Letter from Margaret P. Grafeld, DOS to Amrit Singh, ACLU re: the ACLU's FOIA Request. The letter states that the document production requested is being complied with in some parts and denied or withheld in part.
United States Department of State Washington, D.C. 20520 Case No. 200303827 Segment L4 DEC 2 8 2004 Amrit Singh, Esq., American Civil Liberties Union Foundation 125 Broad Street, 18th Floor New York, NY 10004-2400 Dear Mr. Singh: I refer to our previous correspondence regarding the release of certain Department of State material under the Freedom of Information Act (Title 5 USC Section 552) in your letters of October 7, 2003 and May 25, 2004. We have retrieved 101 additional documents from the Office of the Legal Adviser that we have grouped as Segment L004. After reviewing these documents, we have determined that 15 may be released in full, six may be released with excisions, and 47 must be withheld in full. All released material is enclosed. Thirty-three documents originated with or are of primary interest to another government agency and have been referred to that agency for review and direct reply to you. Material in excised portions of all of the documents released in part and in 46 of the documents withheld in full is currently and properly classified under Executive Order 12958 in the interest of national defense or foreign relations. As such, it is exempt from release under subsection (b)(1) of the Freedom of Information Act. Information in three of the documents withheld in full is exempt from release under subsection (b)(5) of the Freedom of Information Act because it is protected by the deliberative process privilege, attorney-client privilege, attorney work product privilege, and/or another privilege incorporated by sub-section (b)(5). Material in one of the documents withheld in full is of such a nature that its release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. As such, it is DOS-000541 - 2 - exempt from release under subsection (b) (6) of the Freedom of Information Act. Material in the excised portions of three of the documents released in part and in five of the documents withheld in full is information compiled for law enforcement purposes which, if produced, could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings. As such, it is exempt from release under subsection (b)(7)(A) of the Freedom of Information Act. Material in the excised portions of three of the documents released in part and in five of the documents withheld in full is information compiled for law enforcement purposes which, if produced, could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. As such, it is exempt from release under subsection (b)(7)(C) of the Freedom of Information Act. In some cases, two or more exemptions apply to the same document. In the case of a document released in part, all non-exempt material that is reasonably segregable from the exempt material has been released. Sincerely, .662--4:4 ae°N /1C:7 Margaret P. Grafeld Director Office of Information Programs and Services Enclosures: As stated DOS-000542