June 22, 2018
Rachael Leven
Center for Public Integrity
910 17th St., N.W. 7th Floor
Washington, D.C. 20006
RE: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request DOC-IOS-2018-001476
Dear Ms. Leven:
This letter is in response to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, submitted via
FOIAonline on June 1, 2018, to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Freedom of Information
Act (“FOIA”) Office. According to our records, we received your request in this office on June
6, 2018, and assigned to it tracking number DOC-IOS-2018-001476. You requested the
following:
“any and all recusal determinations made or issued, ethics waivers, advisory opinions
about conflict of interest and impartiality determination requests in your custody or under
your control from January 1, 2017 through the date you search for records.
Our search of the Department records failed to identify any records in our files that are
responsive to your request. Unfortunately, we are unable to assist you with your request.
If you have any questions or concerns or would like to discuss any aspect of your request, you
may contact me, the Department’s FOIA Public Liaison:
Dr. Michael Toland
U.S. Department of Commerce
Office of Privacy and Open Government, Room 61013
1401 Constitution Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20230
(202) 482-3842
mtoland@doc.gov
Please refer to your FOIA request tracking number, DOC-IOS-2018-001476, when contacting
us.
In addition, 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:

 Ms. Rachael Leven
DOC-IOS-2018-001476
June 22, 2018
Page 2
Office of Government Information Services
National Archives and Records Administration
8601 Adelphi Road-OGIS
College Park, Maryland 20740-6001
e-mail at ogis@nara.gov;
telephone at 202741-5770; toll free at 1 877-684-6448; facsimile at 202-741-5769
You have the right to appeal this [denial/partial denial] of your FOIA request. An appeal must
be received within 90 calendar days of the date of this response letter. Address your appeal to
the following office:
Assistant General Counsel for Employment, Litigation and Information
U.S. Department of Commerce
Office of the General Counsel, Room 5896
1401 Constitution Ave., NW
Washington, D.C. 20230
An appeal may also be sent by e-mail to FOIAAppeals@doc.gov or by FOIAonline, if you have
an account in FOIAonline, at https://foiaonline.regulations.gov/foia/action/public/home#. The
appeal should include a copy of the original request and initial denial, if any. All appeals should
include a statement of the reasons why the records requested should be made available and why
the adverse determination was in error.
The appeal letter, the envelope, and the e-mail subject line should be clearly marked “Freedom
of Information Act Appeal.” The e-mail, FOIAonline, and office mail are monitored only on
working days during normal business hours (8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday
through Friday). FOIA appeals posted to the e-mail box, FOIAonline, or the office after normal
business hours will be deemed received on the next normal business day. If the 90th calendar
day for submitting an appeal falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal public holiday, an appeal
received by 5:00 p.m., Eastern Time, the next business day will be deemed timely.
Sincerely,

ROBERTA
PARSONS

Digitally signed by ROBERTA
PARSONS
DN: c=US, o=U.S. Government,
ou=Department of Commerce,
ou=Office of the Secretary,
cn=ROBERTA PARSONS,
0.9.2342.19200300.100.1.1=1300100
0105136
Date: 2018.06.22 16:13:16 -04'00'

Bobbie Parsons
FOIA Officer, Immediate Office of the Secretary
Office of Privacy and Open Government