Letter from Margaret P. Grafeld, DOS to Amrit Singh, ACLU re: the ACLU's FOIA Request. 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
JUL 2 5 2005
Case No. 200303827
Segment Genev2
Ms. Amrit Singh
American Civil Liberties Union Foundation
125 Broad Street, 18th Floor
New York, New York 10004-2400
Dear Ms. Singh:
I refer to our letter dated December 17, 2004, regarding the
release of certain Department of State material under the
Freedom of Information Act (Title 5 USC Section 552).
As you may recall, further coordination was required before a
decision could be made as to the release of two of the
documents previously retrieved in response to your request.
The coordination has now been completed for both of them and
we find that both may not be released.
Material in both 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 both 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 subsection (b)(5).
DOS-003173
- 2 -
In some cases, two or more exemptions apply to the same
document.
Sincerely,
2
Margaret P. Graf ld
Director
Office of Information Programs
and Services