State's EO 13382 Designation of the IRGC: 25OCT07 (FOIA)

David Scantling filed this request with the U.S. Department of State of the United States of America.
Tracking #

F-2017-00652
Submitted Jan. 14, 2017
Est. Completion None
Status
Fix Required
Tags

From: David Scantling

Subject: MR#31837-322192 - Freedom of Information Request: State's EO 13382 Designation of the IRGC: 25OCT07 (FOIA)

Fax

To Whom It May Concern:

This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request the following records:

All State Department documents, reports, files, and electronic-mail messages related to the E.O. 13382 designation of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on October 25, 2007; limited to the following FOIA search constraints:

1. Search Date Range: September 1, 2007 to October 25, 2007;
2. Search Terms: IRGC, IRGC-QF, Quds Force, Qasem Soleimani, Hezbollah, Special Groups, Counter Iranian Influence (CII), Iraq Threat Finance Cell (ITFC), Bank Saderat Iran, Bank Saderat PLC (UK), Bank Markazi, Central Bank of Iran, Bank Melli, Bank Mellat, and Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL).

Although FOIA has always presumed that government records are open to public inspection, the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016, Pub. L. 114-185, prohibits agencies from withholding records unless (1) “disclosure is prohibited by law” or (2) “the agency reasonably foresees that disclosure would harm an interest protected by” one of FOIA’s exemptions. 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(8)(A). Thus, in addition to FOIA favoring disclosure and requiring its exemptions to be narrowly construed, Section 552(a)(8)(A) prohibits agencies from using their discretion to broadly withhold records merely because they believe an exemption could technically apply.

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,

David Scantling

From: Department of State

Subject: None

Mail (Postmarked Jan. 23, 2017)

An acknowledgement letter, stating the request is being processed.

From: David Scantling

Subject: MR#31837-330728 - RE: Freedom of Information Request #F-2017-00652

Fax

Dear DoS FOIA Office:

Re: Case Control Number F-2017-00652

Per your request, I am willing to pay fees for this request up to a maximum of $350.00. If you estimate that the fees will exceed this limit, please inform me first.

Regards,

David Scantling

From: McCartney-Melstad, Austin R

Subject: Cases M-2015-00693 and F-2017-00652

Email

Dear Mr. Scantling,

I recently inherited one of your cases (M-2015-00693) that appears to be very similar to a new case that you submitted January 14, 2017 (F-2017-00652). I apologize for the delay in processing M-2015-00693. Case F-2017-00652 appears to be a refinement of the original request. Is this correct? If it is then I will close the original and focus on the refined request, which will move much faster through the system than the original would. Please let me know how you would like me to proceed.

Thank you very much,
Austin

Austin McCartney-Melstad
Government Information Specialist
A/GIS/IPS

Official
UNCLASSIFIED

From: U.S. Department of State

Subject: Still Interested Inquiry FOIA F-2017-00652

Email

Please see attached.