F-2012-01498 UPDATED APPEAL REQUEST

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06648967
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: July 13, 2023
• Document Release Date: November 15, 2022
• Case Number: F-2017-01405
• Publication Date: December 13, 2016

Approved for Release: 2022/11/07 C06648967
Central Intelligence Agency
Washington, DC 20505
Information and Privacy Coordinator
RE: Appeal of FOIA Request No. F-2012-01498
To Whom It May Concern:
This letter is a formal appeal regarding the Central Intelligence Agency's final response
to a Freedom of Information Act request I submitted on June 12, 2012, in which I sought
copies of "all correspondence, electronic or otherwise, between any staffers in the
Agency's Office of Public Affairs and the following persons: David E. Sanger, reporter
for the New York Times and author of Confront and Conceal." The FOIA request was
given the reference number F-2012-01498.
In the agency's response, dated October 7, 2016, Information and Privacy Coordinator
Michael Lavergne provided "25 documents, consisting of 44 pages" that were
responsive to my request, while noting that the enclosed pages contained "deletions
made on the basis of FOIA exemptions (b)(3), (b)(5), and/or (b)(6)." The released pages
consist almost entirely of email correspondence between David E. Sanger and CIA
press officer Cynthia "Didi" Rapp.
The response does not state or insinuate that the agency withheld any whole pages of
responsive records, as is sometimes the case when federal agencies claim certain
exemptions in the course of fulfilling Freedom of Information Act requests. In such
instances, the agency will disclose that a certain number of pages have been withheld,
and identify the relevant exemptions under which those pages are being withheld.
The basis of this appeal is that the released records clearly indicate that the Central
Intelligence Agency did not properly fulfill my original FOIA request. Namely, in the
course of processing and reviewing the emails between Sanger and Rapp, the agency
did not process or review any of the email attachments exchanged between Sanger and
Rapp. Nor did it process or review any of the facsimiles, or faxes, exchanged by the
pair. Consequently, the agency inappropriately withheld a number of responsive
records.
The existence of the aforementioned attachments and faxes is clear. For example, on
page 14 of the released records (identified as document number C05929304), Rapp
can be seen sending a "secure message" in the form of an attached file called
Approved for Release: 2022/11/07 C06648967
Approved for Release: 2022/11/07 C06648967
"securedoc.html." The text of Rapp's email indicates that the message required a
special software known as Cisco Registered Email Service. On the same page, Sanger
can be seen notifying Rapp of an incoming fax: "A fax coming through to you now with
typeset pages that deal with the issues Mr. Morell was concerned with. Can you pass
them on to him?"
On page 11 (document number C05929305), Rapp can be seen telling Sanger: "I think
I'm back in business. Comments to your comments in blue." This appears to be a
reference to some other annotated document that Rapp prepared for, and delivered to,
Sanger. (Nowhere else in the release can Rapp be seen directly commenting on
Sanger's own words, "in blue" or otherwise.)
None of the records referenced above, either in the form of an electronic file or a paper
fax, appear to have been reviewed or processed for release�even though my FOIA
request specifically targeted "all correspondence, electronic or otherwise, between
any staffers in the Agency's Office of Public Affairs and the following persons: David E.
Sanger, reporter for the New York Times and author of Confront and Conceal" (bolding
and italicization added).
As a requester under the Freedom of Information Act, I reserve the right to appeal the
agency's final determination. In this case, I request that the agency OM re-process my
original FOIA request to ensure that its staff review and process all responsive email
attachments and faxes, as those records clearly fall under the scope of my original
request.
Please let me know if you require any other information in order to process this appeal.
Sincerely,
John Cook
Mailing address:
Gizmodo Media
(b)(6)
Approved for Release: 2022/11/07 C06648967
Approved for Release: 2022/11/07 C06648967
,
en 1
�)
I '-'0
F21 Z
0
'a
(17
5c4 32-r451�`e
ress
D3,
a,
0 9RI
ffl
23R't-Fg
E
E
n
Approved for Release: 2022/11/07 C06648967