Description of document: Freedom of Information Request log for the Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), 2017-2019 Requested date: 16-February-2019 Release date: 30-September-2019 Posted date: 09-December-2019 Source of document: FOIA Request Office of Legal Counsel Room 5511, 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Department of Justice Washington, DC 20530-0001 Email: [email protected] The governmentattic.org web site (“the site”) is a First Amendment free speech web site, and is noncommercial and free to the public. The site and materials made available on the site, such as this file, are for reference only. The governmentattic.org web site and its principals have made every effort to make this information as complete and as accurate as possible, however, there may be mistakes and omissions, both typographical and in content. 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U.S. Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel Washington, D.C. 20530 September 30, 2019 Re: FOIA Tracking No. FY19-095 This letter responds to your February 16, 2019 Freedom oflnformation Act ("FOIA") request to the Office of Legal Counsel ("OLC"), in which you sought "the FOIA Log for DOJ [OLC] for the time period January 1, 2018 to the present." Pursuant to 28 C.F.R. § 16.5(b), your request was processed in the simple track. We have completed our search of OLC files and have identified one document that is responsive to your request. The document is enclosed. The record was processed in response to several FOIA requests seeking various portions of OLC's FOIA log, and therefore includes a broader date range than you requested, and has the "Notes" column redacted per an agreement with another requester. Material, the release of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, also has been redacted pursuant to Exemption Six, 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(6). Please let us know if you are not satisfied with the document as produced and we will re-open your request and further process the "Notes" column. For your information, Congress excluded three discrete categories of law enforcement and national security records from the requirements of the FOIA. See 5 U.S.C. § 552(c). This response is limited to those records that are subject to the requirements of the FOIA. This is a standard notification that is given to all our requesters and should not be taken as an indication that excluded records do, or do not, exist. For any further assistance and to discuss any aspect of your request, you may contact Melissa Golden, OLC's FOIA Public Liaison, at [email protected], (202) 514-2053, or at Office of Legal Counsel, United States Department of Justice, 950 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Room 5511, Washington, DC 20530. Additionally, you may contact the Office of Government Information Services ("OGIS") at the National Archives and Records Administration to inquire about the FOIA mediation services they offer. The contact information for OGIS is as follows: Office of Government Information Services, National Archives and Records Administration, Room 2510, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, Maryland 20740-6001, e-mail at [email protected]; telephone at 202-741- 5770; toll free at 1-877-684-6448; or facsimile at 202-741-5769. You have the right to an administrative appeal. You may administratively appeal by writing to the Director, Office of Information Policy ("OIP"), United States Department of Justice, 441 G Street, NW, 6th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20530, or you may submit an appeal through OIP's FOIAonline portal by creating an account on the following website: https://foiaonline.regulations.gov/foia/action/public/home. Your appeal must be postmarked or electronically transmitted within 90 days of the date of my response to your request. If you submit your appeal by mail, both the letter and the envelope should be clearly marked "Freedom of Information Act Appeal." Sincerely, /4//~ Paul P. Colborn Special Counsel Enclosure 2 No. Date Rcvd 20 days Requester Contact Request Track Expedite Coordinator AA Status Notes Date Closed Exemptions 18-001 2017/10/02 2017/10/30 Revolving Door Jeff Hauser (a) requests to the Department for Justice for funds for Complex Denied Redacted Per Agreement Project at the counsel under 28 CFR 50.15 or 28 CFR 50.16. Center for (b) All records pertaining to decisions about requests for (b) (6) Economic Policy funds for counsel under 28 CFR 50.15 or 28 CFR 50.16. and Research (c) all memos prelied upon to guide Justice Department decisions within the time frame of January 20, 2017 to September 25, 2017. The request includes, but is not limited to, all communication between the Office of Legal Counsel and any of the following: (1) The White House; (2) The Office of the Vice President; and (3) the Office of the Attorney General. 18-002 2017/10/03 2017/10/31 CNN David Shortell requests access to and copies of all records relating to OLC Closed 2017/10/04 memos issued to previous White House administrations regarding the hiring of relatives to White House staff, presidential commission, or other equally official positions, specifically including, but not limited to, opinions issued on the topic dating back to the 70s. 18-003 2017/10/03 2017/10/31 Mojave Desert Shaun Gonzales any final legal opinions provided by the Department of Simple Blog Justice's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) to the White House regarding interpretation or implementation of the President's authorities under the Antiquities Act of 1906 (Pub. L. 59-209) as it pertains to the creation, management or modification of national monuments 18-004 2017/10/04 2017/11/01 (b) (6) (b) (6) files from his criminal case Closed 2017/10/10 18-005 2017/10/06 2017/11/03 Jerry Ostry Jerry Ostry documents pertaining to kinetcs advice, Robert William Closed 2017/10/13 Lambert, Deloiite, Pictet, Barry Manson, etc 18-006 2017/10/10 2017/11/07 Institute for Grant F. Smith List of OLC emmployees by surname, given name, initial, Simple Closed 2017/11/21 4,6 Research: Middle department, component, and title. Eastern Policy 18-007 2017/10/11 2017/11/08 USA Today Gregory Korte 1. Memorandum for Harold Judson, Assistant Solicitor Simple General, from William H. Rose, Re: Statement of Policy Regarding Certain Strategic Materials (Aug. 28, 1945) 2. Memorandum for Michael J. Egan, Associate Attorney General, from John M. Harmon, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel, Re: Proposed Amendments to 28 CFR 16, Subpart B (Apr. 21, 1977) 18-008 2017/10/12 2017/11/09 The Knight First Carrie DeCell records concerning restrictions on government Complex Denied Closed 2018/07/31 Amendment Alex Abdo surveillance targeting members of the news media or Institute and the Trevor Timm otherwise implicating the First Amendment Freedom of the Press Foundation 18-009 2017/09/20 2017/10/18 ACLU Brigitte Amiri records relating to potential religious exemptions from Complex Closed 2018/09/12 nondiscrimination requirements in federally funded programs 18-010 2017/10/16 2017/11/13 E&E News Maxine Joselow communication from Stephen Cox, a lawyer in the Office of Closed 2017/10/20 reporter Legal Counsel, that contains any of the following terms: “monument,” “monuments,” and “Antiquities Act.” The timetable for the search is January 1, 2017 to the present. Page 1 No. Date Rcvd 20 days Requester Contact Request Track Expedite Coordinator AA Status Notes Date Closed Exemptions 18-011 2017/10/16 2017/11/13 ProPublica Isaac Arnsdorf OLC advice as to whether the permanent appropriation for Simple Denied Redacted Per Agreement "refunding internal revenue collections," 31 USC 1324, is available to fund the cost-sharing reduction (CSR) (b) (6) payments authorized by section 1402 of the Affordable Care Act, 42 USC 18071. date range would be Jan. 20, 2017, to Oct. 11, 2017. 18-012 2017/10/18 2017/11/15 Russ Kick Russ Kick Regarding the 2017 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey Simple Closed 2017/10/20 (FEVS), I hereby request the following reports: "1st Level Subagency Report" for the Office of Legal Counsel (the main report for OLC) "2nd Level Subagency Comparison Report" for the Office of Legal Counsel (compares results of each subdivision within OLC) 18-013 2017/10/17 2017/11/14 Butler Snow Robert Frey all records that support the allegations made in paragraphs Simple Closed 2017/11/17 3, 4, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, and/or 30 of the complaint 18-014 2017/10/19 2017/11/16 USA Today Nick Penzenstadler Any and all memos or opinions issued regarding Simple Closed 2018/02/16 Department of Justice staff assigned to “emoluments” cases from 1/20/2017 to the present. 18-015 2017/10/19 2017/11/16 Kent Gubrud Kent Gubrud OLC Memo on President's amenability to subpoena Simple Closed 2018/06/06 (6/25/73) and Memo dated 12/26/73 re: Watergate special prosecution force 18-016 2017/10/20 2017/11/17 Radley Balko Radley Balko Any emails, memoranda, or policy statements issued Complex between January 21, 2017 and October 19, 2017 that mention the National Commission on Forensic Science, or the acroynym NCFS; President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, or the acronym P-Cast; the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) working groups on forensic science; the Organization of Scientific Area Committees for forensic science, or the acronym OSAC or OSACs.