed before a Privacy Act request can be processed. Please send the attachment or attachments independently in either a Word Document or PDF.
_____The U. S. Department of Justice DOJ-361 Form<https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/u-s-department-of-justice-form-361-certification-of-identity.pdf/view> (Certification of Identity) and/or privacy waiver is not legible, properly sized or cannot be accessed in the submitted format. Please send the attachment or attachments independently in either a Word Document or PDF. The documents must be compatible with Microsoft Office 2007 products.
_____Other information as stated:
_____The attachments cannot be opened in the present format. Please resend either as a pdf or a Word Document.
Please complete and submit the required information in order for the FBI to process your request.
Information regarding the Freedom of Information Act/Privacy is available at http://www.fbi.gov/ or http://www.fbi.gov/foia/. If you require additional assistance please contact me.
Thank you,
Leanna Ramsey
Public Information Officer
Record/Information Dissemination Section (RIDS) FBI-Records Management Division
170 Marcel Drive, Winchester, VA 22602-4843
PIO: (540) 868-4593
Direct: (540) 868-4854
Fax: (540) 868-4391/4997
Questions E-mail: foipaquestions@ic.fbi.gov<mailto:foipaquestions@ic.fbi.gov>
PLEASE REPLY DIRECTLY TO FOIPAREQUESTS@IC.FBI.GOV
Do you have further questions about the FOI/PA process? Visit us at http://www.fbi.gov/foia
Please check the status of your request online at https://vault.fbi.gov/fdps-1/@@search-fdps. Status updates are performed on a weekly basis.
-
~WRD031
From: Michael Best
A website link DOES provide proof of death if it is to the source, in this case the New York Times. This is more reliable than an attachment, as you are able to be satisfied of its provenance. Further, the FBI has determined that web links ARE sufficient as the Bureau uses web links to respond to FOIA requests in lieu of actually providing documents. Additionally, you are attempting to cite, without citing it, a privacy exemption for a request without actually processing the request. You are not allowed to do so. Your attempts to do so are arbitrary and transparently adversarial as you have demonstrated that you do this without actually reading previous requests I filed. Further, you are attempting to do so without providing the opportunity to appeal your determination.
But again, a web link IS sufficient as it is the source and documentation, further your own agencies standard has determined that web links are sufficient for ANSWERING FOIA requests, making them acceptable for filing them, further proof of death is not required as his death is widely and extensively reported, per my original FOIA.
From: FOIPARequest
Good afternoon Mr. Best,
The FBI has received your Freedom of Information Act/Privacy (FOIPA) request and it will be forwarded to Initial Processing for review. Your request will be processed under the provisions of FOIPA and a response will be mailed to you at a later date.
Requests for fee waivers and expedited processing will be addressed once your request has been assigned an FOIPA request number. You will receive written notification of the FBI’s decision.
Information regarding the Freedom of Information Act/Privacy is available at http://www.fbi.gov<http://www.fbi.gov>/ or http://www.fbi.gov/foia/<http://www.fbi.goiv/foia/>. If you require additional assistance please contact the Public Information Officer.
Thank you,
Leanna Ramsey
Public Information Officer
Record/Information Dissemination Section (RIDS) FBI-Records Management Division
170 Marcel Drive, Winchester, VA 22602-4843
PIO: (540) 868-4593
Direct: (540) 868-4854
Fax: (540) 868-4391/4997
Questions E-mail: foipaquestions@ic.fbi.gov<mailto:foipaquestions@ic.fbi.gov>
PLEASE REPLY DIRECTLY TO FOIPAREQUESTS@IC.FBI.GOV
Do you have further questions about the FOI/PA process? Visit us at http://www.fbi.gov/foia
Please check the status of your request online at https://vault.fbi.gov/fdps-1/@@search-fdps. Status updates are performed on a weekly basis.
-
~WRD015
From: Federal Bureau of Investigation
An acknowledgement letter, stating the request is being processed.
From: Michael Best
I am appealing the decision to not perform the cross-reference searches and field office searches explicitly requested.
From: OIP-NoReply@usdoj.gov
02/17/2017 05:42 PM FOIA Request: DOJ-AP-2017-002371
From: Federal Bureau of Investigation
The request has been rejected by the agency.
From: OIP-NoReply@usdoj.gov
DOJ-AP-2017-002371 has been processed with the following final disposition: Closed for other reasons -- Other -- No Component Response to Adjudicate.
From: Bronson, Rebecca (RMD) (FBI)
Good afternoon Ms. Best,
I'm contacting you about the FOIA request you made for records concerning Ed Reinecke. The FBI has located approximately 3800 pages that are potentially responsive to your request. Requests are processed in the order in which they are received through our multi-track processing system, and the FBI receives a voluminous amount of requests on a daily, weekly, monthly, and annual basis. Requests are divided into two primary tracks--simple (under 50 pages of potentially responsive documents) and complex (over 50 pages of potentially responsive documents). Complex requests are further divided into medium (51-950 pages), large (951-8000 pages), and extra-large (over 8000 pages) sub-tracks based upon request size.
Simple track requests typically require the least amount of time to process. The more potentially responsive pages a request has, the more complex it becomes, greatly increasing the time required for processing. Generally, the larger the file, the longer it takes to process. A review of your request determined that it is currently in the complex request large processing track. Given our current workload and staffing levels, it may yet be a long time before you begin to receive material from this request.
Reducing the scope of your request may accelerate the processing and allow for a more timely receipt of the information you seek, as it could potentially place your request into a smaller, faster processing track. This may also reduce duplication costs, if applicable. Would you be willing to consider reducing the scope of your request? If so, I would be happy to help you to decide the best approach to take. We could potentially narrow your request by date, or if you are looking for something specific, we could approach the scope reduction process in that way.
Please let me know if you would like to potentially reduce the scope of your request. I can be reached via email at rbronson@fbi.gov, or you may call me at 540-868-1695, Monday - Friday between the hours of 7:00am and 3:00pm Eastern time.
Best regards,
Rebecca Bronson
Records Management Division
Federal Bureau of Investigation
540-868-1695
From: Bronson, Rebecca (RMD) (FBI)
Good morning Ms. Best,
Hadn't heard back from you and was just following up.
Best regards,
Rebecca Bronson
Records Management Division
Federal Bureau of Investigation
540-868-1695
From: Bronson, Rebecca (RMD) (FBI)
Good morning Ms. Best,
Hope you are well - hadn't heard back from you and was following up.
Best regards,
Rebecca Bronson
Records Management Division
Federal Bureau of Investigation
540-868-1695
From: Emma North-Best
What page count are we looking at if we remove cross-references (but still including references in any Watergate related-files)?
From: Federal Bureau of Investigation
The request has been rejected by the agency.
From: Federal Bureau of Investigation
Good morning Ms. North-Best,
We're contacting you in reference to the FOIPA request number included in the subject line of this email. The FBI located approximately 3797 pages potentially responsive to your request.
Requests are processed in the order in which they are received through our multi-track processing system:
Small track requests (0-50 pages) current average time is approximately 4 months to complete;
Medium track requests (51-500 pages) current average time is approximately 35 months to complete;
Large track requests (501-4,999 pages) current average time is approximately 55 months to complete; and
Extra-large track requests (over 5,000 pages) current average time is approximately 77 months to complete.
The current average time to complete your large track request is at least 55 months. Reducing the scope of your request may accelerate the processing, allow for a timelier receipt of the information you seek, and reduce the duplication costs, if applicable. Would you be willing to consider reducing the scope of your request to place it in a smaller, potentially faster processing track?
Please let us know if this is something you would be interested in further discussing. If you chose to narrow the scope of your request, you will be able to request remaining material via a new FOIPA request submission at the completion of this request, subject to applicable fees.
Best regards,
Negotiation Team
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Fbi.foipa.negotiation@fbi.gov<mailto:Fbi.foipa.negotiation@fbi.gov>
Status Checks: https://vault.fbi.gov/fdps-1/@@search-fdps | foipaquestions@fbi.gov<mailto:foipaquestions@fbi.gov>
For additional information, please visit the www.fbi.gov/foia<http://www.fbi.gov/foia> website.
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From: Emma North-Best
Are we counting from 2017 when I filed the request, or from when?
From: Federal Bureau of Investigation
Good morning Ms. Best,
Apologies for the delayed response to your email. Per letter dated December 1, 2022, your request was re-opened and any decisions previously made remain intact. As the originally estimated 55 month processing time for this specific case has expired due to your requests being administratively closed for a period of time, our revised estimated dates of completion are based on where your original request was in process prior to its closing.
Please let us know if potentially narrowing this request is something you would be interested in further discussing.
Best regards,
Negotiation Team
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Fbi.foipa.negotiation@fbi.gov<mailto:Fbi.foipa.negotiation@fbi.gov>
Status Checks: https://vault.fbi.gov/fdps-1/@@search-fdps | foipaquestions@fbi.gov<mailto:foipaquestions@fbi.gov>
For additional information, please visit the www.fbi.gov/foia<http://www.fbi.gov/foia> website.
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From: Federal Bureau of Investigation
Good morning Ms. Best,
We hadn’t heard back from you and wanted to follow up.
Best regards,
Negotiation Team
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Fbi.foipa.negotiation@fbi.gov<mailto:Fbi.foipa.negotiation@fbi.gov>
Status Checks: https://vault.fbi.gov/fdps-1/@@search-fdps | foipaquestions@fbi.gov<mailto:foipaquestions@fbi.gov>
For additional information, please visit the www.fbi.gov/foia<http://www.fbi.gov/foia> website.
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