June 19, 2018
Via online portal (foiaonline.regulations.gov)
Office of Information Policy
Laurie Day
Chief, Initial Request Staff
Office of Information Policy
Department of Justice, Suite 11050
1425 New York Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20530-0001
Via email (usdoj-officeoflegalcounsel@usdoj.gov)
Office of Legal Counsel
Melissa Golden
Lead Paralegal and FOIA Specialist
Department of Justice
Room 5511, 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20530-0001
Phone: (202) 514-2053
Re: Freedom of Information Act request
To Whom It May Concern:
President Trump has repeatedly and falsely claimed that a law requires the separation of
parents and children at the border.1 As numerous experts and fact-checkers have pointed out,
this is incorrect. We would like to understand whether it is the position of the Department of
Justice that the law requires separating parents and children at the border. Accordingly, pursuant
to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. § 552, The Protect Democracy Project
hereby requests that your office produce within 20 business days the following records (see
below for clarity on the types of records sought):

1. Any record reflecting a law of the United States, a judicial decision, or a legal opinion of
the Department of Justice, that requires the separation of children from their parents at the
border.
See, e.g., Julie Hirschfeld Davis, “Trump Again Falsely Blames Democrats for His Separation Tactic,” ​New York
Times (June 16, 2018), https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/16/us/politics/trump-democrats-separation-policy.html.
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2020 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, #163, Washington, DC 20006 • FOIA@protectdemocracy.org
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 The timeframe for this request is March 1, 2017 through the date of this FOIA request.
We ask that you search for records from all components of DOJ that may be reasonably
likely to produce responsive results, including but not limited to the Office of the Attorney
General and Office of Legal Counsel.
FEE WAIVER

​

FOIA provides that any fees associated with a request are waived if “disclosure of the
information is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public
understanding of the operations or activities of the government and is not primarily in the
commercial interest of the requester.” 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(A)(iii). The core mission of The
Protect Democracy Project, a 501(c)(3) organization, is to inform public understanding on
operations and activities of the government. This request is submitted in consort with the
organization’s mission to gather and disseminate information that is likely to contribute
significantly to the public understanding of executive branch operations and activities. The
Protect Democracy Project has no commercial interests.
In addition to satisfying the requirements for a waiver of fees associated with the search
and processing of records, The Protect Democracy Project is entitled to a waiver of all fees
except “reasonable standard charges for document duplication.” 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(A)(ii)(II).
Federal law mandates that fees be limited to document duplication costs for any requester that
qualifies as a representative of the news media. ​Id. The Protect Democracy Project operates in
the tradition of 501(c)(3) good government organizations that qualify under FOIA as “news
media organizations.” Like those organizations, the purpose of The Protect Democracy Project
is to “gather information of potential interest to a segment of the public, use its editorial skills to
turn the raw materials into distinct work, and distribute that work to an audience.” ​Nat’s Sec.
Archive v. Dep’t of Defense, 880 F.2d 1381, 1387 (D.C. Cir. 1989). As the District Court for the
District of Columbia “easily” determined in recent litigation in a separate FOIA request, The
Protect Democracy Project is “primarily engaged in disseminating information.” ​Protect
Democracy Project, Inc. v. U.S. Dep’t of Def., 263 F. Supp. 3d 293, 298 (D.D.C. 2017). Indeed,
The Protect Democracy Project has routinely demonstrated the ability to disseminate information
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about its FOIA requests to a wide audience. The Protect Democracy Project will disseminate
​See, e.g., Lisa Rein, ​Watchdog group, citing “integrity of civil service,” sues Trump to find out if feds are being
bullied, Wash. Post (Apr. 27, 2017),
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/04/27/watchdog-group-citing-integrity-of-civil-servicesues-trump-to-find-out-if-feds-are-being-bullied/;
​
Ben Berwick, ​Going to Court for Civil Servants, Take Care (April
28, 2017), https://takecareblog.com/blog/going-to-court-for-civil-servants; Charlie Savage, ​Watchdog Group Sues
Trump Administration, Seeking Legal Rationale Behind Syria Strike, N.Y. Times (May 8, 2017),
https://nyti.ms/2pX82OV; Justin Florence, ​What’s the Legal Basis for the Syria Strikes? The Administration Must
Acknowledge Limits on its Power to Start a War, Lawfare (May 8, 2017),
https://www.lawfareblog.com/whats-legal-basis-syria-strikes-administration-must-acknowledge-limits-its-powerstart-war; Allison Murphy, ​Ten Questions for a New FBI Director, Take Care (June 6, 2017),
https://takecareblog.com/blog/ten-questions-for-a-new-fbi-director.
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2020 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, #163, Washington, DC 20006 • FOIA@protectdemocracy.org
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 information and analysis about this request – and any information obtained in response –
through its website (protectdemocracy.org); its Twitter feed
(https://twitter.com/protctdemocracy), which has more than 14,000 followers; its email list of
approximately 25,000 people; and sharing information with other members of the press.
RESPONSIVE RECORDS
We ask that all types of records and all record systems be searched to discover records
responsive to our request. We seek records in all media and formats. This includes, but is not
limited to: agendas, manifests, calendars, schedules, notes, and any prepared documentation for
meetings, calls, teleconferences, or other discussions responsive to our request; voicemails;
e-mails; e-mail attachments; talking points; faxes; training documents and guides; tables of
contents and contents of binders; documents pertaining to instruction and coordination of
couriers; and any other materials. However, you need not produce press clippings and news
articles that are unaccompanied by any commentary (e.g., an email forwarding a news article
with no additional commentary in the email thread).
We ask that you search all systems of record, including electronic and paper, in use at
your agency, as well as files or emails in the personal custody of your employees, such as
personal email accounts, as required by FOIA and to the extent that they are reasonably likely to
contain responsive records. The Protect Democracy Project would prefer records in electronic
format, saved as PDF documents, and transmitted via email or CD-ROM.
If you make a determination that any responsive record, or any segment within a record,
is exempt from disclosure, we ask that you provide an index of those records at the time you
transmit all other responsive records. In the index, please include a description of the record and
the reason for exclusion with respect to each individual exempt record or exempt portion of a
record, as provided by ​Vaughn v. Rosen, 484 F.2d 820 (D.C. Cir. 1973), cert. denied, 415 U.S.
977 (1974). When you deem a portion of a record exempt, we ask that the remainder of the
record to be provided, as required by 5 U.S.C. § 552(b).
Given the 20-day statutory deadline, we hope to be as helpful as possible in clarifying or
answering questions about our request. Please contact me at
justin.florence@protectdemocracy.org or (202) 774-4234 if you require any additional
information. We appreciate your cooperation, and look forward to hearing from you very soon.
Sincerely,

Justin Florence
Counsel
The Protect Democracy Project
2020 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, #163, Washington, DC 20006 • FOIA@protectdemocracy.org
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