§ 701.10 - Processing requests received from governmental officials.

§ 701.10 Processing requests received from governmental officials.

(a) Members of Congress. Many constituents seek access to information through their Member of Congress. Members of Congress who seek access to records on behalf of their constituent are provided the same information that the constituent would be entitled to receive. There is no need to verify that the individual has authorized the release of his/her record to the Congressional member, since the Privacy Act's “blanket routine use” for Congressional inquiries applies.

(b) Privileged release to U.S. Government officials. DON records may be authenticated and released to U.S. Government officials if they are requesting them in their official capacity on behalf of Federal governmental bodies, whether legislative, executive, administrative, or judicial. To ensure adequate protection of these documents, DON activities shall inform officials receiving records under the provisions of this paragraph that those records are exempt from public release under FOIA. DON activities shall also mark the records as “Privileged” and “Exempt from Public Disclosure” and annotate any special handling instructions on the records. Because such releases are not made under the provisions of the FOIA, they do not impact on future decisions to release/deny requests for the same records to other requesters. Examples of privileged releases are:

(1) In response to a request from a Committee or Subcommittee of Congress, or to either House sitting as a whole.

(2) To the Federal Courts, whenever ordered by officers of the court as necessary for the proper administration of justice.

(3) To other Federal agencies, both executive and administrative, as determined by the head of a DON activity or designee.

(c) State or local government officials. Requests from State or local government officials for DON records are treated the same as any other requester.

(d) Non-FOIA requests from foreign governments. Requests from foreign governments that do not invoke the FOIA shall be referred to the appropriate foreign disclosure channels and the requester so notified. See § 701.11(c) regarding processing FOIA requests from foreign governments and/or their officials.