EXCLUSIVE: The FBI Reports It Has No Documents Relating to the Seth Rich Laptop

By Jerry Jordan

Following reports that the Federal Bureau of Investigation may have examined the laptop computer of Seth Rich, who was a Democratic National Committee employee and who was murdered on the streets of Washington D.C., I filed a Freedom of Information Act with the FBI  requesting "Records with regard to FBI possession of the laptop of Seth Rich who was murdered on July 10, 2016."

The FBI has responded that it conducted a search of its records and has found no documents relating to the FOIA request:

US. Department of Justice
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Washington, D. C. 20535

May 26. 2017

MR. JERRY JORDAN
MUCKROCK
DEPT MR 37936
411A HIGHLAND AVENUE
SOMERVILLE, MA 02144-2516

FOIPA Request No.: 1374665-000
Subject: FBI Possession of Seth Rich Laptop

Dear Mr. Jordan:

This is in response to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. Based on the informationyou provided, we conducted a search of the Central Records System. We  were unable to identify records
responsive to the FOIA.

By standard FBI practice and pursuant to FOIA exemption and Privacy Act exemption
[5 U.S.C. 552/552a this response neither con?rms nor denies the existence of your
subject's name on any watch lists.

For your information, Congress excluded three discrete categories of law enforcement and national security records from the requirements of the FOIA. See 5 US. C. {5 552(0) (2006 Supp. IV (2010). This response is limited to those records that are subject to the requirements of the This is a standard
noti?cation that is given to all our requesters and should not be taken as an indication that excluded records
do, or do not, exist.

For questions regarding our determinations, visit the website under ?Contact Us."
The FOIPA Request Number listed above has been assigned to your request. Please use this number in all correspondence concerning your request. Your patience is appreciated.

You may file an appeal by writing to the Director, Of?ce of Information Policy (OIP), United StatesDepartment of Justice, Suite 11050, 1425 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, DC. 20530-0001. or you may submit an appeal through OIP's FOIAonline portal by creating an account on the following website: Your appeal must be postmarked or electronically transmitted within ninety (90) days from the date of this letter in order to be considered timely.

If you submit your appeal by mail, both the letter and the envetope should be clearly marked ?Freedom of Information Act Appeal." Please cite the FOIPA Request Number assigned to your request so that it may be easily identi?ed.

You may seek dispute resolution services by contacting the Of?ce of Government Information Services (OGIS) at 877-684?6448, or by emailing ogis@nara.gov. Alternatively, you may contact the FOIA Public Liaison by emailing foigaguestions@ici?oigov. If you submit your dispute resolution correspondence by email. the subject heading should clearly state ?Dispute Resolution Services.? Please
also cite the FOIPA Request Number assigned to your request so that it may be easily identified.

Enclosed for your information is a copy of the FBI Fact Sheet and Explanation of Exemptions.

Sincerely,

David M. Hardy
Section Chief,
Record/Information
Dissemination Section
Records Management Division

Jerry Jordan is a freelance research reporter and prepared this report exclusively for Target Liberty.