Ronald M. Harris
FOIA Officer
Federal Election Commission
999 E Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C.  20463

Via Certified Mail (Article Number 7099-3400-0018-2656-9986)

RE: Freedom of Information Act Request (CONTROL NUMBER FEC-01-002)
 
Dear FOIA Officer:

Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552 (2001), and implementing regulation 11 C.F.R. § 4 (2001), the National Legal and Policy Center hereby requests, pursuant to 11 C.F.R. § 4.7(b)(1), access to information in the possession of the Federal Election Commission (whether the information was generated by the Federal Election Commission or another entity) as follows:
 

Any and/or all briefs, communications, correspondence, documents, electronic mail, files, memoranda, records, reports, transcripts, and/or other information-bearing materials that discuss and/or pertain to the Federal Election Commission's Case involving alleged illegal coordination of campaign efforts between the Democratic Party, the AFL-CIO, and other individuals and organizations;1 this Request does not seek the actual documents within this Case; rather, this Request seeks documents ABOUT the case; for example, this Request seeks documents such as the documents described in the following two media reports:
 

1)  "Laurence Gold, the AFL-CIO's associate general counsel, [said] that the FEC pulled the case file after objections were registered by the [AFL-CIO]"2; and
 
2) "The Democratic National Committee's general counsel, Joseph E. Sandler, said the withdrawal was prompted by vigorous complaints from the DNC and the AFL-CIO about certain records the commission included in the public filing over their objections"3;

such communications, documents, "objections", and/or "complaints" between Mr. Gold and the Federal Election Commission and/or between Mr. Sandler and the Federal Election Commission are the types of information-bearing materials that will be considered responsive to this Request; however, the aforementioned two examples are included for illustration purposes only and should not, in any way, limit this Request: any and/or all information ABOUT this Case should be disclosed pursuant to this Request. To aid in identifying the requested information, the Federal Election Commission should be aware that this Case has been identified in the media as "Case No. MUR 4291"4; if this case number happens to be incorrect, this extra identification information should not, in any way, limit this Request.

Responsive documents are requested to be produced in their entirety, including all attachments, enclosures, and exhibits.  The Federal Election Commission should be aware that 5 U.S.C. § 552(b) states that any and all reasonable segregable portions of a record shall be provided after deletion of the portions which may be exempt.

Additionally, the National Legal and Policy Center calls upon the Federal Election Commission to adhere to the October 4, 1993, memorandum of the Attorney General which requests that every agency disclose the maximum amount of records under the Freedom of Information Act.  As the memorandum states, "It shall be the policy of the Department of Justice to defend the assertion of a FOIA exemption only in those areas where the agency reasonably foresees that disclosure would be harmful to an interest protected by that exemption.  Where an item of information might technically or arguably fall within the exemption, it ought not to be withheld from a FOIA requester unless need be." Cf. 11 C.F.R. § 4.2 ("The Commission will make the fullest possible disclosure of records to the public. . .").

The Federal Election Commission should also note that 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(6)(A)(i) states that an agency is required to make a "determination" on any Freedom of Information Act request within twenty working days of receipt.  See also 11 C.F.R. § 4.7(c).  It is expected that the National Legal and Policy Center will receive a "determination" within the statutory time limits.  Further note, that Martinez v. FBI, #82-1547 (D.D.C. Oct. 11, 1983), citing Marschner v. Dep't of State, 470 F. Supp. 196, 199 (D. Conn. 1979), held that an agency's "acknowledgement" of a request within the working day limit "cannot be construed as a 'determination' sufficient to satisfy the requirements of 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(6)(A)."  The National Legal and Policy Center would like to obtain access the aforementioned records in a timely fashion.  Therefore, the National Legal and Policy Center calls upon the Federal Election Commission to comply with 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(6)(A)(i).  Further, the National Legal and Policy Center agrees to telephonically clarify, limit, or change this Request, if necessary, through discussions with the Federal Election Commission to help it comply with these statutory and regulatory requirements.

The National Legal and Policy Center requests a waiver of all fees for this Request, pursuant to 11 C.F.R. § 4.9(b)(1). Pursuant to 11 C.F.R. § 4.9(b)(2) and in order to determine the status of the National Legal and Policy Center to assess fees, the Federal Election Commission should be aware that the National Legal and Policy Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit foundation dedicated to promoting ethics and accountability in government by research, education, and legal action -- it is committed to a single standard of ethics for all public officials.  Disclosure of the requested information to the National Legal and Policy Center is likely to contribute significantly to the public's understanding of the operation and activities of the Government and is not for any commercial interest. The National Legal and Policy Center supports the use of The Freedom of Information Act, The Privacy Act, The Government in the Sunshine Act, and The Federal Advisory Committee Act as means for the public to promote an open, ethical and accountable Government.  Open government is essential to the health of the nation's democratic institutions.  It is in the public interest that all government-funded institutions should be open and accountable to the public.  Practicing open government allows the public to hold public officials accountable for their actions and to help ensure public officials adhere to a high standard of ethics.  The National Legal and Policy Center has a well-established reputation of working for Government that is open and accountable to the public.  The National Legal and Policy Center has filed lawsuits to challenge the legality of secrecy practiced by governmental entities in violation of federal open government laws .  The National Legal and Policy Center has also provided information that it obtained under the Freedom of Information Act to media organizations so as to inform the public about the operations and activities of the Government.  Moreover, the National Legal and Policy Center intends to make the results of this Request available to the public -- free of charge -- on its website: http://www.nlpc.org.  Additionally, as a review of the National Legal and Policy Center's website reveals, the National Legal and Policy Center has "expertise in the subject area" of this Request: union corruption and campaign finance.  See 11 C.F.R. § 4.9(b)(2). Finally, the National Legal and Policy Center has had fees waived for similar Freedom of Information Act requests to the Department of Agriculture, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Justice, Department of Labor, Department of the Treasury, and the Food and Drug Administration.  Therefore, all fees should be waived, and all documents should be furnished without charge because the National Legal and Policy Center and this Request satisfies the requirements of 11 C.F.R. § 4.9(b).

The Federal Election Commission should note that the National Legal and Policy Center is fully aware of its administrative appeal rights under 5 U.S.C. § 552 (a)(6), as well as 11 C.F.R. § 4.8.  The National Legal and Policy Center may file an appeal, if it is appropriate, for any of the following, or other, reasons: 1) denial of the Request, in full or in part, 2) inadequacy of the search for records responsive to the Request, 3) failure to respond within the statutory time limits, 4) denial of waiver of fees.

The National Legal and Policy Center requests expeditious identification of this Request with the assigned request number of the Federal Election Commission.  The National Legal and Policy Center further requests that the Federal Election Commission use the CONTROL NUMBER listed on the top of page one of this Request in all communications concerning this Request in order to avoid needless confusion.
 

Sincerely,

Kenneth F. Boehm
Chairman
 

  1  Some of the responsive information has been described as follows: "In the first instance ever at the FEC, completed MUR file made available to the public for one week, as been removed from the public record. . . . Documents included sworn statements from [John] Sweeney, [William] Hamilton, [Richard] Trumka, [Tony] Coehlo, political consultants, media buyers and officials from Clinton-Gore and numerous House campaigns. The files presented an exhaustive and detailed examination of labor union political activity." FEC Hides AFL-CIO MUR Public File, TRKC Inc., http://www.politicalmoneyline.com (visited May 14, 2001) (emphasis original) [hereinafter FEC Hides]. See also George Lardner, Jr., FEC Pulls Probe Data From Public Files, WASH. POST, June 14, 2001, at A6; Kenneth P. Doyle, RNC Asks Commission to Release Documents from Probe of AFL-CIO, [2001] Daily Lab. Rep. (BNA) No. 117, at A-1 (June 19, 2001).

   2  Doyle, supra note 1 (emphasis added).

  3  Lardner, supra note 1 (emphasis added).

  4  Doyle, supra note 1.
 
 

NLPC FOIA: No. FEC-01-001

Related Union Corruption Update articles:
 

RNC to FEC: Open AFL-CIO Files (4.13 07/02/01)

FEC to Withhold Previously Disclosed AFL-CIO, Union Records (4.12 06/19/01)

FEC Hides AFL-CIO MUR Public File (4.10 5/21/01)

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