Petrelis Files

Pentagon Wants $400 to Search For Judy Miller Files?

The Pentagon has responded to my FOIA request for detailed records on reporter Judy Miller and they're asking for possibly up to $400 in search fees to rummage through their archive.

Basically, five months after making my request, DoD has located records that may contain some of the records I've requested, but the cost may ran in to a few hundred dollars.

I've asked for a search fee waiver, which may be granted, because I am so curious about Miller's complicated relationship with various parts of the DoD while she was employed by the New York Times.

If you're like me and want to know what documents DoD may turn up and release, then consider making a contribution so I can contact DoD and tell them to just proceed with the search, regardless of my fee waiver appeal.

Let's find out all we can about Miller and DoD through FOIA, with relatively minimal cost, if only to shed much-needed transparency on her news-gathering with the department and how it contributed to leading us into the Iraq war.

All donations appreciated!

Thanks,
Michael

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April 5, 2006

Jeanne Miller
FOIA Analyst
Department of Defense
Washington, DC

Re: Search Fee Waiver Requested

Dear Ms. Miller:

This letter is in response to your email of April 3 and our phone conversation that day regarding my October 25, 2005, FOIA request for DoD records that mention, or pertain to, reporter Judy Miller, specifically the information requested below.

You have estimated a cost of anywhere from $250 to $400, on top of the two free hours extended to every FOIA requestor, in order to search for the Miller documents requested.

As a news blogger who meets FOIA requirements for working media representative status, I hereby ask for a waiver of any and all search fees, and any additional copying fees, should any responsive records be found in your archive.

Therefore, I ask that you commence searching for the free two hours, as I wait for my appeal on the search fee to be considered and adjudicated.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Sincerely,
Michael Petrelis
San Francisco, CA

Excerpted and slightly amended from my original FOIA request:

I ask that DoD search from January 21, 2001, through October 1, 2005, for the following records related to former New York Times reporter Judith Miller:

1. 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;

2. The name of the unit was she embedded with, or names, if embedded with more than one unit in Iraq;

3. The dates she was embedded with any unit;

4. The name and rank of the unit(s) public relations officer(s) or military officer(s) responsible for assigning her to accompany units in the field;

5. List of Miller’s vetting requirements with DoD before filing stories with her editor;

6. The names of DoD officers who were responsible for vetting her stories;

7. 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;

8. Identify the security clearance level granted by DoD to her and explain if she therefore had access to classified materials;

9. 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;

10. Copies of all non-disclosure agreements Miller signed with DoD;

11. Copies of all paper documents signed by Miller granting her press credentials by DoD public affairs office;

12. Copies of every press pass granted Miller by DoD;

13. Copies of all Miller’s photos on file for her press passes and for all other forms of identification and access;

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

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

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

17. Copies of all transcripts of every on-the-record discussions and interviews conducted by Miller with the listed DoD personnel;

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