Emails Between CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney and Wells Fargo

Dear Mr. Gottinger:

Please be advised that the BCFP FOIA Office has a backlog of pending FOIA requests. We are diligently working to process each request in the order in which it was received. Your patience is greatly appreciated.

This letter is to inform you that on January 7, 2019, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (BCFP) received your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. Your request sought:

Any and all emails between CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney and any person employed by or
associated with Wells Fargo.

As it relates to your fee waiver request, your request will be held in abeyance pending the quantification of responsive records. The BCFP Interim FOIA regulations, set forth six factors to examine in determining whether the applicable legal standard for a fee waiver has been met: (1) Whether the subject of the requested records concerns ''the operations or activities of the government;'' (2) Whether the disclosure is ''likely to contribute'' to an understanding of government operations or activities; (3) Whether disclosure of the requested information will contribute to the understanding of the public at large, as opposed to the individual understanding of the requestor or a narrow segment of interested persons; (4) Whether the contribution to public understanding of government operations or activities will be ''significant;'' (5) Whether the requester has a commercial interest that would be furthered by the requested disclosure; and (6) Whether the magnitude of any identified commercial interest to the requestor is sufficiently large in comparison with the public interest in disclosure, that disclosure is primarily in the commercial interest of the requestor. If any responsive records are located, we will consider these factors in our evaluation of your request for a fee waiver.

You have been determined to be a media requester and provisions of the FOIA allow the BCFP to recover part of the cost of complying with your request. You will be charged for the duplication (after the first 100 pages) costs in accordance with the BCFP Interim FOIA regulations as applicable to media requestors. The BCFP's FOIA Fee Schedule may be viewed at www.consumerfinance.gov/foia-requests/fee-schedule/<http://www.consumerfinance.gov/foia-requests/fee-schedule/>. You did not indicate in your request a specific amount you were willing to pay. Therefore, in accordance with our regulations, your submission of a FOIA request is construed as an agreement to pay up to $25.00. You will be contacted in the event there are additional fees related to the processing of your request beyond this amount.

For inquiries concerning your request, please reference the FOIA request number above and contact our FOIA Public Liaison at foia@consumerfinance.gov<mailto:foia@consumerfinance.gov> or by phone at 1-855-444-FOIA (3642).
Sincerely,

FOIA Public Liaison | FOIA Office
Office: (202) 435-9499 | Toll Free: 855-444-3642

Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection
consumerfinance.gov/foia

Dear Mr. Gottinger:

Please be advised that the BCFP FOIA Office has a backlog of pending FOIA requests. We are diligently working to process each request in the order in which it was received. Your patience is greatly appreciated.

This letter is to inform you that on January 7, 2019, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (BCFP) received your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. Your request sought:

All e-mails exchanged between any government or personal e-mail accounts used by the
Office of Management and Budget's Director John M. Mulvaney and any government or
personal e-mail accounts used by Brian Johnson.

As it relates to your fee waiver request, your request will be held in abeyance pending the quantification of responsive records. The BCFP Interim FOIA regulations, set forth six factors to examine in determining whether the applicable legal standard for a fee waiver has been met: (1) Whether the subject of the requested records concerns ''the operations or activities of the government;'' (2) Whether the disclosure is ''likely to contribute'' to an understanding of government operations or activities; (3) Whether disclosure of the requested information will contribute to the understanding of the public at large, as opposed to the individual understanding of the requestor or a narrow segment of interested persons; (4) Whether the contribution to public understanding of government operations or activities will be ''significant;'' (5) Whether the requester has a commercial interest that would be furthered by the requested disclosure; and (6) Whether the magnitude of any identified commercial interest to the requestor is sufficiently large in comparison with the public interest in disclosure, that disclosure is primarily in the commercial interest of the requestor. If any responsive records are located, we will consider these factors in our evaluation of your request for a fee waiver.

You have been determined to be a media requester and provisions of the FOIA allow the BCFP to recover part of the cost of complying with your request. You will be charged for the duplication (after the first 100 pages) costs in accordance with the BCFP Interim FOIA regulations as applicable to media requestors. The BCFP's FOIA Fee Schedule may be viewed at www.consumerfinance.gov/foia-requests/fee-schedule/<http://www.consumerfinance.gov/foia-requests/fee-schedule/>. You did not indicate in your request a specific amount you were willing to pay. Therefore, in accordance with our regulations, your submission of a FOIA request is construed as an agreement to pay up to $25.00. You will be contacted in the event there are additional fees related to the processing of your request beyond this amount.

For inquiries concerning your request, please reference the FOIA request number above and contact our FOIA Public Liaison at foia@consumerfinance.gov or by phone at 1-855-444-FOIA (3642).
Sincerely,

FOIA Public Liaison | FOIA Office
Office: (202) 435-9499 | Toll Free: 855-444-3642
Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection
consumerfinance.gov/foia

Good Afternoon,

Please be advised that the BCFP FOIA Office has a backlog of pending FOIA requests. We are diligently working to process each request in the order in which it was received. Your patience is greatly appreciated.

In response to your request for a status update for FOIA Request #: BCFP-2019-0172-F, we have assigned your case to an analyst for careful review.

Thank you,

FOIA Public Liaison | FOIA Office
Office: (202) 435-9499 | Toll Free: (855) 444-3642
Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection
consumerfinance.gov/foia
Confidentiality Notice: If you received this email by mistake, you should notify the sender of the mistake and delete the e-mail and any
attachments. An inadvertent disclosure is not intended to waive any privileges.

Good Morning,

Please be advised that the CFPB FOIA Office has a backlog of pending FOIA requests. We are diligently working to process each request in the order in which it was received. Your patience is greatly appreciated.

In response to your request for a status update for FOIA Request #: CFPB-2019-0172-F, your request is in que for processing. If you have other questions, please feel free to reach back out to our FOIA office.

Thank you,
FOIA Public Liaison | FOIA Office
Office: (202) 435-9499 | Toll Free: (855) 444-3642 Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection

Good Morning,

Thank you for contacting the FOIA office regarding a status update. Please be advised that the CFPB FOIA Office has a backlog of pending FOIA requests. We are diligently working to process each request in the order in which it was received. Your patience is greatly appreciated.

As an update to your FOIA request BCFP-2019-0172-F, your case has been assigned to an analyst for review/processing.

I am working with the assigned analyst to determine the estimated completion date.

Thanks,

FOIA Public Liaison | FOIA Office
Office: (202) 435-9499 | Toll Free: (855) 444-3642

Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection
consumerfinance.gov/foia<https://www.consumerfinance.gov/foia-requests/>

Confidentiality Notice: If you received this email by mistake, you should notify the sender of the mistake and delete the e-mail and any attachments. An inadvertent disclosure is not intended to waive any privileges.

Good Morning,

Thank you for contacting the FOIA office regarding a status update. Please be advised that the CFPB FOIA Office has a backlog of pending FOIA requests. We are diligently working to process each request in the order in which it was received. Your patience is greatly appreciated.

As an update to your FOIA request BCFP-2019-0172-F, your case has been assigned to an analyst for review/processing.

I am working with the assigned analyst to determine the estimated completion date.

Thanks,

FOIA Public Liaison | FOIA Office
Office: (202) 435-9499 | Toll Free: (855) 444-3642

Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection
consumerfinance.gov/foia<https://www.consumerfinance.gov/foia-requests/>

Confidentiality Notice: If you received this email by mistake, you should notify the sender of the mistake and delete the e-mail and any attachments. An inadvertent disclosure is not intended to waive any privileges.

Good Afternoon,

Thank you for contacting the FOIA office regarding a status update. Please be advised that the CFPB FOIA Office has a backlog of pending FOIA requests. We are diligently working to process each request in the order in which it was received. Your patience is greatly appreciated.

As an update to your FOIA request BCFP-2019-0172-F, your case has been assigned to an analyst for review/processing. The FOIA team will need to verify the identity of the requester before we can process this case.

Thanks, please let me know if you need any additional information.
FOIA Public Liaison | FOIA Office
Office: (202) 435-9499 | Toll Free: (855) 444-3642

Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection
consumerfinance.gov/foia<https://www.consumerfinance.gov/foia-requests/>

Confidentiality Notice: If you received this email by mistake, you should notify the sender of the mistake and delete the e-mail and any attachments. An inadvertent disclosure is not intended to waive any privileges.

Mr. Gottinger,

Please see the email below. If further clarification is not provided within 30 days from the date of this letter, your FOIA request will be administratively closed.

Respectfully,

Holly C. Walter
Government Information Specialist
(202) 435-7210