Opinion ID: 172367
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The FOIA Request

Text: On July 19, 2004, Mr. Trentadue submitted a letter to the FBI and its Oklahoma City Field Office, making two requests under FOIA. The first request was for a January 4, 1996, memorandum from former FBI Director [Louis] Freeh concerning Morris Dees and the Southern Poverty Law Center (`SPLC') (which we will call the Freeh Memorandum). J.A. Vol 1 at 39. The memorandum, according to Mr. Trentadue, referenced an SPLC informant at Elohim City, id., the site of what he characterizes as a white supremacist paramilitary camp compound in Oklahoma that included persons purportedly involved in the Oklahoma City bombing, id. Vol. 4 at 986. Mr. Trentadue's letter attached a newspaper article describing the Freeh Memorandum. Mr. Trentadue's second request was for records which, directly or indirectly, report upon, concern, reference or refer to Morris Dees' and/or the SPLC's involvement with and/or connection to the following: Elohim City, OKBOMB, BOMBROB, Tim McVeigh, Richard Guthrie, Terry Nichols, Dennis Mahon,[] Robert Millar, Michael Brescia, Peter Langan and/or Andreas Strassmeir including all contacts Dees or the SPLC may have indirectly had with the foregoing through informants. Id. Vol. 1 at 40. OKBOMB is a reference to the FBI's investigation of the Oklahoma City Bombing. BOMBROB refers to the FBI's investigation of the Mid-West Bank Robbery Gang, a group of neo-Nazis who, according to Mr. Trentadue, were suspected by the FBI of being involved in the robbery of banks to fund attacks upon the government of the United States. Id. at 47. The request continued: In searching for documentsrecords responsive to this Freedom of In[f]ormation Act request, I want you to look beyond the official files at FBI Headquarters and the Oklahoma City Field Office. Specifically, in addition to all responsive documentsrecords from the FBI's official files, I want all responsive documentsrecords from the I Drive, SDrive and/or any other electronic device used for purposes of documentevidence storage, retention, holding, review, etc. at FBI Headquarters and/or the Oklahoma City Field Office, including any responsive documents records from temporary document, record, data and/or evidence storage locations, files and/or facilities regardless of where such storage files or facilities are located. Id. at 23. One week later the FBI sent to Mr. Trentadue a form letter confirming receipt of his FOIA request.