CentralIntelligence Agency EcE,vEn 0 nJAN1 2019u It BY: __ ____ Washington.D.C.20505 8 Januruy2019 Mr. Austin Evers American Oversight 1030 15th Street NW Suite B255 Washington, DC 20005 Reference: F-2018-02490 Dear Mr. Evers: This is a final response concerning your 29 August 2018 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, submitted on behalf of American Oversight, seeking all records reflecting any communications between January 20, 2017 and the date the search is conducted: 1) Between all political appointees in the Office of the Director, including but not limited to former Director Mike Pompeo or anyone communicating on his behalf and several external entities listed in Column B of Item 1 of your request, that contained a keyword from your a. to kk. Listing. 2) Between all political appointees in the Office of the Director, including but not limited to former Director Mike Pompeo or anyone communicating on his behalf and several external entities listed in Column B of Item 2 of your request. 3) Any memorandum or document titled "The Echo Chamber" sent or received in 2017 by any of the political appointees in the Office of the Director as in items 1 and 2 of your request, as well as any chain of email correspondence to which the document was attached. 4) 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. With respect to Items 1 through 3 above, in accordance with Section 3.6(a) of Executive Order 13526, the CIA can neither confirm nor deny the existence or nonexistence of records responsive to your request. The fact of the existence or nonexistence of such records is itself currently and properly classified and is intelligence sources and methods information protected from disclosure by Section 6 of the CIA Act of 1949, as amended, and Section 102A(i)(l) of the National Security Act of 1947, as amended. Therefore, your request is denied pursuant to FOIA exemptions (b)(l) and (b)(3). I have enclosed an explanation of these exemptions for your reference and retention. As the CIA Information and Privacy Coordinator, I am the CIA official responsible for this determination. You have the right to appeal this response to the Agency Release Panel , in my care, within 90 days from the date of this letter. Please include the basis of your appeal. _ With respect to Item 4 above, the FOIA allows members of the public to request access to specific agency records that are in existence at the time of the request. The FOIA does not require federal agencies to answer questions or to create records at the time of the request in order to respond to a FOIA request. Therefore, we decline to process this part of your request. If you have any questions regarding our response, you may contact us at: Central Intelligence Agency Washington, DC 20505 Information and Privacy Coordinator 703-613-3007 (Fax) Please be advised that you may seek dispute resolution services from the CIA's FOIA Public Liaison or from the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) of the National Archives and Records Administration. OGIS offers mediation services to help resolve disputes between FOIA requesters and Federal agencies. You may reach CIA's FOIA Public Liaison at: 703-613-1287 (FOIA Hotline) The contact information for OGIS is: Office of Government Information Services National Archives and Records Administration 8601 Adelphi Road- OGIS . College Park, MD 20740-6001 202-741-5770 877-864-6448 202-741-5769 (fax) ogis@nara.gov Contacting the CIA's FOIA Public Liaison or OGIS does not affect your right to pursue an administrative appeal. Sincerely, Allison Fong Information and Privacy Coordinator Enclosure \ Explanation of Exemptions . Under the Freedom of Information Act (b)(l) exempts frbm disclosure information currently arid properly classified, pursuant to an Executive Order; (b)(2) exempts from disclosure information which pertains solely to the internal personnel rnles and practices of the Agency; (b)(3) exempts from disclosure information that another federal statute protects, provided that the other federal statute either requires that the matters be withheld, or establishes . particular criteria for withholding or refers to particular types of matters to be withheld. The (b)(3) statutes upon which the CIA relies include, but are not limited to, the CIA Act of 1949. ·· · · (b)(4) exempts from disclosure trade secrets and commercial or financial information that is obtained from a person and that is privileged or confidential; (b)(S) exempts from disclosure inter-and intra-agency memoranda or letters that would not be available by law to a party other than an agency in litigation with the agency; (b)(6) exempts from disclosure information from personnel and medical files and similar files· the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwaiwnted invasion of privacy; (b)(7) exempts from disclosure information compiled for law enforcement purposes to the exteut that the production of the information (A) could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings; (B) would deprive a person of a right to a fair trial or an impartial adjudication; (C) could reascmably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy; (D) could reasonably be expected to disclose the identity of a confidential source or, in the case of information compiled by a:criminal law enforcement authority in the course of a criminal investigation or by an agency conducting a lawful nationai security intelligen6e investigation, information furnished by a cpnfidential source ; (E) would disclose techniques and procedures for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions if such disclosure could reasonably be expected to risk circumvention of the law; or (F) could reasonably be exp·ect~d to endanger any individual's life or physical safety; · (b)(8) exempts from disclosure information contained in reports or related to examination, operating, or condition reports· prepared by, or on behalf of, or for use of an agency responsible for regulating or supervising financial institutions; and (b)(9) exempts from disclosure geological and geophysical information and datil, including maps, concerning wells. Central Intelligence Agency, October 2012