August 30, 2018
Manager Records Office
U.S. Postal Service
475 L’Enfant Plaza, S.W., Room 1P830
Washington, DC 20260-1101
Phone: (202) 268-2608
Fax: (202) 268-5353
Re: Freedom of Information Act Request
Dear sir or madam:
Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. § 552, we hereby request that your
office produce, within 20 business days, the following records:
1. Any FOIA request submitted to, forwarded to, or otherwise currently in your agency’s
possession seeking information or records relating to Abigail Spanberger.
(For example, based on media reports, we understand that the organization American Rising
submitted such a request on or about July 9. See Grace Wyler and Jason Leopold, “In An
Unprecedented Move, The US Postal Service Released A Former CIA Officer’s Security
Application To A Republican Group,” BuzzFeedNews.com (Aug. 29, 2018),
https://bit.ly/2wDPWTV [hereinafter “BuzzFeed Article”].)
2. Any documents provided to the requestor in response to the FOIA request(s) identified in
paragraph 1, including but limited to any correspondence, cover letters, and responsive
documents.
3. Any documents describing or generated during the processing of the FOIA request(s) identified
in paragraph 1, including but not limited to certifications, correspondence, clearance sheets,
custodian records, search terms, and tracking sheets.
4. Any correspondence or other communications—including but not limited to communications
among personnel in your office and communication between personnel in your office and any
third parties, such as other federal agencies—relating to the FOIA request(s) identified in
paragraph 1.
(For example, based on media reports, we understand that the National Personnel Records Center
(“NPRC”) sent a letter to America Rising on or about July 12 and transferred Spanberger’s
personnel file to the U.S. Postal Service (“USPS”) for review and handling around the same
time. We also understand that USPS provided America Rising with Spanberger’s personnel
folder, including an SF-86 form she had completed, on or about July 30. See BuzzFeed Article.)

 5. Any correspondence or other communications—including but not limited to communications
among personnel in your office and communications between personnel in your office and any
third parties, such as other federal agencies—relating to Abigail Spanberger, her personnel
record, or her SF-86 form.
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).
We are the Editor-in-Chief and Senior Editor for Lawfare, an online publication dedicated to
informing public understanding on operations and activities of the government. Lawfare is published by
The Lawfare Institute, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit educational organization, and in cooperation with The
Brookings Institution, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public policy organization. Lawfare does not have
commercial interests. This request is submitted in connection with Lawfare’s mission to publish
information that is likely to contribute significantly to the public understanding of executive branch
activities related to law and national security. The disclosure of Spanberger’s SF-86 form is a major
breach of government protocols protecting sensitive personal information and is particularly relevant to
national security professionals. It also raises concerns regarding possible political manipulation.
In addition to satisfying the requirements for a waiver of fees associated with the search and
processing of records, we are 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.
Lawfare is a “news media organization[]” that “gathers information of potential interest to a segment of
the public, uses its editorial skills to turn the raw materials into a distinct work, and distributes that work
to an audience.” Nat’l Sec. Archive v. Dep’t of Defense, 880 F.2d 1381, 1387 (D.C. Cir. 1989). We
intend to give the public access to documents transmitted via FOIA on our website,
https://www.lawfareblog.com/, and to provide information about and analysis of those documents as
appropriate.
RESPONSIVE RECORDS
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(a)(8)(A)(ii) & 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 us by phone or email if you require any additional
information. We appreciate your cooperation and look forward to hearing from you very soon.

Sincerely,
/s/ Benjamin Wittes
Benjamin Wittes
Editor in Chief, Lawfare
Senior Fellow in Governance Studies, The Brookings Institution
P.O. Box 33226
Washington D.C. 20033-3226
(202) 797- 4368
benjamin.wittes@gmail.com
/s/ Scott R. Anderson
Scott R. Anderson
Senior Editor, Lawfare
Fellow in Governance Studies, The Brookings Institution
P.O. Box 33226
Washington D.C. 20033-3226
(202) 797- 6090
scott.anderson@lawfareblog.com