April 21, 2017 Jennifer L. Hudson Director, Information Management Division Office of the Director of National Intelligence Washington, D.C. 20511 dni-foia@dni.gov Fax: (703) 874-8910 Re: Freedom of Information Act request for communications regarding Russian interference with 2016 election To Whom It May Concern: 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) All records, including but not limited to emails, notes, and memoranda, reflecting, discussing, or otherwise relating to communications between the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Executive Office of the President regarding contacts between individuals connected with the Russian government and individuals connected with the Trump campaign or the Trump administration, and/or Russian involvement with, or attempts to influence or interfere with, the national election of November 2016. 2) All records, including but not limited to emails, notes, and memoranda, reflecting, discussing, or otherwise relating to talking points or other communications with the public or the media regarding contacts between individuals connected with the Russian government and individuals connected with the Trump campaign or the Trump administration, and/or Russian involvement with, or attempts to influence or interfere with, the national election of November 2016. 3) All records, including but not limited to emails, notes, and memoranda, reflecting, discussing, or otherwise relating to communications between the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) and/or the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI), and/or Representative Devin Nunes, Representative Adam Schiff, Senator Richard Burr, Senator Mark Warner, and/or any other members or staff of HPSCI 2020 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, #163, Washington, DC 20006 ben.berwick@protectdemocracy.org or SSCI, regarding contacts between individuals connected with the Russian government and individuals connected with the Trump campaign or the Trump administration, and/or Russian involvement with, or attempts to influence or interfere with, the national election of November 2016. 4) All calendars, agendas, manifests, schedules, notes, lists of attendees, or other records reflecting or relating to meetings regarding contacts between individuals connected with the Russian government and individuals connected with the Trump campaign or the Trump administration, and/or Russian involvement with, or attempts to influence or interfere with, the national election of November 2016. 5) In addition to the records requested above, we also request records describing the processing of this request, including records sufficient to identify search terms used and locations and custodians searched, and any tracking sheets used to track the processing of this request. If your agency uses FOIA questionnaires or certifications completed by individual custodians or components to determine whether they possess responsive materials or to describe how they conducted searches, we also request any such records prepared in connection with the processing of this request. The timeframe for this request is July 1, 2016 through the date that searches are conducted for records responsive to this FOIA request. 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 new organization awaiting 501(c)(3) status, 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 2020 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, #163, Washington, DC 20006 ben.berwick@protectdemocracy.org 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). We intend to give the public access to documents transmitted via FOIA on our website, www.unitedtoprotectdemocracy.org, and to provide information about and analysis of those documents as appropriate. 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 for records from all components of ODNI that may be reasonably likely to produce responsive results. We also 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 FOIA@protectdemocracy.org or (202) 599-0466 if you require any additional information. We appreciate your cooperation, and look forward to hearing from you very soon. 2020 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, #163, Washington, DC 20006 ben.berwick@protectdemocracy.org Sincerely, Ben Berwick Counsel The Protect Democracy Project 2020 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, #163, Washington, DC 20006 ben.berwick@protectdemocracy.org