The FBI’s FOIA Processing Manual – aka “The Green Book”

Background

“The Green Book” is a set of guidelines for agency officials in charge of responding to FOIA requests, specifically about the proper procedures for processing requests for FBI documents or documents from any other agency under the purview of Department of Justice. The Green Book also contains volumes of numbered memos from directors and other officials in the agency’s FOIA department, instructing FOIA officials on how to respond to requests regarding certain procedures the FBI conducts, organizations under surveillance by the agency, and other persons and events of interest.

I first requested this back in June of 2016, and the FBI offered a public Department of Justice (DOJ) guidebook for processing FOIA requests. I knew this was not the document I was looking for. In November of 2015, The Public Record published an article detailing the fact the FBI told them they were unable to find the document, after processing their FOIA request. So, I knew the FBI did not want to let go of this record easily. I filed another request in September of 2016, with more clarity, making sure they knew the previous “responsive document” was not what I was seeking. I did not appeal that original request, but rather filed a new one, since I felt maybe I was not specific enough, so a new FOIA request was warranted over appealing something that may have been a misunderstanding.

It took until September of 2018, for the FBI to release the document. You can now find it below:

Continue scrolling for more...

Document Archive

The FBI’s FOIA Processing Manual – aka “The Green Book” [199 Pages, 65.8MB]

Follow The Black Vault on Social Media:

This post was published on October 1, 2018 5:50 pm

John Greenewald

Recent Posts

AARO Releases Final Report on “Eglin UAP” Incident

Today, the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) of the U.S. Department of Defense provided their…

April 24, 2024

AATIP and the Pentagon: The Struggle Over UFO Program Records

Since October 2017, The Black Vault has investigated the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP),…

April 23, 2024

FOIA Documents Reveal AARO’s Authorized and Repeated Attempts to Engage with David Grusch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GNITLBj0hM The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), tasked to investigate Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP), made…

April 18, 2024

DoD Releases “KONA BLUE” Documents

The following was the description by the DoD about KONA BLUE. It is reproduced here,…

April 16, 2024

Newly Released 1963 Report Sheds Light on Nuclear Era Urban Defense Strategies

After nearly a decade of waiting, The Black Vault has successfully acquired a document through…

April 12, 2024

National Guard Bureau Transition Book, Date Unknown

These records were provided by the family of anthologist and transparency activist Russ Kick, from his…

April 9, 2024