Lane von Herzen: Why is My Link to the FBI's FOIA Vault Disabled?

My Third Novel's Conclusion, My Heartbreak

My heart begins to break when I think about completing this particular book -- because this narrative has sustained me like no other story I've known. It's both more personal and more universal than my other works. But beyond memory and archetype, it's a cri-de-coeur about needing to become the person one is destined to be. And in the writing, I have met my own life's work, my own fated journey -- having the sense all the while that the pages are suffused with a resonance, an energy, an electrified field that defies explanation. Writers hope and pray to be overtaken by a work in this way -- to be conscripted into passionate service of a profound story. To experience it even once in a lifetime seems a great privilege. I still have several months before this novel is complete, and this constitutes my reprieve. Because I'm not ready for the beauty to end.

Thursday, July 7, 2022

Why is My Link to the FBI's FOIA Vault Disabled?

Concerningly, my ability to check on the FBI's fulfillment of my Freedom of Information Act Request #1496758-000 has been disabled.

This screenshot shows what my computer screen looks like when I attempt to check on the status of this critically important report:

There is no longer a box into which I can place my FOIA Request number. This option is simply and inexplicably missing.

I have accessed this site previously, multiple times, and I have had no difficulty navigating it whatsoever.

What does it suggest that, right at the moment President Biden and the Office of the Inspector General Hotline of the U.S. DOJ have insisted that my Freedom of Information Act Request be fulfilled in its entirety, without omission or redaction, my access to this site is obstructed?

Has the FBI not mailed the reports it promised to mail? Have the reports been mysteriously "lost" en route to my address?

I will email the FBI's FOIA Office and see what they have to say for themselves at this time.

Remember, each employee of the FBI takes an oath to uphold the Constitution every time he or she accepts employment or promotion within this agency. Each individual FBI Freedom of Information Act Office employee vows to uphold the Freedom of Information Act in defense of America's democracy.

How faithfully do members of the FBI uphold those vows?

We're about to find out.

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I sent the following letter to FOIPAQUESTIONS@fbi.gov from lmacwilliams7417@gmail.com at 4:20 pm today:

To the FBI's Freedom of Information Act Office:

My access to the FBI's FOIA Vault site, which ought to allow me to check on the status of my FOIA Request #1496758-000, has been disabled. Please see the attached screenshot so you can visualize the missing elements on my computer screen when I connect to this link.

Given the apparent compromise of my ability to obtain status update information through this link directly, I formally request that your Office provide me with an immediate update of the status of Freedom of Information Act Request #1496758-000.

Have materials responsive to FOIA Request #1496758-000 been mailed to me? If so, when was this mailing sent? Given the confidentiality of this material, and the high likelihood that there are myriad falsifications within the law enforcement reporting it contains, I assume this material was sent in a secure mailing that can be tracked. May I have the tracking information at this time, please?

Please note that this letter will be copied to the Office of the Inspector General Hotline of the U.S. Department of Justice.

I appreciate your prompt reply.

Sincerely,

Lane MacWilliams

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This blog post was forwarded in its entirety to the OIG Hotline in care of the OIP this afternoon at 4:43 pm Pacific time from lmacwilliams7417@gmail.com, with copies sent to lanemacwilliams@gmail.com and lmacwilliams77419@gmail.com.

In addition, an email was sent to the OIG Hotline in care of the OIP this afternoon at 5:56 pm Pacific time from lmacwilliams7417@gmail.com, with copies sent to lanemacwilliams@gmail.com and lmacwilliams77419@gmail.com, pertaining to an ostensibly false caller ID from (239) 966-1608.