A CASE OF SABOTAGE
On August 26, 2014 I posted an article on my blog titled “Homeless Vets to Remain Homeless” in which I provided more details about the all-out assault by the Federal government on the Constitutional rights of our military veterans. Toward the end of the article I stated that at the United States Justice Foundation (USJF) we were preparing four Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to four Federal agencies. The agencies are the Veterans Administration (VA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Department of Defense (DOD), and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
I prepared the language of the four requests and forwarded them to one of our media partners to submit on their letterhead in the hope that this would expedite the responses from the agencies. What has happened since has been truly frightening. To begin with all requests were sent by certified mail. The signed green cards were returned from all four agencies confirming that they had received the requests.
Responses were received from all four agencies basically saying that they would get back to us. However, in the case of DHS they said they didn’t know the answers to the questions and referred us to the FBI. It was becoming clear from the lack of response that we would need to consider filing suit to get the information just like we had to do with the original VA FOIA request months ago. In order to prepare for that possibility I asked our media contact to send me all of the originals of the documents including the returned receipts.
He went to his office on Saturday to mail the info to me and the file where it was kept was completely empty. He searched the office and everything is gone that would allow us to prove that the agencies received the requests. In addition, the letters containing the requests were deleted from his office computer. There was no sign of forced entry and nothing else was missing from the office. This was obviously done by professionals and the FOIA requests information was the sole target.
This whole thing is bizarre but we will send out new requests. Obviously, this was done to try and intimidate us and delay our filing of a suit to get the requested information. We hit a nerve with something in one or more of the requests. It certainly generated an attempt to sabotage our efforts to protect our veterans.
Below are the bodies of the four requests and let me know if you think that anything jumps out as dangerous enough to the administration and/or its supporters to trigger this type of criminal reaction. (FLASH! As I am preparing this article for posting I received notice that there was a second break in of the media office on Monday night. Same MO, but this time it appears that while they were looking for something there is nothing missing. However, the tech people are double checking the computers.) The police are as baffled as are we.
Here are the FOIA requests:
VA:
I request that a copy of the following documents (or documents containing the following information) be provided to me:
All documents including, but not limited to, internal memos, emails, and training documents relating to the use of independent contractors to determine the competency of veterans and/or active or reserve military personnel to handle their own financial affairs.
All documents, including contracts and/or other agreements with independent contractors relating to the use of independent contractors to determine the competency of veterans and/or active or reserve military personnel to handle their own financial affairs.
All documents relating to rules and/or regulations for independent contractors to follow when considering the competency of veterans to handle their own financial affairs.
All documents relating to the compensation of independent contractors hired by the VA to determine the competency of veterans to handle their own financial affairs.
All documents, including, but not limited to, internal memos, emails, and training documents relating to the appointment of fiduciaries to handle the financial affairs of veterans determined to be incompetent by the VA.
All documents, including, but not limited to internal memos, emails, contracts, and training manuals relating to the appointment of any current or former VA employees to act as fiduciaries for veterans declared incompetent to handle their own financial affairs.
FBI:
This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act.
I request that a copy of the following documents (or documents containing the following information) be provided to me:
All documents including, but not limited to, internal memos, emails, and training documents relating to the placing of military veterans on the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) list who have been declared incompetent to handle their own finances by the Veterans Administration.
All documents including, but not limited to, internal memos, emails, and training documents relating to the removal of military veterans from the NICS list when a VA declaration of incompetency has been reversed either administratively or by court order.
All documents including, but not limited to any memos or agreements between the FBI and the VA regarding the placement and or removal of military veterans from the NICS list.
All documents including, but not limited to, internal memos, emails, and training documents regarding the assisting of veterans in getting their 2nd Amendment rights back, and being removed from the NICS list.
DOD:
I request that a copy of the following documents (or documents containing the following information) be provided to me:
All documents including, but not limited to, internal memos, emails, and training documents relating to the placing of military veterans or active military personnel on the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) list who have been declared incompetent to handle their own finances by the Department of Defense, the Veterans Administration, or any independent contractors hired by the DOD, or the Veterans Administration.
All documents including, but not limited to, internal memos, emails, and training documents relating to the use of independent contractors to determine the competency of veterans and/or active or reserve military personnel to handle their own financial affairs.
All documents, including contracts or other agreements with independent contractors relating to the use of independent contractors to determine the competency of veterans and/or active or reserve military personnel to handle their own financial affairs.
All documents relating to rules and regulations for independent contractors to follow when considering the competency of veterans to handle their own financial affairs. This specifically includes deadlines given for veterans to respond to the independent contractors allegations of incompetence.
DHS:
I request that a copy of the following documents (or documents containing the following information) be provided to me:
All documents including, but not limited to, internal memos, emails, and training documents regarding the placing of U.S. military veterans on the Department of Homeland Security list of potential domestic terrorists.
All documents including, but not limited to, internal memos, emails, and training documents regarding the placing of military veterans on the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) list, and the cannot fly list.
All documents including, but not limited to, the legal or other criteria justifying the placing of U.S. military veterans on the department of Homeland Security list of potential domestic terrorists.
A final note to my fellow veterans. If this keeps up, my buddy and I, who is also a veteran may need someone to watch our six.
Michael Connelly
