February 5, 2021
via email


ODNI Chief FOIA Officer:

This is an appeal of the partial denial of my ODNI Freedom of Information Act
request Case DF-2020-00225.

I had requested a copy of the FY2019 ODNI annual report on security clearance
determinations. By letter dated January 26, 2021, ODNI provided a copy of the
requested document, but with significant redactions. To justify the redactions,
ODNI cited FOIA exemption (b)(3) and specifically 50 USC 3024(i)(1) that
requires protection of intelligence sources and methods.

I believe that exemption was improperly applied in this case, and I therefore
appeal the partial denial of my request. The bases for my appeal are as follows.

1. The redacted information does not consist of intelligence sources and methods.

ODNI redacted, for example, the number of contractors and government employees
that hold security clearances at various levels, and the number of clearances
that were denied, or revoked.

This information is not an intelligence source. Neither is it an intelligence
method, as ODNI has previously acknowledged.

2. ODNI itself has released similar information in the past.

On multiple occasions, ODNI has released previous iterations of this security
clearance report without redacting the numbers of contractor and government
employees, or the number of clearance denials and revocations. See, for example,
the FY 2015 report on security clearance determinations that is posted on the ODNI
website.

If this information had truly constituted intelligence sources and methods,
then the DNI would have been obliged by statute to protect it. He did not do so.

That is because the redacted information is not an intelligence source and
is not an intelligence method.

3. The President has directed national security agencies such as ODNI to
increase their transparency.

In a February 4, 2021 National Security Memorandum that is posted on the
White House website, President Biden wrote:

"In a democracy, the public deserves as much transparency as possible
regarding the work of our national security institutions, consistent
with legitimate needs to protect sources and methods and sensitive
foreign relationships. The revitalization of our national security and
foreign policy workforce requires a recommitment to the highest standards
of transparency."

But in the present case, ODNI is offering less transparency with respect to
the FY2019 report than it did with respect to the FY2015 report. This is inconsistent
with the President's direction to agencies.

				*

For all of these reasons, we appeal the partial denial of our FOIA request.

Thank you for your consideration.


Steven Aftergood
Federation of American Scientists
1112  16th  Street NW, Suite 400
Washington, DC  20036

email: [email protected]
voice: (202)454-4691