CIA Response to FOIA Request by Janon Fisher Regarding Barry Seal

Central Intelligence Agency DEC 17 1999 Mr. Janon Fisher APB News 65 Broadway, 17‘ Floor New York, New York 10006 APPROVED FOR Reference: F-1999-025$3 RELEASEUDATE: 29-Apr-2009 Dear Mr. Fisher: This is to acknowledge receipt of your 22 November 1999 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for information pertaining to the following: “Barry Seal, born August 31, 1955 and died February 15, 1994. His social security number i You specifically request “all preprocessed material as well as any additional records that might be available concerning this topic. For identification purposes we have assigned your request the number referenced above. With regard to that portion of your request for “preprocessed material,” we have searched our database of previously released material and located the enclosed document consisting of seven pages. Since you are entitled to the first 100 pages of material as a requester in the “news media” category, the material is being provided free of charge in this particular instance. However, please be advised that these pages will be counted when calculating the final charges for your request. This is with respect to your request for “additional records.” Concerning your request for a fee waiver, I am required to consider your FOIA request in light of the rules and regulations governing the waiver of fees as published in the Code of Federal Regulations [CFR Title 32, Chapter XIX, Section 1900.13 Chapter XIX,Section 1900.13(b)] as well as relevant Department of Justice and Office of Management and Budget guidelines. I have reviewed your request and have determined that your petition does not meet the requirements of those regulations. Release of the information you have requested would not be likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations and activities of the United States Government. Accordingly, in this instance your request for a fee waiver is denied and as a requester in the “news media” fee category you will be required to pay copying costs at ten cents per page for pages in excess of 100 (to which you are entitled free) if any releasable records are found.  Meanwhile, we have accepted your request; it will be processed in accordance with the FOIA, 5 U.S.C. § 552, as amended, and the CIA Information Act, 50 U.S.C. § 431. Our search will be for documents in existence as of and through the date of this acceptance letter. The heavy volume of FOIA requests received by the Agency has created delays in processing. Since we cannot respond within the 20 working days stipulated by the FOIA, you have the right to consider this a denial and may appeal to the Agency Release Panel. It would seem more reasonable, however, to have us continue processing your request and respond to you as soon as we can. You can appeal any denial of records at that time. Unless we hear from you otherwise, we will assume that you agree, and we will proceed on this basis. Mah Sincerely, Kathryn I. Dyer Acting Information and Privacy Coordinator Enclosure OIM/IRG /14Dec99 Signature assigned by: Distribution: Orig - Adse 1 - PIRD/F-1999-02553 ACC (Ready for processing) fees-news media FOIA _02553 Fisher NOTE: Please calculate seven pages of material sent when closing case