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FOIA'ed: Judy Miller's, NYT's Pentagon Papers

These requests were made via DoD's online FOIA request site and also snail mailed.


From: nobody@dtic.mil

*** THIS IS AN AUTOMATED MESSAGE. DO NOT REPLY. ***

This is your confirmation that we have received your FOIA request. Please note that it will be date-stamped as "received" on the next official business day.

You provided the following information:

Submitted: [25/Oct/2005:14:18:11]
Name: MIchael Petrelis
Organization: http://mpetrelis.blogspot.com
Phone number: 415-621-6267
E-mail: mpetrelis@aol.com

Your Request:

October 25, 2005

FOIA Officer
The Pentagon
U.S. Department of Defense
Washington, DC

Re: FOIA request for NY Times-related materials

Dear Sir of Madam:

Pursuant to provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, I am hereby requesting the following public documents, and this request formally invokes the expedited processing clause of the Act, for the following reasons.

The public records sought are related to vital federal government activity, are of widespread legal and media interest, exactly because they pertain to national security and the public interest, meeting the requirements for expedited processing.

I am requesting all copies of every FOIA request filed with the U.S. Department of Defense by any New York Times reporter, writer, stringer, editor, columnist or any other member of the editorial staff, or the publisher, Mr. Arthur Sulzberger Jr., from January 21, 2001, through October 1, 2005.

Furthermore, I seek copies of any and all of the New York Times’ FOIA requests in whatever form the requested were made; on paper and mailed through the U.S. postal service, fax transmission, emailed as either a text message or an attachment.

Additionally, please furnish me with every shred of documentation DoD sent back to the New York Times and its employees.

Even if every FOIA request from the paper was denied and nothing was released to any New York Times employee, I want copies of the DoD letters sent to the paper stating why the request was rejected.

If DoD released any materials or documents in response to FOIA requests from the New York Times and its agents, in any medium; paper, CD-ROM, DVD, videotape, audiotape or other recording or data device, in email text format, contained as an attachment, photographs, or cell phone text messages, I ask to have DoD release copies to me of whatever was provided to the New York Times employees.

I respectfully request a prompt reply.

Sincerely,
Michael Petrelis

-

From: nobody@dtic.mil

*** THIS IS AN AUTOMATED MESSAGE. DO NOT REPLY. ***

This is your confirmation that we have received your FOIA request. Please note that it will be date-stamped as "received" on the next official business day.

You provided the following information:

Submitted: [25/Oct/2005:14:13:33]
Name: MIchael Petrelis
Organization: http://mpetrelis.blogspot.com
Phone number: 415-621-6267
E-mail: mpetrelis@aol.com

Your Request:

October 25, 2005

FOIA Officer
The Pentagon
U.S. Department of Defense
Washington, DC

Dear Sir or Madam:

As an American deeply worried about our nation and the state of U.S. journalism, I am filing a Freedom of Information Act request for the following documents, in all media forms and record-keeping, for Ms. Judith Miller, alias Judy Miller, a reporter for the New York Times.

Furthermore, this FOIA request invokes the expedited processing clause of the Act, which states, according the Department of Justice’s FOIA web site:

>The term "compelling need" is defined as (1) involving "an imminent threat to the life or physical safety of an individual," or (2) in the case of a request made by "a person primarily engaged in disseminating information, urgency to inform the public concerning actual or alleged Federal Government activity." <

I cloak my expedited request in Article 2, as stated above. There has most certainly been alleged Federal Government activity between Judith Miller and DoD, and since her legal entanglements are of widespread public and government interest linked to DoD, I must be granted an expedited status for my request.

Additionally, I expect the DoD FOIA office to meet the following provisions of the Act:

>Then "within 10 days after the date of the request" (which as a practical matter may be determined by a postmark in some cases), the agency will be required to decide whether to grant expedited processing and to notify the requester of its decision. If expedited processing is granted, the agency must give priority to that FOIA requester and process the requested records for disclosure "as soon as practicable." If expedited processing is not granted, the agency must likewise give "expeditious consideration" to any administrative appeal of that denial.<

I ask that DoD search from January 21, 2001, through October 1, 2005, for the following records:

1. What unit(s) was she embedded with?

2. What were the dates that she was embedded with this/these unit(s)?

3. What was the name and rank of the unit(s) public relations officer(s) or officer(s) responsible for assigning her to accompany units in the field?

4. Was this/these officer(s) required to vet her stories before filing them with her publisher?

5. If not, who was responsible for vetting her stories prior to submission to her publisher?

6. Was she provided/granted a security clearance while embedded? Did she have access to classified material while embedded?

7. In regards to classified materials, did she sign a non-disclosure agreement? If she did sign a non-disclosure agreement, please provide a copy of that agreement?

8. Copies of all paper documents signed by Miller granting her journalist credentials so she could attend daily press briefings.

9. Copies of Miller’s press pass, for every year she was granted media access to the Pentagon.

10. Copies of documents in which Miller received any sort of security clearance from DoD, higher than the security clearance granted a typical member of the mainstream media covering the Pentagon.

11. Copies of all Miller’s photos on files for her press passes and for all other forms of identification and access.

12. Copies of all documents signed by Miller that allowed her to be embedded as a reporter with U.S. Forces in Iraq in 2003, or at any other time and in any other military operation.

13. Copies of all emails sent by Miller to DoD’s Secretary Donald Rumsfield, the public affairs office, the Joint Chiefs, and replies from the DoD employees to Miller.

14. Copies of all Miller’s written correspondence to the same DoD personnel listed above, that was sent through the U.S. postal service.

15. Copies of all replies from the DoD personnel to Miller.

16. Copies of all FOIA requests made by Miller to DoD.

17. Copies of all documents, in any medium, released to Miller.

18. Copies of all written transcripts of all on-the-record discussions and interviews conducted by Miller with the listed DoD personnel.

19. Copies of all video and audiotapes of discussions and interviews Miller held with DoD leaders that were recorded by DoD.

20. Copies of the logs showing the dates, times when Miller entered the Pentagon, as a reporter, and for what purposes; i.e., daily press briefing, luncheon meeting, man the New York Times desk at DoD.

21. Copies of all telephone logs mentioning Miller, dates and times of her calls, to DoD for military information and interviews with officials.

22. Copies of any notes Miller provided to DoD personnel before sending the notes to editors at the New York Times, or any advance copies of New York Times stories before they were published in the paper.

I respectfully request a prompt reply.

Sincerely,
Michael Petrelis

Willing To Pay: $ $250