FIA-24-0013 - In the Matter of John Marske

On February 9, 2024, the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) denied the Freedom of Information ( FOIA) Appeal filed by the John Marske (Appellant) from a determination letter issued by the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of the Inspector General (OIG). On appeal, the Appellant challenged the adequacy of OIG's search. After reviewing OIG's response, we found that OIG FOIA staff used their experience to determine an appropriate employee to conduct a search. That employee then conducted a search using keywords from the Appellant's request. When that request returned no results, the employee checked with other agency employees in the appropriate offices to determine if they had heard about a case related to the Appellant's request. No other employee had any knowledge of the alleged investigation in the request. Therefore, a reasonable search was conducted, and we deny the appeal. (OHA Case No. FIA-24-0013)