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
DEC 2 3 M
Case No. 200303827
Segment L0011
Mr. Amrit Singh
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 you had requested
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 138 additional documents from the Office
of the Legal Adviser that appear responsive to your request,
and have grouped them as Segment L0011. After reviewing
these documents, we have determined that 22 may be released
in full, three may be released with excisions, and 52 must
be withheld in full. All released material is enclosed. A
decision on 30 documents requires interagency coordination;
we will inform you when we receive the results of that
coordination. Thirty-one documents originated with other
government: agencies and have been referred to those agencies
for review and direct reply to you.
Material in the excised portions of one of the documents
released in part and in 48 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.
Material in one of the documents withheld in full is
specifically exempted from disclosure by statute, to wit,
the Central Intelligence Agency Act of 1949 (Title 50 USC
Section 403g). As such, it is exempt from release under
subsection (b)(3) of the Freedom of Information Act.
Information in the excised portions of two of the documents
released in part and in 43 of the documents withheld in full
is exempt from release under subsection (b)(5) of the Freedom
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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 subsection (b)(5).
Material in three 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
exempt from release under subsection (b)(6) of the Freedom
of Information Act.
Material in 10 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 seven 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 may 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.
The search of the other files has been completed, and we
will let you know as the review of the various segments has
been accomplished.
Sincerely,
1/
Margaret P. Grafeld
Director
Office of Information Programs
and Services
Enclosures:
As stated.
DOS-001116