Case 1:16-Cv-00048-RC Document 12-1 Filed 06/29/16 Page 1 of 15
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Case 1:16-cv-00048-RC Document 12-1 Filed 06/29/16 Page 1 of 15 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ) ) CITIZENS UNITED ) ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) ) Case Number: 16-cv-48 DEPARTMENT OF STATE ) ) ) ) Defendant. ) ) DECLARATION OF ERIC F. STEIN Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1746, I, Eric F. Stein, declare and state as follows: 1. I am the Acting Co-Director of the Office of Information Programs and Services (“IPS”) of the United States Department of State (the “Department”) and have served in this capacity since March 21, 2016. I am the Department official immediately responsible for responding to requests for records under the Freedom of Information Act (the “FOIA”), 5 U.S.C. § 552, the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. § 552a, and other applicable records access provisions. Prior to serving in this capacity, from April 2013, I worked directly for the Department’s Deputy Assistant Secretary (“DAS”) for Global Information Services (“GIS”) and served as a senior advisor and deputy to the DAS on all issues related to GIS’ offices and programs, which includes IPS. As the Acting IPS Co-Director, I have original classification authority and am authorized to classify and declassify national security information. I make the following statements based upon my personal knowledge, which in turn is based upon information furnished to me in the 1 Case 1:16-cv-00048-RC Document 12-1 Filed 06/29/16 Page 2 of 15 course of my official duties. I am familiar with the efforts of Department personnel to process the subject request, and I am in charge of coordinating the agency’s search and recovery efforts with respect to that request. 2. The core responsibilities of IPS include: (1) responding to records access requests made by the public (including under the FOIA, the Privacy Act, and the mandatory declassification review requirements of the Executive Order governing classified national security information), by Members of Congress, by other government agencies, and those made pursuant to judicial process such as subpoenas, court orders, and discovery requests; (2) systematic review under the Executive Order; (3) records management; (4) privacy protection; (5) national security classification management and declassification review; (6) corporate records archives management; (7) research; (8) operation and management of the Department’s library; and (9) technology applications that support these activities. 3. The purpose of this declaration is to inform the Court about the progress that IPS has made on the processing of Plaintiff’s FOIA requests in this case and to provide the Court with information concerning IPS’ structure and resources. To those ends, this declaration provides (i) a summary of Citizens United’s (“Plaintiff”) FOIA request; (ii) information concerning the Department’s FOIA caseload and resources devoted thereto; and (iii) a description of how IPS has handled Plaintiff’s FOIA requests to date. I. SUMMARY OF PLAINTIFF’S FOIA REQUEST 4. On October 20, 2015, Plaintiff submitted an online FOIA request to the Department seeking [A]ll emails and other records of communications sent or received by Michael Fuchs, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the State Department Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, to or from the following entities: (1) The Clinton Foundation (email domain addresses for the Clinton 2 Citizens United v. U.S. Dep’t of State, et al. 1:16-cv-00048-RC Stein Declaration Case 1:16-cv-00048-RC Document 12-1 Filed 06/29/16 Page 3 of 15 Foundation include but are not limited to “@clintonfoundation.org,” “@clintonglobalinitiative.org,” “@cgepartnership.com,” and @healthier generation.org”); (2) Teneo Holdings (email domain addresses for Teneo Holdings include but are not limited to “@teneoholdings.com” and “@teneostrategy.com”) Plaintiff’s request covered the time period from January 1, 2009, to the present. IPS assigned Plaintiff’s request case number F-2015-15626. 5. On November 2, 2015, Plaintiff submitted an online FOIA request to the Department seeking: [A]ll emails and other records of communications sent or received by Melanne Verveer, former U.S. Ambassador-At-Large for Global Women’s Issues, to or from the following entities: (1) The Clinton Foundation (email domain addresses for the Clinton Foundation include but are not limited to “@clintonfoundation.org,” “@clintonglobalinitiative.org,” “@cgepartnership.com,” and “@healthiergeneration.org”); (2) Teneo Holdings (email domain addresses for Teneo Holdings include but are not limited to “@teneoholdings.com” and “@teneostrategy.com”). Plaintiff’s request covered the time period from January 1, 2009, to February 28, 2013. IPS assigned Plaintiff’s request case number F-2015-16007. 6. On November 13, 2015, Plaintiff submitted an online FOIA request to the Department seeking: [A]ll emails exchanged between Cheryl Mills and the following individuals associated with the William J. Clinton Foundation, renamed the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Foundation: Eric Braverman; Andrew Kessel; Valerie Alexander; Dennis Cheng; Scott Curran; Amitabh Desai; Rain Henderson; Laura Graham; Mark Gunton; Robert Harrison; Bari Lurie; Terri Mccullough; Patti Miller; Craig Minassian; Walker Morris; Maura Pally; Terry Sheridan; Stephanie S. Streett; Dymphna Van Der Lans; Bruce Lindsey; Chelsea Clinton; Former President Bill Clinton; Frank Giustra; Rolando Gonzalez Bunster; Hadeel Ibrahim; Lisa Jackson; Cheryl Saban, Ph.D; and Richard Verma. Plaintiff’s request covered the time period from January 1, 2009, to May 31, 2012. IPS assigned Plaintiff’s request case number F-2015-16287. 3 Citizens United v. U.S. Dep’t of State, et al. 1:16-cv-00048-RC Stein Declaration Case 1:16-cv-00048-RC Document 12-1 Filed 06/29/16 Page 4 of 15 7. On November 13, 2015, Plaintiff submitted an online FOIA request to the Department seeking: [A]ll emails exchanged between Cheryl Mills and the following individuals: Declan Kelly, Chairman and CEO, Teneo; Doug Band, President, Teneo; Paul Keary, Chief Operating Officer, Teneo; Michael Madden, Chairman, Teneo Capital; Harry Van Dyke, CEO, Teneo Capital; Chris Wearing, President, Teneo Consulting; Jim Shinn, CEO, Teneo Intelligence; Chris Deri, Managing Director, Teneo Strategy; Richard Powell, President, Teneo Strategy; Orson Porter, Washington D.C. Managing Director, Teneo; Ken Miller, Senior Advisor, Teneo Capital; and Karim Shariff, Teneo Capital Dubai. Plaintiff’s request covered the time period from January 1, 2009, to February 28, 2013. IPS assigned Plaintiff’s request case number F-2015-16313. 8. On November 13, 2015, Plaintiff submitted an online FOIA request to the Department seeking: [A]ll emails exchanged between Huma Abedin and the following individuals: Declan Kelly, Chairman and CEO, Teneo; Doug Band, President, Teneo; Paul Keary, Chief Operating Officer, Teneo; Michael Madden, Chairman, Teneo Capital; Harry Van Dyke, CEO, Teneo Capital; Chris Wearing, President, Teneo Consulting; Jim Shinn, CEO, Teneo Intelligence; Chris Deri, Managing Director, Teneo Strategy; Richard Powell, President, Teneo Strategy; Orson Porter, Washington D.C. Managing Director, Teneo; Ken Miller, Senior Advisor, Teneo Capital; and Karim Shariff, Teneo Capital Dubai. Plaintiff’s request covered the time period from January 1, 2009, to May 31, 2012. IPS combined this request with Plaintiff’s similar request in paragraph 7 above and also assigned it case number F-2015-16313. 9. On November 13, 2015, Plaintiff submitted an online FOIA request to the Department seeking: 4 Citizens United v. U.S. Dep’t of State, et al. 1:16-cv-00048-RC Stein Declaration Case 1:16-cv-00048-RC Document 12-1 Filed 06/29/16 Page 5 of 15 [A]ll emails exchanged between Huma Abedin and the following individuals associated with the William J. Clinton Foundation, renamed the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Foundation: Eric Braverman; Andrew Kessel; Valerie Alexander; Dennis Cheng; Scott Curran; Amitabh Desai; Rain Henderson; Laura Graham; Mark Gunton; Robert Harrison; Bari Lurie; Terri Mccullough; Patti Miller; Craig Minassian; Walker Morris; Maura Pally; Terry Sheridan; Stephanie S. Streett; Dymphna Van Der Lans; Bruce Lindsey; Chelsea Clinton; Former President Bill Clinton; Frank Giustra; Rolando Gonzalez Bunster; Hadeel Ibrahim; Lisa Jackson; Cheryl Saban, Ph.D; and Richard Verma. Plaintiff’s request covered the time period from January 1, 2009, to May 31, 2012. IPS assigned Plaintiff request case number F-2015-16286. 10. Plaintiff filed the instant action based on all of the above listed requests on January 11, 2016. II. THE DEPARTMENT’S FOIA CASELOAD AND DOCUMENT REVIEW PROCESS 11. Over the past several years, the Department’s FOIA caseload has greatly increased. In FY 2008, the Department received fewer than 6,000 new FOIA and Privacy Act requests; that number of new FOIA and Privacy Act requests annually increased, reaching nearly 25,000 in FY 2015 (an increase of over 300%). By the end of Fiscal Year 2015, the Department had nearly 22,000 FOIA and Privacy Act requests pending. The Department currently has approximately 29,000 FOIA and Privacy Act requests pending and is engaged in 106 FOIA litigation cases, many of which involve court-ordered document production schedules. At a time when the FOIA caseload is increasing dramatically, the funds available to process FOIA requests have remained nearly constant since Fiscal Year 2013. For instance, the Department spent approximately $16.5 million in FY 2013, $15.9 million in FY 2014, and $16.3 in FY 2015 on FOIA personnel costs associated with processing FOIA requests. 12. The review process undertaken by IPS, which follows the searches throughout the 5 Citizens United v. U.S. Dep’t of State, et al. 1:16-cv-00048-RC Stein Declaration Case 1:16-cv-00048-RC Document 12-1 Filed 06/29/16 Page 6 of 15 Department for potentially responsive documents, is involved and complex. Because IPS’s document review system, known as FREEDOMS 2 (or “F2”) cannot ingest most forms of electronic data, most of the potentially responsive documents must be printed (if they were provided to IPS in an electronic format) and then scanned into F2.