In order to raise fees due in U.S. District Court to file a complaint for relief from The Department of Homeland Security, ▲Church Publishing has created a new fund where donations are deposited in a reference account earmarked to pay for filing, process service, and materials here.
Donate anywhere from $10 to 200 dollars. This remittance stub contains a window advocates key-in any donation amounts before entering their credit and billing information. ▲Church is considering coding a page for this website listing collections and expenditure. Transfer funds now or continue reading a detailed history of this case against Homeland Security:
▲Church Publishing filed a Freedom of Information Act request to The U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of Intelligence and Analysis August 11, 2014. Twenty days later this request was acknowledge and assigned identifier 2014-IAFO-0246.
DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis officials anticipated issuing a response by December 15, 2014. After being notified the FOIA request was being processed but obtaining no documents on schedule ▲Church forewarned I&A officials conferral by telephone could be expected. DHS replied processing 2014-IAFO-0246 was then anticipated to be completed by December 19, 2014.
This expectation passed without receipt of notification or records thus the Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) was called December 22, 2014. After speaking to the Officer in charge a new date, December 24, 2014, was expected for approval from General Counsel to release these documents in two parts. After that date went unfulfilled ▲Church Publishing would call again on December 29, 2014 but sent a reminder in writing December 26, 2014 to The Department of Homeland Security.
▲Church Publishing finally received a final response letter on January 13, 2015. The request for information was denied pursuant 5 U.S.C. 552 (b)(1), (b)(3), and (b)(7)(E). It’s when this case gets interesting and why your donations are necessary!
▲Church paid The United States Postal Service to deliver via 2-Day Priority Mail its appeal of adverse determination to the Associate General Counsel of DHS. A full four days later but days before that appeal was due (Rule 6, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure) this envelope arrived in Washington DC postal facility 20066. The envelope was moved to Washington facility 20018, departing after five hours. It then got delivered to Post Office 20018 after three more days, it was given to The U.S. Department of Homeland Security 72 hours after delivery! 2-Day Priority Mail took over 7 full days for delivery to The District of Columbia ordered March 17, 2015.
Part 552 sub-part (a)(6)(A) of The Freedom of Information Act amended in 2007 by the “Openness Promotes Effectiveness in our National Government Act” states:
Each agency, upon any request for records made under paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of this subsection, shall- (ii) make a determination with respect to any appeal within twenty days (excepting Saturdays, Sundays, and legal public holidays) after the receipt of such appeal. If on appeal the denial of the request for records is in whole or in part upheld, the agency shall notify the person making such request of the provisions for judicial review of that determination under paragraph (4) of this subsection.
Twenty days beyond receipt of this appeal was April 14, 2015. ▲Church expected to receive determination and be notified of these provisions for judicial review pursuant paragraph (4) before the date. Nevertheless, part 552 sub-part (a)(6)(B)(i) states:
In unusual circumstances as specified in this sub-paragraph, the time limits prescribed in either clause (i) or (ii) of subparagraph (A) may be extended by written notice to the person making such request setting forth the unusual circumstances for such extension and the date on which a determination is expected to be dispatched. No such notice shall specify a date that would result in an extension for more than ten working days, except as provided in clause (ii) of this subparagraph.
Although clause (ii) of subparagraph (a)(6)(B)(i) does not respect the appeal in (a)(6)(A)(ii), amendment to this clause in The Freedom of Information Act, 2007 by an “Openness Promotes Effectiveness in our National Government Act” states, “To aid the requester, each agency shall make available its FOIA Public Liaison, who shall assist in the resolution of any disputes between the requester and the agency” [effective on the eve of 2009] and that requesters’ allowance shall be considered before enjoining the agency from withholding records. ▲Church Publishing received no notification from The U.S. Department of Homeland Security by April 14, 2015. It was not able to check the status of this FOIA request governed by 5 U.S.C. 552 (a)(7). 552 (a)(7)(B) states each agency shall “establish a telephone line or Internet service that provides information about the status of a request to the person making the request using the assigned tracking number…” On April 18, 2015 ▲Church Publishing attempted to retrieve this status of a request from dhs.gov/foia-check-status however the identifier 2014-IAFO-0246 wasn’t listed!
▲Church Publishing started work to address these violations. Suddenly, on July 22, 2015, ▲Church received one email having no body or contents beyond a file attachment that could have activated a virus delivered to spam. A separate email client displayed the sender’s address and ▲Church noted this file was from Homeland Security in time to reply within 30 days. On August 22, 2015 ▲Church acknowledged Homeland Security Disclosure and FOIA Operations Director James Holzer’s assignment on behalf of the Deputy Associate General Counsel for General Law of number 2015-HQAP-00091 to appeal 2014-IAFO-0246.
On August 22, 2015 ▲Church wrote it hadn’t received legal notice to arrange alternate time for processing extending from March 17, 2015, that it was not assigned a Public Liaison, and, since Estimated Delivery Date published to The Department’s website was September 11, 2015, that it expected determination to resolve itself.
That August 22, 2015 email concerning processing of the appeal sent to james.holzer@hq.dhs.gov yielded this auto-reply, “As of August 9, I am no longer working at the Department of Homeland Security. If you have FOIA related questions, please contact the DHS FOIA Office at 202-343-1743 or FOIA@hq.dhs.gov.” Twelve days after Director Holzer acknowleded ▲Church Publishing’s appeal the Director resigned from Homeland Security!
▲Church immediately notified FOIA@hq.dhs.gov August 22, 2015. FOIA replied August 24, 2015 with a generic response not specifically addressing that notification stating The Department of Homeland Security’s Privacy Office “is responsible for administering policies, programs, and procedures to ensure that the Department complies with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the Privacy Act (PA), 5 U.S.C. 552 and 5 U.S.C. 552a…,” and that Complaints could be filed with the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General at http://www.dhs.gov/xoig/about/gc_1163703329805.shtm.
Nevertheless, that complaints link launched a response indicating the browser communicates with DHS.gov but that it cannot find this page! That link sent to remedy this case by the DHS Office responsible for ensuring The Department complies with 5 U.S.C. 552 after FOIA Operations Director James Holzer abruptly departed The U.S. Department of Homeland Security was broken. James Holzer doesn’t work at Homeland Security and Senior Directors at FOIA Operations or their staff neither replied with FOIA case specific detail nor provided useful information. This is a violation of several statutes including 5 U.S.C. 552 (a)(1).
James Holzer never responded, the DHS Office responsible for ensuring compliance did not address this case, and complaint to The Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General directed an HTTP Page Not Found Error. Meanwhile, the Estimated Date of Delivery for determination of DHS Appeal 2015-HQAP-00091 remained September 11.
Again, 5 U.S.C. 552 (a)(6)(A)(ii) states:
Each agency shall “make a determination with respect to any appeal withing twenty days after the receipt of such appeal.”
The appeal was received March 17, 2015. Notwithstanding, estimated delivery dates were unlawfully tolled for periods averaging five weeks EVERY-TIME DUE WITHOUT NOTIFYING ▲Church Publishing and delivery was expected September 11, 2015.
5 U.S.C. 552 (a)(6)(C)(i) legislates ▲Church exhausted administrative remedy when DHS failed to comply with time provisions provided by (6)(A)(ii). 552 (a)(4)(B) states, “On complaint, the district court of the United States in the district in which the complainant resides, or has his principal place of business, or in which the agency records are situated, or in the District of Columbia, has jurisdiction to enjoin the agency from withholding agency records…In such a case the court shall determine the matter de novo and may examine the contents of such agency records in camera…”
552 (a)(4)(B) mandates not only a U.S. court have jurisdiction in this matter but IT CAN review these 187 pages of records in unredacted form pertaining to The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Pursuit Lead Cable in a Judge’s chambers.
▲Church needs funds to file a new Civil Case in U.S. District Court and service summons in which The Department of Homeland Security must plead to within thirty days, per 5 U.S.C. 552 (a)(4)(C) and notwithstanding any other provisions of law, as well as for incidental documents opening a miscellaneous case and production of evidence. These fees may range anywhere from $700 including process service in Washington to $997 depending on motions that arise. Not including attorneys fees, obligations could run higher if notice of appeal is required PLUS any case filed subsequently to challenge Homeland Security’s Pursuit Lead Cable activities.
▲Church created a new fund for donation deposited in a reference account earmarked for filing this U.S. District Court Complaint against Homeland. Acknowledgement of the original Freedom of Information Act request made under paragraph (3) of 5 U.S.C. 552 August 11, 2014 can be viewed:
