U.S. Department of Justice
Office of Information Policy
Suite 11050
1425 New York Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001

Telephone: (202) 514-3642

July 31, 2017
Mr. Austin Evers
American Oversight
1030 15th Street, NW
Suite B255
Washington, DC 20005
foia@americanoversight.org

Re:

DOJ-2017-005084 (AG)
DOJ-2017-005242 (DAG)
DOJ-2017-005243 (ASG)
VRB:DRH:JMS

Dear Mr. Evers:
This responds to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request made via the Office
of Information Policy FOIAonline Portal and received in this Office on July 5, 2017, for
“copies of the web histories of every web browser on government-issued, internet-connected
devices for the Attorney General, Deputy Attorney General, Associate Attorney General, and
all political appointees” within their respective offices since January 20, 2017. This response
is made on behalf of the Offices of the Attorney General, Deputy Attorney General, and
Associate Attorney General.
We do not consider your request to be a properly formulated FOIA request. The FOIA
provides a right of access to federal agency records that exist and can be located in federal
agency files. The FOIA does not require agencies to conduct research for the requester, to
analyze data, to answer questions, or to create new records in response to a FOIA request.
Accordingly, I am closing your request with no further action.
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) (2015)
(amended 2016). 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.
You may contact our FOIA Public Liaison at the telephone number listed above for any
further assistance and to discuss any aspect of your request. 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; email at ogis@nara.gov; telephone at 202-741-5770; toll-free at 1-877684-6448; or facsimile at 202-741-5769.

 -2-

If you are not satisfied with my response to this request, you may administratively
appeal by writing to the Director, Office of Information Policy, United States Department of
Justice, Suite 11050, 1425 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20530-0001, or you may
submit an appeal through OIP’s FOIAonline portal at https://foiaonline.regulations.gov/foia/
action/public/home. Your appeal must be postmarked or electronically transmitted within
ninety 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,

Vanessa R. Brinkmann
Senior Counsel