UPDATE: Buddy Cianci’s FBI File Might Be Released For Free — All Crowdfunding Donors Are Being Refunded
No Funds Will Be Raised Until Cost-Free Possibilities Resolved
I have stopped my $1,720 crowdfunding campaign for the release of Buddy Cianci’s FBI file, after learning of ways the file might be released for free. All donors are in the process of being refunded and Michael Morisy, the co-founder of MuckRock (the site through which I was crowdfunding), tells me, “All the refunds are now processing; they can take 5 to 10 days to show on credit card statements.”
That’s the most important news.
Here’s what happened.
In some ways, I’m a Freedom of Information Act expert. I’ve been fighting the Drug Enforcement Administration over the same FOIA request since February 2012. But FOIA is a vast and complicated world, and I fully admit I’m not an expert on the often-confusing details of how government agencies assess, and sometimes waive, fees in response to Freedom of Information Act requests.
So, when I received news that the FBI was asking for $1,720 on Friday night (the letter was dated April 18, but I wasn’t notified about it until April 29), I made a somewhat hurried decision to crowdfund. When I pressed “Publish” on yesterday’s fundraising campaign announcement, I was going with what I understood to be the quickest, least expensive option. But I admittedly didn’t do as much research about this as I could, and should, have done.
Then, after the campaign was underway, I spoke with a reporter who told me (a) I might be entitled to lower fees, as a member of the news media; and (b) moreover, in some cases, FBI files for public figures are released to the news media for free, if the figure is prominent enough and/or enough requests are submitted. So, even though I was excited by the response to the campaign — we raised over $1000 in less than 24 hours; thank you! — I didn’t want to continue with fundraising, and payment, until the possibility of a free release was resolved.
So, here are the ways, as I currently understand them, that I might be able to access Cianci’s file for free. Warning: this gets a little wonky.
- By Changing My Status to a Media-Requester, and Arguing the FBI Didn’t Respond to My Request Within the Legally-Required Window.
As the Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press explains:
Regardless of whether a full waiver request is granted, an agency cannot assess a “representative of the news media” duplication fees under FOIA if it fails to comply with the statutory deadlines for issuing determinations of FOIA requests and appeals, in the absence of “unusual or exceptional circumstances.” For example, where an agency did not make a determination on a requester’s fee waiver request within 20 working days — as well as his fee waiver appeal — as required under FOIA, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia held the agency was barred from charging the requester any fees.
This is worth further exploration, and I’m working on that.
2. By Successfully Arguing That Fees for the Cianci File Ought to Be Waived.
When I emailed the FBI’s FOIA-Requester public liaison this morning with questions related to FOIA fees, she responded (very promptly, I might add), in part:
Under the FOIA, fee waivers are limited to situations in which a requester can show that the disclosure of the requested information is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations and activities of the government and is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester. If you wish to request a fee waiver, please notify us in writing…If your fee waiver is granted, you will receive the material at no cost….I am unsure of the statistics regarding how often fee waiver requests are granted. However, if requesters are able to prove the requested material (1) concerns the operations or activities of the Federal Government, and (2) is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations and activities of the government, a request for a fee waiver will be granted. You should include an argument pertaining to these factors along with your fee waiver request. Information indicating the material would contribute to the understanding of a broad audience, and proof of your ability to effectively convey the information to the public strengthen your argument for a fee waiver.
This, too, is worth exploring.
3. By Successfully Arguing That Cianci’s File Belongs on the FBI’s Public, Free “Vault” Page.
Again, the FBI’s Public Liaison for FOIA explains:
Determinations regarding material to be placed on the FBI’s electronic reading room, known as “The Vault,” are made on a case-by-case basis. Your suggestion to have the Vincent Cianci files added will be forwarded to the appropriate analyst for consideration. If appropriate, a response will be forthcoming….If you wish to make an argument as to why the material should be made available on the Vault, I will be happy to forward it to the appropriate analyst. I am unsure of exactly how long it will take to get that particular determination, but it will be handled as soon as practical.
So I am now exploring all of these avenues — the media-requester/delay situation, the fee-waiver situation, the Vault situation — in the hopes that Cianci’s FBI file will be released to public, free of charge. This may take a bit longer than paying $1,720 for the file, and the process is not a sure bet; I may be back for another round of crowdfunding, down the road. But I absolutely did not want to pay — with other people’s money— for a file that could potentially be released for free. That’s why contributors are getting refunds.
I, of course, am a bit embarrassed that I didn’t know all of these options before I launched yesterday’s crowdfunding campaign. But I’d rather accept that modest embarrassment than the knowledge that I’d asked folks to contribute to something we could have gotten for free. (I’ll also offer three rapid-fire excuses: FOIA is confusing; this Cianci-crowdfunding project is one of many things I’m juggling right now, and I’m working toward at least five other deadlines; and, as I said in my crowdfunding launch post, I was eager — perhaps over-eager — to get other folks involved in this process.)
If anyone has questions for me, if if there are any complications related to receiving your refund, please email me at philip.edward.eil [at] gmail.com. I will continue to post updates about my quest for access to Buddy Cianci’s FBI file on social media and here on Medium. And I apologize for any confusion this campaign has caused.
Thank you.
Phil
p.s. Shout-out to former Providence Phoenix photographer, and current Valley Breeze photographer, Richard McCaffrey for giving me access to his amazing collection of Cianci photos.
