FIA-19-0025 - In the Matter of Gregory E. Kucera, III

On July 12, 2019, the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) denied a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) appeal filed by Gregory E. Kucera, III (Appellant) concerning a FOIA request he made to the Department of Energy's Office of Public Information (OPI). Appellant's FOIA request sought records of his involuntary participation in what he alleged was a DOE counterintelligence program over a course of approximately fifteen years. OPI referred Appellant's request to DOE's Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence (IN) to conduct a search for responsive records.  IN performed a keyword search of its archived electronic records for any information related to the Appellant's participation in a counterintelligence operation, but failed to locate any responsive records. Appellant's appeal asserted that the search for records responsive to his request was inadequate. OHA determined that the location of the search and the keywords used to conduct the search were reasonably calculated to locate any records responsive to Appellant's FOIA request. Therefore, OHA denied Appellant's appeal. OHA Case No. FIA-19-0025.