The U.S. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is a law ensuring public access to U.S. government records. FOIA carries a presumption of disclosure; the burden is on the government – not the public – to substantiate why information may not be released. Upon written request, agencies of the United States government are required to disclose those records, unless they can be lawfully withheld from disclosure under one of nine specific exemptions in the FOIA. This right of access is ultimately enforceable in federal court.

You hear the phrase tossed around but there can’t be that many of us who have ever filed one.  So if you’re ever interested in filing one of your own or are just curious about the process, why not follow me as I submit my FOIA request(s) to government agencies for information Kryptos.

For me it started with seeing if anyone had filed an FOIA request for Kryptos.

Turns out someone did in 2005, thanks to the GovernmentAttic.org archives.

I then asked the folks at (redacted) for some advice on getting the FOIA request for free because there is no budget money for a free blog.

I even had someone send me a prototype FOIA letter for my NSA request.

My 1st CIA FOIA.

  •      Sanborn’s Letter to the CIA about Kryptos, page 1 and page 2
  •      William Webster’s comments at the Kryptos dedication, page 1 and page 2

My 2nd CIA FOIA.

My FBI FOIA.

My NSA FOIA.

I even confused my fine arts commissions and sent a request to the Commission of Fine Arts and received an appropriate response.  I followed this up with a trip to the GSA’s website and a subsequent query.  They sent an initial response and then a following response.

I also attempted to send some letters to:     Jim Sanborn
Ed Scheidt
The early solvers of K1-3

So far so good…

–Kryptosfan