FEMA Records Regarding Hill Communications Related to Hurricane Florence

3.4 MB·English

by  Federal Emergency Management Agency

U.S. Department of Homeland Security
500 C Street, S.W. Mail Stop 3172
Washington, DC 20472-3172

FEMA

November 20, 2018

SENT VIA E-MAIL TO: [email protected]

Cerissa Cafasso
Counsel
American Oversight
1030 15th Street NW, B255
Washington, DC 20005

Re: FEMA FOIA Case Number 2019-FEFO-00035

Dear Ms. Cafasso:

This is the final response to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Department
of Homeland Security (DHS), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), dated October
10, 2018 and received in this office on October 10, 2018. You are seeking All e-mail
communications from September 1, 2018, through September 30, 2018,
between all political appointees or career members of the SES in the following FEMA
offices:
a) The Immediate Office of the Administrator, including the Office of the Chief of
Staff;

b) The Immediate Office of the Deputy Administrator;

c) The Office of External Affairs;

d) The immediate office of the Associate Administrator for the Office of Response
and Recovery;

e) The immediate office of the Deputy Associate Administrator for the Office of
Response and Recovery; and

f) The immediate office of the Regional Administrator for Region Four;

And any of the following offices and persons:
i) Congressman David Rouzer or anyone from his office, including but not limited to
Melissa Murphy, Jason Cooke, and Ian Whitson;

ii) Congressman Mark Walker or anyone from his office, including but not limited to
Scott Luginbill, Ryan Walker, and Joshua Woodward;
iii) Congressman Richard Hudson or anyone from his office, including but not limited
to Chris Carter, Preston Bell, Kayla Dolan, and Shaun Taylor;

iv) Congressman George Holding or anyone from his office, including but not limited
to Tucker Knott, Curtis Rhyne, and John Caison;

v) Congressman James Clyburn or anyone from his office, including but not limited to
Yelberton Watkins, Craig Link, and Lin Whitehouse;

vi) Congressman Patrick McHenry or anyone from his office, including but not limited
to Jeff Butler, Matt Mulder, Chris Worrell, and Krista Stafford;

vii) Congressman G.K. Butterfield or anyone from his office, including but not limited
to Troy Clair, Saul Hernandez, Kyle L. Parker, and Dennis Sills;

viii) Congresswoman Virginia Foxx or anyone from her office, including but not limited
to Cyrus Artz, Carson Middleton, and Jason Harvey;

ix) Congressman Walter B. Jones, Jr. or anyone from his office, including but not
limited to Joshua Bowlen, Bradley Ryon, and Bryan Martin;

x) Congressman Greg Walden or anyone from his office, including but not limited to
Lorissa Bounds and Riley Bushue;

xi) Any staff member of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, including but
not limited to Mike Bloomquist;

xii) Senator Richard Burr or anyone from his office, including but not limited to
Natasha Hickman, Christopher Toppings, Mykel Wedig, John McDonald, Angela
Wiles, and anyone whose email ends in @burr.senate.gov;

xiii) Senator Thom Tillis or anyone from his office, including but not limited to Ted
Lehman, Courtney Temple, Corey Brown, Bill Bode, and anyone whose email
ends in @tillis.senate.gov; or

xiv) Senator Tim Scott or anyone from his office, including but not limited to Jennifer
DeCasper, Charles Cogar, Shay Hawkins, Emily Lavery, Kate Hunter, and anyone
whose email ends in @scott.senate.gov.

Specifically you seek all messages on which a political appointee appears (whether in the
to, from, cc, or bcc field), as well as all prior messages (whether incoming or outgoing)
reflected in the responsive correspondence and any attachments thereto.

A search of FEMA’s Office of Chief Information Officer for documents responsive to your
request produced a total of 32 pages. Of those pages, I have determined that 12 pages of the
records are releasable in their entirety and 20 pages are partially releasable pursuant to Title 5
U.S.C. § 552 (b)(6), FOIA Exemption 6.

FOIA Exemption 6 exempts from disclosure of personnel or medical files and similar files the
release of which would cause a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. This requires a
balancing of the public’s right to disclosure against the individual’s right to privacy. The privacy
interests of the individuals in the records you have requested outweigh any minimal public
interest in disclosure of the information. Any private interest you may have in that information
does not factor into the aforementioned balancing test.

You have the right to appeal if you disagree with FEMA’s response. The procedure for
administrative appeals is outlined in the DHS regulations at 6 C.F.R. § 5.8. In the event you
wish to submit an appeal, we encourage you to both state the reason(s) you believe FEMA’s
initial determination on your FOIA request was erroneous in your correspondence, and include a
copy of this letter with your appeal. Should you wish to do so, you must send your appeal within
90 days from the date of this letter to [email protected], or alternatively, via mail at the
following address:

FEMA
Office of the Chief Administrative Officer
Information Management Division (FOIA Appeals)
500 C Street, SW, Seventh Floor, Mail Stop 3172
Washington, D.C. 20472-3172

As part of the 2007 amendments, the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) was
created to offer mediation services to resolve disputes between FOIA requesters and Federal
agencies. You may contact OGIS in any of the following ways:

Office of Government Information Services
National Archives and Records Administration
8601 Adelphi Road- OGIS
College Park, MD 20740-6001
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: https://ogis.archives.gov
Telephone: [phone]/Toll-free: 1-877-684-6448
Facsimile: 202-741-5769

Provisions of the FOIA allow us to recover part of the cost of complying with your request. In
this instance, because the cost is below the $25 minimum, there is no charge.
If you need any further assistance or would like to discuss any aspect of your request, please
contact us and refer to FOIA case number 2019-FEFO-00035. You may send an e-mail to fema-
[email protected], call [phone], or you may contact our FOIA Public Liaison in the
same manner.

Sincerely,

John Maniha
Government Information Specialist
Disclosure Branch
Information Management Division
Mission Support

Enclosure(s): Responsive Records (32 pages)
From: Mccleskey, James l(b)(6) !§inc.gov>
"Haney, Jerry </o=Exchangelabs/ou=Exchange Administrative Group
( FYDIBOHF23SPDTL)/ cn= Recipients/cn=9f0e1 00bd08b4455b93534982094f089-HaneyJ,e rr>";
To:
"Szczech,G racia </o=Exchangelabs/ou=Exchange Administrative Group
(FYDIBOHF23SPDTL)/ cn= Recipients/cn=0f3e693ed3e34cfb9574fe5a67dc3b-9S0zczech,G r>"
(b)(6) @nc.gov>";
b)(6) la>burr.senate.gov";
CC: nllh\ F9Jn.cgov>";
bl(6l l(a)rJoa.nc.gov>";
(b)(6) !§)burr.senate.gov"
Subject: Re: Lumbee Request
Date: 2018/09/22 19:26:10
Priority: Normal
Type: Note
Hey folks I've just gotten word from Betty Jo Shepherd that Lumbee Tribal Chairman Harvey
Godwin has spoken with Senator Burr with concerns that the FEMA assistance team leader
assigned to the tribe does not have direct knowledge / experience with tribal relations.
Can you assist with any perspective on how this may be addressed and what the overall team
profile may encompass?
Thanks All-
Jim McCleskey , Director
North Carolina Washington Office
444 North Capitol Street NW, Suite 332
Washington DC 20001
CJ
0)
M
l(b)(6) @nc.gov
DHS-FEMA-18-0623-A-000001
On Sep 13, 2018, at 4:29 PM, McCleskey, James ~(b)(6) [email protected]>wrote:
Thank You Jerry!
On behalf of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina the State is requesting a Disaster
Recovery Coordination Team to support the tribe in addressing impacts of Hurricane
Florence.
The Tribal Chair is Harvey Godwi~(b)5(l land their Counsel is (b)5(l
rb)6() Director of Governmental Affairs is (b)6() at
[b)(6) .__ ____ ___,
Here is further information on the tribal government and administrative staff
including additional contact information:
http://www.lumbeetribe.com/ government
http://www.lumbeetribe.com/admin istration
Please advise on any additional information you need in this regard.
DDHHSS--FFEEMMAA--1188--00662233--AA--000000000012
Thanks All!
Jim McCleskey , Director
North Carolina Washington Office
444 No1th Capitol Street NW, Suite 332
Washington DC 20001
O)Db)(6)
M)
l(b)(6)
@nc.gov
On Sep 13, 2018, at 4:00 PM, Haney, Jerry <Jeny [email protected]>wrote:
CAUTION: External email. Do not click links or open attachments unless verified.
Send all suspicious email as an attachment to
DDHHSS--FFEEMMAA--1188--00662233--AA--000000000023
Sir,
Good to meet you. Please send me the info on the Lumbee request.
Jerry
JERRY C. HANEY
FEMA RIV, RSD-O1B
LNO to NC EM
404-985-4027 - Cel I
[email protected]
Email correspondence to and from this address may be subject to the North Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third
parties by an authorized state official.
DDHHSS--FFEEMMAA--1188--00662233--AA--000000000034
Sender: Mccleskey, James fb)(6) @nc.gov>
"Haney, Jerry </o=Exchangelabs/ou=Exchange Administrative Group
(FYDIBOHF23SPDTL)/ cn= Recipients/cn=9f0e1 00bd08b4455b93534982094f08-9Haney, Jerr>";
"Szczech,G racia </o=Exchangelabs/ou=Exchange Administrative Group
FYDIBOHF23SPDTL)/ cn= Recioients/cn=0f3e693ed3e34cfb9574fe5a67dc3b90-SzczeGchr,> ";
Recipient: b)(6) nc.gov>";
h\/R) JgJourr.senate.gov--;
1<bl/6l @nc.gov>";
!1!)doa.nc.gov>";
lbl(6)
b)(6) j§iburr.senate.gov"
Sent Date: 2018/09/22 19:26:00
Delivered Date: 2018/09/22 19:26:10
DDHHSS--FFEEMMAA--1188--00662233--AA--000000000045
FEMAExecSe<c /O=EXCHANGELABS/OU=EXCHANAGDEM INISTRATIVEG ROUP
From: (FYDIBOHF23SPDTL) /CN= RECIPIENTS/CN= 77A 0A037C6A7454B8DDCB6632966A88A-
FEMAEXECSEC>
"Zito Jr, William </o=ExchangeLabs/ou=ExchangeA dministrative Group
(FYDIBOHF23SPDTL) /cn =Reci pients/cn= 9535810 fb0674c6396527842e3748b12-ZITOJ R.,
To: W>";
"Harper, Jay </o=ExchangeLabs/ou=ExchangeA dministrative Group
(FYDIBOHF23SPDTL) /cn =Reci pients/cn=018bf96e38714f07bc94962d094727 f5-HARPERJ, ER>"
Subject: FW: Letter to Administrator Long
Date: 2018/09/28 11:01:54
Priority: Normal
Type: Note
See below and attachment. FYSA
Chadwick B. Jump
Management &Program Analyst
Office of the Executive Secretariat
Office of the Administrator
FEMA I 0 : 202-212-3820 I M:202-717-1560
I II
:>t::
Email Sig
From: Nelson, Jason
Sent: Friday, September 28, 2018 9:23 AM
To: FEMAExecSec <[email protected]>
Cc: FEMA-ActionOffice-ORR-FrontOffice <FEMA-Action0ffice-0RR
Front0ffice @fema.dhs.gov>; FEMA-ActionOffice-ORR-Recovery <FEMA
ActionOffice-ORR-Recovery @fema.dhs.gov>; FEMA-ActionOffice-R4 <FEMA
Action0ffice-R4 @fema.dhs.gov>; R4-EA <[email protected]>; Wehagen, Robby
<[email protected]>; Trytten, Dana <[email protected]>;
Krikava, Richard <[email protected]>; Block, Michelle
<[email protected]>; FEMA Recovery PA HQ Executive Office <fema-pa
[email protected]>; Dyson, Nicole <[email protected]>;
Abrisch, Todd L <[email protected]>; Cook, Jaime
<[email protected]>; Wells, Tod <[email protected]>
Subject: FW: Letter to Administrator Long
Good Morning,
Please control and assign for response. Fl has an outstanding request from Senator Scott
to discuss this issue. Please ensure Mr. Harper and Mr. Zito are aware of this latest
correspondence.
Thank you,
DDHHSS--FFEEMMAA--1188--00662233--AA--000000000056