USDA

United States
Department of
Agriculture

Office of the General Counsel
1400 Independence Ave. SW
Washington, DC 20250-1400

December 30, 2019
Delivered via Electronic Mail
Hart Wood
American Oversight
1030 15th Street NW
Suite B255
Washington, DC 20005
foia@americanoversight.org
RE:

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request 2019-DA-02590-F
Final Response

Dear Mr. Wood:
This correspondence constitutes the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Departmental FOIA
Office’s (DFO) final response for FOIA request 2019-DA-02590-F. Please be advised that the
U.S. Forest Service will continue to respond separately regarding records within its purview.
This correspondence also responds to the matter of American Oversight v. U.S. Department of
the Interior et al., Civil Action No. 1:19-cv-01857-JEB currently pending in the U.S. District
Court for the District of Columbia.
The pending Complaint in the above referenced matter is based on USDA’s alleged failure to
conduct adequate searches and alleged wrongful withholding of non-exempt responsive records
in response to American Oversight’s request for the following:
1. All records reflecting communications (including email messages, email
attachments, calendar invitations or entries, and any handwritten or typed notes
from meetings) between the custodians listed below and the following individuals
and entities:
a. Any employee or representative of Antofagasta PLC, including anyone
with an email address ending in antofagasta.co.uk
b. Andronico Luksic, and anyone acting on his behalf such as a chief of staff,
scheduler, or assistant;
c. Ivan Arriagada, and anyone acting on his behalf such as a chief of staff,
scheduler, or assistant;
d. Any employee or representative of Twin Metals Minnesota (TMM),
including anyone with an email address ending in twin-metals.com;
e. Robert Lehman (including but not limited to the email address
rob.lehman@wilmerhale.com); and/or
f. Timothy Martin (including but not limited to the email address
timothy.martin@wilmerhale.com).
2. All records reflecting communications (including email messages, email
attachments, calendar invitations or entries, and any handwritten or typed notes

 Hart Wood
FOIA Request No. 2019-DA-02590-F
Page 2
from meetings) between the custodians listed below and the following individuals
and entities:
a. Jared Kushner (jck@who.eop.gov) and anyone acting on his behalf such
as a chief of staff, scheduler, or assistant;
b. Ivanka Trump (alternatively styled Ivanka Kushner) and anyone acting on
her behalf such as a chief of staff, scheduler, or assistant;
c. Anyone with an email address ending in ijkfamily.com
The custodians under the purview of the Departmental FOIA Office are:
1. All political appointees in the Immediate Office of the Secretary;
2. All political appointees in the Immediate Office of the Deputy Secretary; and
3. All political appointees in the Immediate Office of the General Counsel
You defined “political appointee” to include Presidential Appointee with Senate
Confirmation, Presidential Appointees, Non-career SES, Schedule C employees,
Temporary Non-career SES Appointees, Limited Term SES Appointees, or Temporary
Transitional Schedule C Appointees.
The DFO’s first interim response was issued on September 27, 2019 (Bates Numbers 000001 to
000094). The DFO’s second interim response was issued on October 30, 2019 (Bates Numbers
000095 to 000626). The DFO’s third interim response was issued on November 26, 2019 (Bates
Numbers 000627 to 000653).
Your request was processed under the FOIA, 5 U.S.C. §552. This final response addresses Items
1 and 2 of your request.
Search Efforts
While processing this request, the DFO searched responsive records in the following locations:
emails (to and from) relevant custodians to include calendar meeting invitations sent by email;
calendar entries of relevant custodians; executive correspondence of the Office of the Executive
Secretariat; and handwritten or typed meeting notes of relevant custodians. These searches
sought to locate records responsive to both Items 1 and 2 of your request.
Emails: An initial search for responsive records was conducted by the DFO’s
telecommunications provider, the Client Experience Center (CEC). The CEC provides
comprehensive, fee-for-service information technology (IT) associated operations, security, and
technical support services to USDA end users. The CEC also implements and manages
enterprise IT solutions for users Department-wide. Following the initial search, the CEC
performed a supplemental search for emails of additional custodians. The DFO performed a
manual review of the search results to identify any responsive records and to eliminate
duplicates.
Calendar Entries: At the direction of the DFO, the CEC also performed searches for calendar
entries of relevant custodians. The DFO performed a manual review of the search results to
identify any responsive records and to eliminate duplicates.

 Hart Wood
FOIA Request No. 2019-DA-02590-F
Page 3
Executive Correspondence: In addition, the DFO also performed a search of records of the
Office of the Executive Secretariat (OES), which is the office that manages the official
correspondence of the Immediate Office of the Secretary and maintains official records of the
Office of the Secretary. The DFO performed a manual review of the search results to identify
any responsive records and to eliminate duplicates.
Handwritten / Custodian Notes: Finally, the DFO directed relevant custodians to perform
searches for any handwritten notes or typed notes or other records that would not have been
located using electronic searches. Manual searches were initiated in the Office of the Secretary
(to include the Deputy Secretary), and the Office of the General Counsel. No responsive records
were located.
With regard to Item 1 of your request, the DFO previously produced all identified responsive
records through the first, second, and third interim responses. The DFO has not identified any
additional responsive records.
With regard to Item 2 of your request, the DFO has determined that there are no responsive
records. As explained above, the DFO performed searches of the relevant custodians’ email and
calendar entries and official correspondence of OES; also, the DFO directed relevant custodians
to search for any handwritten or typed notes. These searches have not yielded any responsive
records. Accordingly, the DFO is issuing a no records response to Item 2.
This letter concludes the DFO’s response to FOIA Request No. 2019-DA-02590-F. In light of
the matter American Oversight v. U.S. Department of the Interior et al., Civil Action No. 1:19cv-01857-JEB, currently pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia,
administrative appeal rights are not being provided in this response letter.
If you have any question or concerns about this final response or the pending civil action, please
contact Ms. Marsha Yee, Assistant United States Attorney, Civil Division, U.S. Attorney’s
Office for the District of Columbia at Marsha.Yee@usdoj.gov.
Sincerely,
Alexis R. Graves
Departmental FOIA Officer
Office of the General Counsel