January 7, 2020 VIA EMAIL U.S. Department of Defense OSD/JS FOIA Requester Service Center Office of Freedom of Information 1155 Defense Pentagon Washington, DC 20301-1155 whs.mc-alex.esd.mbx.osd-js-foia-requester-service-center@mail.mil Re: Expedited Freedom of Information Act Request Dear FOIA Officer: Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. § 552, and the implementing regulations of your agency, American Oversight makes the following request for records. On January 2, 2020, the United States carried out a military strike in Iraq that killed Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force.1 The targeting of one of Iran’s most senior officials immediately ratcheted up tensions with Iran, and subsequent U.S. actions—such as President Trump’s threats to target Iranian cultural sites—suggest no efforts to deescalate.2 American Oversight seeks records with the potential to shed light on the administration’s extraordinarily weighty decisions regarding military action against Iran. 1 Mustafa Salim et al., In Major Escalation, American Strike Kills Top Iranian Commander in Baghdad, WASH. POST (Jan. 3, 2020, 3:02 AM), https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/defense-secretary-says-iran- and-its-proxies-may-be-planning-fresh-attacks-on-us-personnel-in- iraq/2020/01/02/53b63f00-2d89-11ea-bcb3-ac6482c4a92f_story.html. 2 Seung Min Kim & Philip Rucker, Trump Threatens to Strike Iranian Cultural Sites and Impose ‘Very Big’ Sanctions on Iraq as Tensions Rise, WASH. POST (Jan. 5, 2020, 10:47 PM), https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trumps-threats-against-iranian-sites-raise- questions-about-the-potential-for-war-crimes/2020/01/05/c03d8de8-2ff2-11ea-898f- eb846b7e9feb_story.html. 1030 15th Street NW, Suite B255, Washington, DC 20005 | AmericanOversight.org Requested Records American Oversight seeks expedited review of this request for the reasons identified below and requests that your agency produce the following records within twenty business days: All unclassified emails (including email messages, email attachments, calendar invitations, and complete email chains) sent by the officials specified below to any non-governmental email address (including any emails ending in .com, .org, .mail, .edu, .net). i. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper ii. Chief of Staff Eric Chewning iii. Deputy Secretary David Norquist iv. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Mark Milley v. Anyone serving in the capacity of White House Liaison or Advisor vi. General Counsel Paul Ney Jr. vii. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs Robert Hood viii. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy John Rood ix. CENTCOM Commander General Kenneth McKenzie Jr. x. Anyone serving as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East, including in an acting capacity Please provide all responsive records between December 27, 2019, and January 7, 2020. American Oversight has limited its request to sent messages of each official to reduce the volume of potentially responsive records. American Oversight still requests complete email chains. So, for example, if a specified official sent a response to an incoming message, the email chain containing the initially received message and the response is responsive to this request. Fee Waiver Request In accordance with 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(A)(iii) and your agency’s regulations, American Oversight requests a waiver of fees associated with processing this request for records. The subject of this request concerns the operations of the federal government, and the disclosures will likely contribute to a better understanding of relevant government procedures by the general public in a significant way. Moreover, the request is primarily and fundamentally for non-commercial purposes. American Oversight requests a waiver of fees because disclosure of the requested information is “in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to - 2 - DOD-20-0016 public understanding of operations or activities of the government.”3 In particular, the requested records have the potential to shed light on the administration’s military action against Iran, a matter of extraordinary public concern that has significantly raised the prospect of direct military conflict.4 The requested records have the potential to shed light on who the administration has communicated with regarding military action, as well as the legal analysis and congressional engagement it has undertaken to justify its decisions. The subject of this request is a matter of public interest, and the public’s understanding of the government’s activities and use of resources would be enhanced through American Oversight’s analysis and publication of these records. This request is primarily and fundamentally for non-commercial purposes.5 As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, American Oversight does not have a commercial purpose and the release of the information requested is not in American Oversight’s financial interest. American Oversight’s mission is to promote transparency in government, to educate the public about government activities, and to ensure the accountability of government officials. American Oversight uses the information gathered, and its analysis of it, to educate the public through reports, press releases, or other media. American Oversight also makes materials it gathers available on its public website and promotes their availability on social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter.6 American Oversight has also demonstrated its commitment to the public disclosure of documents and creation of editorial content through numerous substantive analyses posted to its website.7 Examples reflecting this commitment to the public disclosure of documents and the creation of editorial content include the posting of records related to an ethics waiver received by a senior Department of Justice attorney and an analysis of what those records demonstrated regarding the Department’s process for issuing such waivers;8 posting records received as part of American Oversight’s “Audit the Wall” project to gather and analyze information related to the administration’s proposed construction of 3 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(A)(iii). 4 Salim et al., supra note 1. 5 See 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(A)(iii). 6 American Oversight currently has approximately 14,730 page likes on Facebook and 86,700 followers on Twitter. American Oversight, FACEBOOK, https://www.facebook.com/weareoversight/ (last visited Dec. 5, 2019); American Oversight (@weareoversight), TWITTER, https://twitter.com/weareoversight (last visited Dec. 5, 2019). 7 News, AMERICAN OVERSIGHT, https://www.americanoversight.org/blog. 8 DOJ Records Relating to Solicitor General Noel Francisco’s Recusal, AMERICAN OVERSIGHT, https://www.americanoversight.org/document/doj-civil-division-response-noel-francisco- compliance; Francisco & the Travel Ban: What We Learned from the DOJ Documents, AMERICAN OVERSIGHT, https://www.americanoversight.org/francisco-the-travel-ban-what-we- learned-from-the-doj-documents. - 3 - DOD-20-0016 a barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border, and analyses of what those records reveal;9 posting records regarding potential self-dealing at the Department of Housing & Urban Development and related analysis;10 posting records and analysis relating to the federal government’s efforts to sell nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia;11 and posting records and analysis regarding the Department of Justice’s decision in response to demands from Congress to direct a U.S. Attorney to undertake a wide-ranging review and make recommendations regarding criminal investigations relating to the President’s political opponents and allegations of misconduct by the Department of Justice itself and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.12 Accordingly, American Oversight qualifies for a fee waiver. Application for Expedited Processing Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(6)(E)(1) and the implementing regulations of your agency, American Oversight requests that your agency expedite the processing of this request. I certify to be true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief that there is a compelling need for expedited processing of the above request because the information requested is urgently needed in order to inform the public concerning actual or alleged government activity, and American Oversight is primarily engaged in disseminating the information it receives from public records requests to the public. Recent reporting demonstrates that there is clearly an urgent need to inform the public regarding the matters that are the subject of American Oversight’s FOIA request. First, American Oversight has requested records with the potential to shed light on President Trump’s decision to escalate tensions with Iran, including via a military strike on Iranian Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani. Public reporting suggests that government decisionmakers sidelined normal processes, such as requesting congressional authorization for action that could lead directly to military conflict or notifying senior 9 See generally Audit the Wall, AMERICAN OVERSIGHT, https://www.americanoversight.org/investigation/audit-the-wall; see, e.g., Border Wall Investigation Report: No Plans, No Funding, No Timeline, No Wall, AMERICAN OVERSIGHT, https://www.americanoversight.org/border-wall-investigation-report-no-plans-no- funding-no-timeline-no-wall. 10 Documents Reveal Ben Carson Jr.’s Attempts to Use His Influence at HUD to Help His Business, AMERICAN OVERSIGHT, https://www.americanoversight.org/documents-reveal-ben-carson-