Petrelis: DOJ Response to FOIA Request for Bush FBI File

U.S. Department of Justice
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Washington, DC 20535-0001

Mr. Michael Petrelis
2215-R Market Street, #413
San Francisco, CA 94114

July 28, 2004

Dear Mr. Petrelis:

This is in response to your Freedom of Information Act request concerning President George W. Bush, FOIA number 1001866, and Vice President Dick Cheney, FOIA number 1001868. This response is being made on behalf of the Office of the Attorney General, Deputy Attorney General and Associate Attorney General.

You have requested expedited processing of your requests pursuant to the Department's standard permitting expedition for requests involving "[a] matter of widespread and exceptional media interest in which there exist possible questions about the government's integrity which affect public confidence," 28 C.F.R. Section 16.5 (d)(1)(iv).

Based on information you have provided, I have determined you have not demonstrated any particular urgency to inform the public about the subject matter of your requests beyond the public's right to know about government activity generally. Accordingly, your request has been placed in our regular processing queue.

You may administratively appeal the denial of your request for expedited processing by writing to the Co-Director, Office of Information and Privacy, United States Department of Justice, Flag Building, Suite 750, Washington, DC 20503-0001, within sixty days from the date of this letter.

Both letter and the envelope should be clearly marked "Freedom of Information Act Appeal."

Your request has been assigned the numbers above. Please use these numbers in all correspondence with us.

Sincerely yours,
David M. Hardy
Section Chief
Record/Information Dissemination Section Records Management Division

FOIA Proof
By MICHAEL PETRELIS

When it comes to the issue of FBI files on President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry, the so-called liberal media have shown unquestionable bias in only scrutinizing Kerry's dossier and ignoring the possibility of a file on Bush.

An Associated Press story on May 5 detailed how the wire service got the FBI to hand over more than 9,000 pages on Kerry's role in Vietnam Veterans Against the War, by demanding their release under provisions of the Freedom of Information Act.

Read more.