Case 1:10-cv-01712-RMC Document 7-3 Filed 02/16/11 Page 1 of 4

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY >

AND ETHICS IN WASHINGTON >

vs. > No. 10-01712

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, et al. >

>

I, Ricki Meyer, declare as follows:

1. I am currently employed by the U.S Department of

Education. I serve as the FOIA Coordinator for the Office of

Legislative and Congressional Affairs (OLCA). Our office is

located at 400 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Washington DC, 20202.

2. I have personal knowledge of the facts stated in this

declaration based on my review of the relevant documents and my

discussion with the individuals involved.

3. On August 18, 2010 our office received a letter

requesting information pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act,

•
5 U.S.C. § 552, et seq. The request for information is dated July

23, 2010. Ex 1.

4. Ms. Anne Weismann, Chief Counsel at Citizens for

Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), filed the request

for information pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

The request was assigned FOIA request No. 10-01704-F.

5. The request for information asks for "any and all

records of or reflecting communications from April 20, 2009, to

the present to, from, and/or between officials at Education

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regarding for-profit education and any and all of the following"

eleven named entities and/or individuals. Ex 1. On October 25,

2010, Ms. Weismann clarified the scope of her request by informing

the Department that nto the extent that [her] request seeks

internal Departmental communications regarding for-profit

education, [she is] seeking only internal communications

regarding any Departmental communications with the outside

entities listed in [her] FOIA request." Ex 2.

6. OLCA serves as the Department's liaison in responding to

the needs of Congress, and was involved in the for-profit

education/gainful employment rulemaking process in this capacity.

7. After reviewing the OLCA employees involved in the

gainfUl employment regulation process, OLCA determined that

Kristen Adams is the only individual in OLCA reasonably likely to

have records responsive to this FOIA request. Ms. Adams is the

only employee in OLCA whose responsibilities include higher

education issues. There are no other individuals in OLCA who are

reasonably likely to have records responsive to this request.

8. Ms. Adams maintains the types of communications sought by

Ms. Weismann in her individual Departmental email account. There

are no other locations where responsive records are reasonably

likely to be located.

9. On October 21, 2010, OLCA informed the Department's FOIA

Service Center that it had no records responsive to this FOIA

request.
10. OLCA's search for records was originally conducted by

Theresa Toye, OLCA's former FOIA Coordinator. Ms. Toye has been

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out of the office since December 20, 2010, and her last day at the

Department was February 3, 2011. Without Ms. Toye's assistance,

OCLA was unable to confirm or document the search it originally

conducted for responsive records.

11. Therefore, to confirm that it had no records responsive

to this request, on February 3, 2011, OLCA conducted an electronic

search of Kristen Adams' email accounts for references to the

following individuals or entities with no date range: "Eisman,"

"FrontPoint t " "Stanley Investment t " "Pauline Abernathy," "Institute

for College Access and Success," '\Nassirian," "American Association of

Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers," "Asensio," "Alliance

for Economic Stability," and "Johnette." OLeA also conducted an

electronic search for the terms "Profit" and "Shireman" using the date

range 4/20/09 - 7/23/10, which was the term of Mr. Shireman's tenure

as the Deputy undersecretary of Education. Pursuant to Ms. Weismann's

October 25, 2010 clarification, OLCA searched the body of internal

emails-including those sent to or received from Departmental

employee Robert Shireman-for any mention of the entities listed

above. Pursuant to Ms. Weismann's October 25, 2010 clarification,

internal emails to or from Robert Shireman that did not mention

the external entities listed above were not retrieved for review.

OLCA also searched all hard-copy correspondence for responsive

records; no responsive records were identified. OLCA then

reviewed the individual emails retrieved by these electronic

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searches for responsiveness to the FOIA request and subsequent

clarification.

12. OLCA's February 3, 2011 search confirmed that it has no

records responsive to this request.

I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true

and correct. Executed on 09-/1S- 2011.

~'DkY
Ricki Meyer ~--­
FOIA Coordinator
Office of Legislative and Congressional
Affairs
U.S. Department of Education