Federal Communications Commission Washington, D.C. 20554 June 28, 2017 Via email at foia@americanoversight.org Austin R. Evers Executive Director American Oversight 1030 15th Street, N.W., Suite B255 Washington, DC 20005 Re: FOIA 2017-617 Dear Mr. Evers: This is in response to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed on May 12, 2017, seeking: “[a]ll communications or records reflecting communications (including correspondence, emails, telephone call logs, calendar entries, meeting agendas, or any other records reflecting communications) between employees in the office of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai (including Chairman Pai) and members of the Trump transition team or employees of the Trump White House, including but not limited to technology advisors Mark Woolway, Kevin Harrington, Reed Cordish, Peter Thiel, Michael Kratsios, Matt Lira, and Grace Koah … from November 8, 2016, through [May 12, 2017].”1 Your request was assigned to the Office of General Counsel for response. On May 16, 2017, we granted your request for expedited processing,2 and on June 26, 2017, you agreed to extend the due date for response to July 26, 2017, pursuant to section 0.461(g)(1)(i) of the Commission’s rules.3 In response to your request, the files of the Chairman and his staff were searched. We disclose four pages of responsive records. From this material, we redacted names and contact information of White House personnel pursuant to FOIA Exemption 6, which protects from disclosure information that “would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.”4 Consistent with the requirements of the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016, we have 1 See FOIAonline FOIA Request No. 2017-000617 by Austin R. Evers, American Oversight (filed May 12, 2017). 2 Letter to Austin R. Evers from Andrea Kearney, FCC (dated May 16, 2017). 3 Email to Austin R. Evers from Andrea Kearney, FCC (June 12, 2017); Email to Andrea Kearney from Sara Creighton, American Oversight (June 26, 2017). 4 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(6) (Exemption 6); see also Moore v. Bush, 601 F. Supp. 2d 6, 14 (D.D.C. 2009) and Electronic Frontier Foundation, 26 FCC Rcd 13812, 13816, n.13 (2011) (personal email addresses and telephone numbers redacted pursuant to Exemption 6)). Austin R. Evers Page 2 determined that it is reasonably foreseeable that disclosure would harm the privacy interests involved, which the exemption is intended to protect.5 In addition, material within the scope of your request has been made publicly available on the Commission’s website at https://www.fcc.gov/sites/default/files/FOIA-2017-258Romm.pdf and https://www.fcc.gov/sites/default/files/pai-trump-meeting-03062017.pdf. You are considered a representative of the news media for purpose of calculating fees for processing your FOIA request.6 Therefore, you are not charged for search and review time, and only charged for copying more than 100 pages of records.7 Because we are providing you with fewer than 100 pages and in electronic form, no fees will be assessed for processing your request. If you consider this to be a denial of your FOIA request, you may seek review by filing an application for review with the Office of General Counsel. An application for review must be received by the Commission within 30 calendar days of the date of this letter.8 You may file an application for review by mailing the application to Federal Communications Commission, Office of General Counsel, 445 12th St. SW, Washington, DC 20554, or you may file your application for review electronically by e-mailing it to FOIA-Appeal@fcc.gov. Please caption the envelope (or subject line, if via e-mail) and the application itself as “Review of Freedom of Information Action.” If you would like to discuss this response before filing an application for review to attempt to resolve your dispute without going through the appeals process, you may contact the Commission’s FOIA Public Liaison for assistance at: FOIA Public Liaison Federal Communications Commission, Office of the Managing Director, Performance Evaluation and Records Management 445 12th St., SW, Washington, DC 20554 FOIA-Public-Liaison@fcc.gov If you are unable to resolve your FOIA dispute through the Commission’s FOIA Public Liaison, the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS), the Federal FOIA Ombudsman’s office, offers mediation services to help resolve disputes between FOIA requesters and Federal agencies. The contact information for OGIS is: Office of Government Information Services National Archives and Records Administration 5 See FOIA Improvement Act of 2016, Pub. L. 114-185 § 2(1)(D); 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(8)(A); see also U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Information Policy, FOIA Post, President Obama's FOIA Memorandum and Attorney General Holder's FOIA Guidelines Creating a “New Era of Open Government,” (2009), available at < https://www.justice.gov/oip/blog/foia-post-2009-creating-new-era-open-government> (recognizing that records protected by the exemptions covering national security, commercial and financial information, personal privacy, and information protected by statute, are generally not subject to discretionary releases). 6 See 47 C.F.R. § 0.466(a)(7). 7 See 47 C.F.R. § 0.470(a)(2). 8 See 47 C.F.R. §§ 0.461(j), 1.115; 47 C.F.R. § 1.7 (documents are considered filed with the Commission upon their receipt at the location designated by the Commission). Austin R. Evers Page 3 8601 Adelphi College Park, MD 20740-6001 202-741?5770 877?684-6448 ogis@nara.gov ogis.archives.gov Sincerely, 6' 1ka @rkzbe?g 07w Elizabeth Lyle Assistant General Counsel Of?ce of General Counsel Enclosures cc: FOLA Of?cer From: To: Subject: Date: Attachments: Ajit Pai (b) (6) RE: Appointee Information Sheet Friday, February 17, 2017 10:00:00 AM Pai Appointee Information Sheet.pdf Hello (b) (6) Thank you very much for getting in touch!  As requested, attached is the form, which I've filled out.  If you need anything else, please don't hesitate to let me know.  Best, Ajit -----Original Message----From: (b) (6) Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2017 7:34 PM To: Ajit Pai Subject: Appointee Information Sheet Chairman Pai, Please fill out the attached form and return to me at your earliest convenience.  If you have any questions feel welcome to reach out to me or (b) (6) Thanks, (b) (6) Deputy Associate Director White House Presidential Personnel Office From: To: Subject: Date: Lori Alexiou (b) (6) RE: FCC/White House PPO Brief Thursday, February 16, 2017 10:58:00 AM Thanks (b) Lori Lori Alexiou Confidential Assistant Office of Chairman Ajit Pai Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street, SW Washington, DC  20554 202-418-2001 -----Original Message----From: (b) (6) Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2017 10:56 AM To: Lori Alexiou Subject: RE: FCC/White House PPO Brief Lori, (b) will call Chairman Pai at 1:30. Thank you for your help in setting this up. (b) (6) -----Original Message----From: Lori Alexiou [mailto:Lori.Alexiou@fcc.gov] Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2017 10:53 AM To (b) (6) Subject: RE: FCC/White House PPO Brief Yes, 1:30 works for us.  Would you like us to call?  If you would rather call, my direct number is 202-418-2001 and Chairman Pai's direct is (b) (6) . Please let me know what works best for you. Thank you. Lori Lori Alexiou Confidential Assistant Office of Chairman Ajit Pai Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street, SW Washington, DC  20554 202-418-2001 -----Original Message----From: (b) (6) Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2017 10:49 AM To: Lori Alexiou Subject: RE: FCC/White House PPO Brief Lori, (b) is free for most of this afternoon. Could we aim for 1:30? Thank you, (b) (6) -----Original Message----From: Lori Alexiou [mailto:Lori.Alexiou@fcc.gov] Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2017 10:27 AM To: (b) (6) Subject: RE: FCC/White House PPO Brief Hi (b) (6) Please let me know when you would like to schedule this call and I will make it happen on our end! Thanks so much. Lori Lori Alexiou Confidential Assistant Office of Chairman Ajit Pai Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street, SW Washington, DC  20554 202-418-2001 -----Original Message----From: Ajit Pai Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2017 10:24 AM To: (b) (6) Cc: Lori Alexiou Subject: RE: FCC/White House PPO Brief Hello (b) (6) Thank you for your message!  I'd be very happy to chat with (b) as soon as possible.  If it's not too much trouble, (6) I've cc'ed my confidential assistant, Lori Alexiou, to find a mutually convenient time.  Best, Ajit (b) (6) -----Original Message----From: (b) (6) Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2017 10:20 AM To: Ajit Pai Subject: FCC/White House PPO Brief Chairman Pai, I am emailing you from the White House Office of Presidential Personnel. The FCC is one of the organizations in (b) (6) portfolio and he is hoping to find some time this week or next to discuss appointments and the general state of the FCC going forward. If you could give me a list of times and a number for him to call that would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, (b) (6) (b) (6) White House Office of Presidential Personnel Office: (b) (6) Cell: (b) (6)