“ON THE TRAIL OF THE ASSASSINS”: A Citizen’s FOIA Request 54576 & FOIA Appeal NGC18–068A (President John. F. Kennedy Assassination Collection)
(Note: The correspondence below appears in reverse chronological order. As of June 2019, a further FOIA Appeal to the U.S. District Court in Boston is being considered. -DC)
GOVERNMENT RESPONSE TO FOIA APPEAL
CITIZEN’S NOTICE OF FOIA APPEAL
August 14, 2018
Deputy Archivist of the United States, National Archives and Records Administration
8601 Adelphi Road, Room 4200
College Park, MD 20740–6001
Subject: FOIA Appeal re FOIA tracking number 54576
Delivered via e-mail to foia@nara.gov
Dear Deputy Archivist:
This letter constitutes a formal notification that, pursuant to the incomplete and unsatisfactory responses I received from representatives of the National Archives dated Nov. 13, 2017 and May 18, 2018, it is my intention to exercise a “FOIA Appeal” with regard to my request under the Freedom of Information Act (5 USC 552, as amended) fora copy of all materials in “The President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection” of the National Archives & Records Administration, which collection is mandated by the John F. Kennedy Assassination Collection Records Act of 1992 (44 USC 2107, as amended).
I also hereby renew my request for a waiver of all fees concerning this matter in which I have no commercial interest, and because the disclosure of the requested information is in the public interest and is likely to contribute significantly to public confidence in the operations of the U.S. Government, which confidence has been severely eroded as the principal result of unnecessary secrecy modelled by its investigations of the murder of the President on November 22, 1963.
Thank you for your further consideration of this request.
Sincerely,
Daniel O. Currie
80 West Dedham St., Apt. 1201
Boston, MA 02118
E-mail: dcurrieus@yahoo.com
GOVERNMENT RESPONSE TO FOIA REQUEST
Date: Nov. 13, 2017
From: Rebecca Calcagno, Supervisory Archivist
Special Access and FOIA Branch (RD-F)
National Archives at College Park
To: Daniel O. Currie
Boston, MA 02118
Re: Freedom of Information Act Request
(Delivered via e-mail to dcurrieus@yahoo.com at 3:22 pm)
Dear Mr. Currie:
I am writing in response to your Freedom of Information Act request of October 16, 2017 for records in the custody of the National Archives and Records Administration. Your request was received in this office on October 16, 2017 and assigned FOIA case number 54576.
You requested a copy of all materials in “The President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection”.
88% of the collection is already open in full and you are welcome to come to the National Archives facility in College Park, Maryland to examine it. The open documents total almost five million pages.
The documents in the remaining 12% of the collection were either released in part (11%) or withheld in full (1%). These documents are currently undergoing a re-review process, as mandated by the JFK Act. As such, we will be responding to your FOIA request for these documents once the re-review process has been completed for all the remaining material. We anticipate this process will be done at the end of April 2018, in accordance with guidance provided by the President.
Please note that as the re-view process is completed on previously withheld material, we are periodically releasing it on our website. You may find what has been released to date on this page: https://www.archives. gov/research/jfk/2017-release. We will continue to update this page as new material is released.
You also requested a waiver for reproduction fees ordinarily charged to researchers.
Records transferred to the custody of the National Archives are exempt from the fee and fee waiver provisions of the Freedom of Information Act because a fee schedule was in effect prior to enactment. The applicable section states that “nothing in this subparagraph shall supersede fees chargeable under a statute specifically providing for setting the level of fees for particular types of records” (5 U.S.C. 552 (a)(4)(A)(vi)). The relevant fee statute authorizes the National Archives “to charge a fee for making or authenticating copies or reproductions of materials transferred to the Archivist’s custody.” (44 U.S.C. 2116(c)). The inability to grant the requested fee waiver does not constitute a denial under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act.
If you are not satisfied with our action on this request, you have the right to file an administrative appeal within ninety (90) calendar days from the date of this letter. Appeals must be in writing and may be delivered by regular U.S. mail or by e-mail. By filing an appeal, you preserve your rights under the Freedom of Information Act and present the deciding agency with an opportunity to review your request and reconsider its decision. If you submit your appeal by regular mail, it should be addressed to the Deputy Archivist of the United States (ND), National Archives and Records Administration, 8601 Adelphi Road, Room 4200, College Park, Maryland 20740–6001. Both the letter and envelope should be clearly marked “FOIA Appeal.” If you submit your appeal by e-mail, please send it to foia@nara.gov, addressed to the Deputy Archivist, with the words “FOIA Appeal” in the subject line. Please be certain to explain why you believe this response does not meet the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act. All communications concerning this request should reference FOIA case number 54576.
If you would like the opportunity to discuss our response and attempt to resolve your dispute without initiating the appeals process, you may contact our FOIA Public Liaison for assistance:
Accessioned Executive Branch Records — Washington, DC Area
FOIA Requester Service Center: 301–837–3190
FOIA Public Liaison: Martha Wagner Murphy
8601 Adelphi Road, Room 5500
College Park, MD 20740–6001
Telephone: 301–837–3270
E-mail: dc.foia.liaison@nara.gov
If you are unable to resolve your dispute through our Public Liaison, the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) is the federal FOIA ombudsman. OGIS offers mediation services to help resolve disputes between FOIA requesters and federal agencies. You may contact OGIS at the following address:
Office of Government Information Services (OGIS)
National Archives and Records Administration
8601 Adelphi Road, Room 2510
College Park, MD 20740–6001Telephone: 202–741–5770 or 1–877–684–6448
E-mail: ogis@nara.gov
Sincerely,
Rebecca Calcagno, Ph.D., M.L.S.
Supervisory Archivist
Special Access and FOIA Branch (RD-F)
National Archives at College Park
Phone: (301) 837–2986
www.archives.gov/research/foia/
CITIZEN’S ORIGINAL FOIA REQUEST:
Date: October 16, 2017
From: Daniel O. Currie
Boston, MA 02118
To: Gary M. Stern, General Counsel, Chief FOIA Officer
National Archives
College Park, MD 20740–6001
Re: Freedom of Information Act Request
(Delivered via e-mail to garym.stern@nara.gov)
Dear Mr. Stern:
This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act (5 USC 552, as amended) for a copy of all materials in “The President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection” of the National Archives & Records Administration, which collection has been mandated by the John F. Kennedy Assassination Collection Records Act of 1992 (44 USC 2107, as amended).
I request a waiver of all fees for this request in which I have no commercial interest. Disclosure of the requested information is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of, and confidence in, the operations and activities of the U.S. Government, which understanding and confidence have severely eroded as the principal result of secrecy modelled in its investigations of the murder of the President on November 22, 1963.
Thank you for your consideration of this request.
Sincerely,
Daniel O. Currie
Boston, MA 02118
cc: Textual Records Reference Division, via archives2reference@nara.gov
Donald F. McGahn II, Counsel to President, via USPS to the White House
