06-23-2014 IRS FOIA Request Re Missing Lerner Emails

7/22/2019 06-23-2014 IRS FOIA Request Re Missing Lerner Emails

1/3

VIA CERTIFIED MAILBertrand TzengIRS FOIA RequestHQFOIAStop2112980 Brandywine RoadChamblee, GA 30341Dear Mr. Tzeng:

JW1e 23,2014

Re: Freedom o Information Act RequestOn JWle 13,2014, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) informed the Senate Finance Committeethat certain emails o Lois Lerner, IRS's former Director o Tax Exempt Organizations, could not beproduced because her computer had crashed in mid-2011 and back-up tapes no longer existed. 1Subsequently, on JWle 17, 2014, the House Ways and Means Committee annoWlced that it had learnedthat emails o other IRS employees also are no longer available.2 These emails are critical todetermining the origin(s) o the IRS's targeting o conservative groups inasmuch as Ms. Lerner is thecentral figure in the unfolding scandal. The emails are further crucial in determining whether, and theextent to which, other agencies, entities, political figures and parties ( the non-IRS governmentofficials ) were responsible for, aware o or encouraged IRS's targeting o conservative groups. Assuch, Cause o Action and Tea Party Patriots hereby request access to the following records from

January 2009 to JWle 2011 pursuant to the Freedom o Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552 FOIA):31. Records pertaining to the type o email system(s) software used by IRS;2. Records pertaining to IRS hardware/software operational system diagrams, indicating the mainand redundant servers and their functional operation;3. Records pertaining to IRS computer system backup policies and procedures;4. Records pertaining to IRS retention cycles for data backups;5. Records pertaining to any and all investigation(s) or inquiries into the crash o Lois Lerner'scomputer, as referenced in the JW1e 13, 2014 Letter from IRS to the Senate Finance Committee;6. Records pertaining to any forensic review o IRS servers maintained in West Virginia,Tennessee or Detroit to search for the emails o Lois Lerner and/or other IRS employees in the

Office o the Commissioner, Exempt Organizations Unit and IRS Counsel's office;7. Records (including copies o contracts, scope o work, evidence o payments, any internalreviews and commWlications) pertaining to any third party vendor with which IRS contracted1 Letter from Leonard Oursler, National Director for Legislative Action, to Sens. Ron Wyden, Chairman, and Orrin Hatch,Ranking Member, Committee on Finance June 13, 2014).2 ee Press Release, Comm. Ways Means, Exposed: IRS Kept Secret for Months, More Than Just Lerner Emails LostJune 17, 2014), v il ble t http://waysandmeans.house.gov/newsldocumentsingle.aspx?Document10=384708.3 This request is being submitted as a single document signed by multiple requesters in order to avoid submittingduplicative requests. However, each requester reserves the right to appeal the outcome of IRS's determination of he meritsof his request either jointly or severally, in each requester's sole discretion.


2/3

Mr. Bertrand TzengJune 23,2014Page2for email archiving and/or recovery, including, but not limited to, Sonasoft Corporation (thetime period for this request is January 2005 to the present);8. Records pertaining to when IRS officials responding to the congressional investigation andlitigation involving the targeting o conservative groups first learned about the lost ormissing emails;9. Hard copies o emails, in accordance with Section 1.10.3.2.3(3) o IRS Manual, sent to and/orreceived from Lois Lerner, Nikole Flax, Michelle Eldridge, Kimberly Kitchens, Julie Chen,Tyler Chumny, and/or Nancy Heagney, pertaining to the targeting o conservative groups thetime period for this request is January 2009 to the present);10. Backup records o the emails requested in Item 9 above the time period for this request isJanuary 2009 to the present);11. All prior versions o Section 1.1 0.3 o IRS Manual (the time period for this request is January2009 through the 2012 version, including, but not limited to, the version dated July 2011);12. Emails that Lois Lerner sent to and/or received from the Federal Election Commission, U.S.Department o Justice (including, but not limited to, the Federal Bureau o Investigation), theDepartment ofTreasury and the Executive Office o the President (including, but not limited to,the Office ofWhite House Counsel); and13. Records pertaining to IRS's compliance with Sections 1.10.3.2.3, 1.15.6.6 and 1.15.6.8(l)(B)ofiRS Manual, Item 5 ofNational Archives and Records Administration's General RecordsSchedule 23 ( Schedule o Daily Activities ), and 36 C.F.R. 1222.12.Request for news media statusFor fee purposes, Cause o Action and Tea Party Patriots each qualify as a representative othe news media as defined by the statute. 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(4)(A)(ii)(ll). Specifically, both Cause oAction and Tea Party Patriots gather information o potential interest to a segment o the public, use

their editorial skills to turn the raw materials into a distinct work, and distribute that work to anaudience. See idCause o Action, in particular, gathers news that it regularly publishes from a variety osources, including FOIA requests, whistleblowers/insiders, and scholarly works. Cause o Action doesnot merely make raw information available to the public, but rather distributes distinct work products,including articles, blog posts, investigative reports, and newsletters.4 These distinct works aredistributed to and through various media, including Cause o Action's website, which has been viewedjust under 120,000 times in the past year alone.5 Cause o Action also disseminates news to the publicvia Twitter and Facebook, and it provides news updates to subscribers via email.The statutory definition o a representative o the news media unequivocally commands that

organizations such as Cause o Action and Tea Party Patriots that electronically disseminate4 See e.g. CAUSE OF ACTION, GRADING THE GOVERNMENT: HOW THE WHITE HOUSE TARGETS DocUMENT REQUESTERSMar. 18, 2014), available at http://causeofaction.org/grading-govemment-white-house-targets-document-requesters/; seealso CAUSE OF ACTION, GREENTECH AUTOMOTIVE: A VENTURE CAPITALIZED BY CRONYISM Sept. 23, 20 13), available athttp://causeofaction.org/20 13/09/23/greentech-automotive-a-venture-capitalized-by-cronyism-2/; see also CAUSE OFACTION, POLITICAL PROFITEERING: HOW FOREST CITY ENTERPRISES MAKES PRIVATE PROFITS T THE EXPENSE OFAMERICAN TAXPAYERS PART (Aug. 2, 2013), available at http://causeofaction.org/2013/08/02/political-profiteering-howforest-city-enterprises-makes-private-profits-at-the-expense-of-americas-taxpayers/.5 Google Analytics for http://www.causeofaction.org on file with Cause o Action).


3/3

Mr. Bertrand TzengJune 23 2014Page 3information and publications via alternative media shall be considered to be news-media entities.5 U.S.C. 552(a)(4)(A)(ii)(II). In light of the foregoing, federal agencies have appropriatelyrecognized Cause of Action 's news media status in connection with its FOIA requests.6 Tea PartyPatriots should be recognized as such as well.

ecord production and contact informationn order to facilitate record production, please provide the responsive records in electronicformat. If a certain set of responsive records can be produced more readily, Cause of Action and TeaParty Patriots respectfully request that these records be produced first and that the remaining recordsbe produced on a rolling basis as circumstances permit. Cause of Action and Tea Party Patriots agreeto pay reasonable duplication fees. Please notify any of the undersigned in advance, however, if suchfees are expected to exceed $25.00.7

If you have any questions about this request, please contact Cause of Action via PrashantKhetan (by email at [email protected]) or Allan Blutstein (by email [email protected]), or by telephone at (202) 499-4232, or Tea Party Patriots' counselCleta Mitchell (by email at [email protected], or by telephone at (202) 431-1950).

Thank you for your attention to this matter.CAUSE OF ACTIONB1:\_\_ CfLPrashant K Khetan, Esq.Allan L Blutstein, Esq.-and-TEA PARTY PATRIOTSJENNY BETH MARTIN, NATIONAL Co-FOUNDERBY:

leta Mitchell, Esq.Foley Lardner LLPCounsel to Tea Party Patriots6 See e.g. FOIA Request LR-2014-00441, Nat'] Labor Relations Bd. (June 4, 2014); FOIA Request 14-01095-T, Sec.Exch. Comm'n (May 7, 2014); FOIA Request 2014-HQF0-00236, Dep't of Homeland Sec. (Jan. 8, 2014); FOIA RequestDOC-OS-2014-000304, Dep't of Commerce Dec. 30, 2013); FOIA Request 14F-036, Health Res. Serv. Admin. Dec. 6,2013); FOIA Request CFPB-2014-010-F, Consumer Fin. Prot. Bureau Oct. 7, 2013); FOIA Request 2013-01234-F, Dep'tof Energy July I, 20 13); FOIA Request 20 12-RMA-02563F, Dep't of Agric. May 3, 2012); FOIA Request 2012-00270,Dep't oflnterior (Feb. 17, 2012); FOIA Request 12-00455-F, Dep't ofEduc. Jan. 20, 2012).7 If either Cause of Action's or Tea Party Patriots' request for news media status is denied, each reserves the right to seek apublic interest waiver of applicable fees pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(4)(A).

Documents

06-23-2014 IRS FOIA Request Re Missing Lerner Emails