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 www.state.gov
JAN 1 2
Case No. 200303827
Segment L038
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 118 additional documents from the Office
of the Legal Adviser that appear responsive to your request,
and have grouped them as Segment L038. After reviewing these
documents, we have determined that eight may be released in
full, eight may be released with excisions, and 92 must be
withheld in full. All released material is enclosed. A
decision on three documents requires interagency or intraagency coordination; we will inform you when we receive the
results of that coordination. Seven documents originated
with another government agency and have been referred to
that agency for review and direct reply to you.
The material in 44 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 the excised portions of the eight documents
released in part and in 85 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,
DOS 002888
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attorney work product privilege, and/or another privilege
incorporated by subsection (b)(5).
The 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
exempt from release under subsection (b)(6) of the Freedom
of Information Act.
The material in 38 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.
The material in 22 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.
The search of the other files :aas been completed, and we
will let you know as the review of the various segments has
been accomplished.
Sincerely,
Margaret P. Grafeld
-1Direcor
Office of Information Programs
and Services
Enclosures:
As stated.
DOS 002889