Libertarian National Committee Chair Angela McArdle shared a letter this week indicating that a FOIA request for information on the Libertarian Party sent to the CIA was met with a response stating the agency can “neither confirm nor deny” the existence of such records.
According to the letter, shared via social media on Monday, the CIA rejected a July 17 Freedom of Information Act request from McArdle seeking records and information on both the “national Libertarian Party” and the “Libertarian National Committee.” The letter states that the agency can neither confirm nor deny the existence of such records and cites two specific exemptions behind the decision. It is not known what specific information McArdle was looking to find in her original request beyond “any operations or activity in the LP,” or how she structured that request.
“In accordance with Section 3.6(a) of Executive Order 13526, the CIA can neither confirm nor deny the existence or nonexistence of records responsive to your request,” the letter reads. “The fact of the existence or nonexistence of such records is itself currently and properly classified and is intelligence sources and methods information protected from the disclosure by Section 6 of the CIA Act of 1949, as amended, and Section 102A(i)(1) of the National Security Act of 1947, as amended. Therefore, your request is denied pursuant to FOIA exemptions (b)(1) and (b)(3).”
Details provided by FOIA.gov indicate that exemptions (b)(1) and (b)(3) relate to information that is classified to protect national security and information that is prohibited from disclosure by another federal law, respectively. Additionally, according to the FOIA Ombudsman blog, the response is typical of what is referred to as a “Glomar response,” a term originating from a 1970s operation involving the Hughes Glomar Explorer, a ship built for a covert CIA mission to recover a sunken Soviet submarine, and efforts to keep knowledge of that mission from journalists. The Glomar response is intended to protect sensitive information, where even acknowledging the existence or nonexistence of records could reveal classified details.
McArdle stated on Tuesday night that she intends to appeal the agency’s response in a follow-up letter next week. “The fed behavior in the Libertarian Party has reached its peak. I’ll be working on our FOIA request appeal next week. Let’s see if we can flush it out,” she said.
Just could be related to the ultra right section of the Libertarian Party of the LaRouche Movement’s.
??????? ???????? has been close to the vice-president of the LaRouche Movement’s Schiller Institute Amelia Boynton Robinson since 2005 – she has been a member of it since then and was the presidential candidate of the Green Party in 2008. – Lyndon LaRouche, Putin, Dugin and Donald Trump supporter. Part of his faction in the ultra right, of the Libertarian Party, LaRouche has had many relationships with Dugin since his National Bolshevik days) This network of people in the US is far and wide. Ajamu Baraka (Jill’s VP in 2016) and Margaret Kimberley (both involved in Green Party politics, have been long-time endorsers of his conferences and theories & disinformation campaigns since and before 2014; you would be surprised with whom they work with. Jill might have a fascist problem.. Margaret Kimberley is the feature speaker at the Green Party convention ( I’m a member) . They have ties to the Russian fascist and Eurasian racist Alexander Dugin, the Red/Brown Alliance and others also. That whole “Rage against the War Machine” was a” Red/Brown LaRouche Movement’ event and so called left with fascists. Jill, Cynthia, Hedges was MC and a cast of various right speakers.
You could have submitted a request demanding to know what the CIA has on the Eastern Iowa Birdwatchers Club and gotten the exact same response, and the exercise would have been equally serious.
The “neither confirm or deny” response is pretty standard for the CIA. I’ve seen some background checks where they do something similar.
“the CIA, which has been focused on foreign intelligence gathering for the last 50 years, since they got caught up in Johnson and Nixon’s garbage”
You have it backwards. The CIA was originally supposed to exclusively deal with foreign threats. They then decided to take it upon themselves to start interfering in domestic business. And since then they have joined other tentacles of the Deep State (FBI, DHS, NSA, NRO, DEA, ATF, etc.) in trying to subjugate and oppress the US populace. Sending a FOIA to the CIA makes no less sense than to any other three letter agency – nor more sense, since it is equally futile.
Of all the possible agencies to send this FOIA request to, why the CIA, which has been focused on foreign intelligence gathering for the last 50 years, since they got caught up in Johnson and Nixon’s garbage? Why not DHS or the FBI?
“The fed behavior in the Libertarian Party has reached its peak. I’ll be working on our FOIA request appeal next week. Let’s see if we can flush it out,” she said.
So, is McAwful blaming the non-Mises Mice for now being Malignant Moles?
Throwback to March:
“Yesterday, the @LPNational was contacted by an FBI field agent, alleging one of our social media assets had been compromised by a ‘hostile foreign government’. She refused to disclose how the FBI came by this information, who the threat was, or what the threat was.
Our IT Dept and social media team performed due diligence to make sure there was no data breach and so far, we have not uncovered any evidence of a breach.”
To put the CIA doubletalk into English:
“Yes, there are records, and they’re classified, and we’re making it up that confirming that there are records is also classified, so you’re SOOL.”
Frankly, it really isn’t a big deal. If the LP were important enough to be considered a threat to the Deep Swamp, there would have been action to eliminate that threat by now.
That doesn’t mean that they’re out to get the LP. Just not right now.
“The fed behavior in the Libertarian Party has reached its peak. I’ll be working on our FOIA request appeal next week. Let’s see if we can flush it out,” she said.
Just what the party needs: a big dose of paranoia.
They probably frown on federal intelligence assets making FOIA requests.