As you can see, it took the Transportation Security Administration eight months (*) to respond to my FOIA request for a simple press kit. I am not sure if that is worst than the two months it took them to churn out a response to my request once they realized that there was no TSA press kit. With search skills like this, I have no full faith and confidence in their ability to stop terrorism.
(*) This request was submitted and responded to in either 2010 or 2011. I misplaced the letter I received from the TSA and then I lost the file. The year is not particularly relevant given it occurred within the same calender year.
For some reason, INSCOM sent me the portion of the Encyclopedia of Jihad dealing with codes, ciphers, and encryption. I am not one to let documents go to waste, so I have posted it for reader enjoyment.
Edvard Kardelj was a former vice-president of Yugoslavia, a senior Partisan commander, and one of the leading post-second-world-war Communist intellectuals. Despite this, on December 16, 2009, the Federal Bureau of Investigation destroyed all but fifteen pages of their records pertaining to him. According to the Bureau, the only records that survived are fifteen pages pertaining to the 9/29/1977- 10/5/1977 visit by Kardelj to the United States.
The records are worthless for scholarship due to the extensive redactions made to them on the b(1), that is the information according to the FOIA statute, is “specifically authorized under criteria established by an Executive order to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy”. Judging from the markings on the surviving documents, the information that is being redacted is classified “Secret” meaning its release would cause “serious damage” to American national security. In the FBI's opinion, I cannot be not allowed to see the FBI's information on Kardelj because it would compromise American national security, yet, somehow the same information can confined to the wastebasket without the least harm to American national security.
The National Security Agency has confirmed that Hunter S. Thompson, founding practitioner of Gonzo journalism and the author of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 as well as working as a reporter for Rolling Stone magazine, ESPN as a sports columnist, among other journalistic pursuits did not work for the National Security Agency. However, it invoked Glomar with regard to any further information pertaining to Hunter S. Thompson.
Given the NSA's prior disclosure of information pertaining to Jack Anderson in response to the FOIA request that I had submitted to the NSA in that regard, I honestly believe that this decision is the product of a misunderstand on the part of the National Security Agency who probably did not recognize Hunter Stockton Thompson as being Hunter S. Thompson. As such, I have had a FOIA appeal submitted to the NSA and expect a prompt correction to this unfortunate decision to neither confirm nor deny possessing records or information on Hunter S. Thompson.
A comforting fact about the Freedom of Information Act system is that it provides an equally poor performance for both plebeian and patrician.
On November 4, 2009, the Department of Defense's Freedom of Information Act office received two unclassified documents from the Mandatory Declassification Review staff of the Records and Declassification Division, Washington Headquarters Services sought by former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. (1) The files, one a 1/12/2006 Memorandum from Donald Rumsfeld to National Security Adviser Stephan Hadley and the Honorable Dr. J.D. Crouch regarding The Circular PC Meeting on "Lead Departments,' "Blended Leads," "Co-Leads," and the like,” (2) the focus of which was an unnamed project and an undated, untitled record titled “Comparison of Draft Legislation with Military Commission Orders,” (3)which was a chart comparing the MCOs with legislation then being drafted by the U.S. Congress on how to handle detainees at Gitmo and other black sites.
As the final letter response letter shows, this request was not completed until June 3, 2010, almost seven months to day that the Department of Defense's Freedom of Information Act office received the unclassified documents.(4)
For fans of the publicly mild-mannered Tom Bosley, a gentleman best-known for playing “Mr. C.” on the hit TV show “Happy Days” and Father Frank Dowling on “Father Dowling Mysteries ” it is probably a shock to discover Mr. Bosley possessed a FBI file. The FBI confirmed this in response to a FOIA request this author had submitted to the FBI after the public announcement of Mr. Bosley's demise.
Thanks to the much criticized FBI record retention schedule, it appears that the American public will forever denied access to and knowledge of the contents of Mr. Bosley's FBI file and the events which led to its creation. Like Bobby Thomson, we are left to speculate as to whether Bosley was a suspected or actual communist or “fellow traveler,” a victim of an obsessed or crazed fan, or just a peripheral figure in an investigation of which even he might have been unaware.
At some point, for some reason, Bobby Thomson, author of the famed “Shot Heard 'round the World,” a home run in the third game of the 1951 pennant playoff series, which won the NL Pennant for the New York Giants, came into contact with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. We know this because the FBI has admitted having “responsive records” when presented with a FOIA request.
Why Thomson came to the attention of the FBI is not known. Was he suspected of gambling? Was he a victim of a federal crime? Was he a suspected Communist? Was his name merely mentioned in an investigation into Major League Baseball or, perhaps, a teammate?
Why Bobby Thomson drew the attention of the Federal Bureau of Investigation will remain forever unknown. In the same letter in which the FBI admitted to having “responsive records” regarding Bobby Thomson, the FBI announced that it had destroyed the records in accordance with its record retention schedule.
Most striking about the FBI’s destruction of Thomson’s records was the date of their annihilation. They were destroyed on 4/1/2010, several months before Thomson’s demise and before anyone would have had a chance to submit a FOIA request for them. Without ever having given them the chance to become part of the public record, the FBI simply scooped up the records and confined them to pulping or a burn bag.
Now, baseball fans around the world will be left wondering, why was the FBI interested in Bobby Thomson?
Conveniently for the FBI, the Bureau does not maintain a ready list of the files slated for destruction. So, unless someone happens to luck out with a FOIA request, files slated for annihilation will probably be destroyed before the public can request them.
After my tirade yesterday about the FBI FOIA Office’s idiocy, I had intended to turn my ire on the CIA today. However, before I finish cobbling together my diatribe regarding the CIA’s capricious system, I rummaged through my records and found the below posted letter regarding another FOIA request submitted to the FBI. The rank fail contained inside spawned a shelving of my CIA rant and the creation of this one.
This FBI letter informs me that they have found records responsive to my FOIA request. The combined fees of my request (search and duplication) amount to $24.30. Just a sentence prior, the FBI states that it is the FBI “notifies when anticipated fees exceed $25.” Fine, but as you can see the letter stated that the fees would be “”24.30,” which is pocket change less, but still less, than $25. Two sentence later, it is revealed that, “this is only an estimate, and if some of the pages are withheld in full pursuant to FOIA/Privacy Act exemption(s) or are, determined to not be responsive to your request, the actual charges could be less. So, not only is the estimate below $25 to start, the fees might be reduced even further. Nice.
Worse yet, when I submitted this FOIA request, I informed the FBI that I was willing to pay fees up to and including $25. I have previously paid for records released through FOIA, so the FBI knows I am good for it. I also requested that the FBI call me if they had any questions regarding my willingness to pay fees or reduce the scope of my request.
However, as someone who works in special education, I am aware that praise should accompany criticism whenever possible. So, I would like to thank the FBI for getting my name right on this FOIA request. I would also like to point out that they corrected the typo regarding requester response time that I railed about in my previous letter. Now, lets work on the FBI’s our math concepts such as greater and less than and the sequence of numbers and brush up on reading for comprehension skills.
Writing a thesis on a domestic terrorism in America requires a lot of FOIAs to the FBI. Besides requests for the famous groups like the Weathermen or famous attacks like 9-11, you have to submit requests on all the terrorist organizations operating in America. Needless to say, I have interacted a lot with the FBI FOIA office. Honestly, I am not impressed.
Response times are horrible, even when FOIAing for files that are frequently requested and require little searching. Staff can be snippy and bitchy about answering basic questions. Not to mention, they destroy files with little public notice or apparent rhyme or reason. On a more basic level, they cannot keep their policies straight on simple policy matters like how long a requester has to respond to a letter or query from the FBI FOIA office.
Below is a letter I received from the FBI regarding a FOIA request. On one hand, it informs me that I "must notify us [FBI] in writing within 60 days from the date of this letter of your willingness to pay." However, by the next-to-last-paragraph, I am informed that "if you fail to notify us of your willingness to pay [and/or] we do not hear from you regarding your willingness to reduce the scope of your request within 30 days from the date of this letter, your request will be closed."
FBI FOIA Letter
Do I have 30 or 60 days to which to respond to this letter? It is unclear from this muddled missive. Given that this is a form letter and the minor nature of this gaffe, thousands of people have received this letter and I doubt anyone has informed them of their mistake. Most likely, they laugh, maybe mock the FBI amongst their friends and then pay the fee or reduce the scope of their request within 30 days.
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