DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY OFFICE or me GENERAL couNsEL ma ARMY FENYAGON WASHINGTON no zimiwim February 3, 2014 Jason Leoiold Beverly Hills, CA 902i0 Dear Mr Leopold This letter responds to your Freedom of Information Act appeal dated November 18, 2013. The U.S Army Criminal investigation Command (CID) denied your request for a fee waiver. We apologize for the delay in our responding to your appeal. The Army must' address a large volume of FOIA demands and we cannot always respond to appeals as quickly as we would like. We make it our practice to respond to appeals in the order received. The courts have sanctioned this method of handling FOIA cases. Open America V. Watergate Special Prosecution Force, 547 F.2d 605, 61446 (DC, Cir 1975) CID denied your request for a tee waiver for records pertaining to detainee treatment at Guantanamo Bay, After a careful consideration ol the issues presented in your appeal, we agree that denial of a fee waiver is appropriate. Underthe FOIA. documents "shall be furnished without any charge or at a charge reduced below the fees established under clause (ii) if disclosure of the information is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding oi the operations or activities ol the government and is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester," 5 U.S.C. In this case, we do not believe disclosure of the requested records would contribute "significantly" to the public understanding of govemment operations. in determining "significance". an agency must assess the likely impact of the disclosure on the public's understanding of the subject in question, as compared to the level of public understanding of that subject existing prior to the disclosure Because numerous CID investigations related to Guantanamo detainee treatment are already available online, and because the subject has been widely discussed by both the media and the military, we do not find that release of the CID reports in response to your present request would signilicantly enhance public understanding. Therefore, your appeal is denied. who has of Counsel, final on Thisletter constitutes action behalf the General appeals underthe FOIA. of beendesignated the Secretary the Armyto consider by in court review thisdeterminationthefederal of Youmay,if youso desire, seekjudicial in with 5 system accordance the FOIA, U.S.C. 552(aX4XB). S Sincerely, %*illklA{ Deputy Counsel Associate General