U.S.

Department of Justice
Office of Information Policy
Suite 11050
1425 New York Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001

Telephone: (202) 514-3642

September 5, 2014


Mr. J ason Leopold
Re: AG/12-01312 (F)
DAG/12-01313 (F)
OLA/12-01314 (F)


Dear Mr. Leopold:

This is a final response to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request dated and
received in this Office on August 13, 2012, in which you requested (1) specific records the
Department of J ustice provided to members of Congress or any member of the Obama
administration concerning the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, commonly referred to as
"drones," for purposes of lethal force against terrorist targets in other countries, and (2)
correspondence from members of Congress to the Department concerning the legal rationale
regarding the use of drones against terrorist targets from J anuary 2010 to the present. This
response is made on behalf of the Offices of the Attorney General, Deputy Attorney General
and Legislative Affairs.

By letter dated August 22, 2014, we provided you with our third interim release, and
informed you that we were continuing to process one remaining document which required
consultation with other Offices. Our review of this document is now complete, and I have
determined that this document can be released with excisions made pursuant to Exemptions 1
and 3 of the FOIA, 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(1), (b)(3). In this instance, Exemption 1 pertains to
information that is properly classified in the interest of national security pursuant to Section
1.4(c) of Executive Order 13526. Exemption 3 pertains to information exempted from release
by statute, in this instance the National Security Act, 50 U.S.C. 403-1(i)(1), and the CIA Act,
50 U.S.C. 403g. None of this information is appropriate for discretionary disclosure. Lastly,
please be advised that this final production is a different document than the unclassified draft
Department of J ustice white paper produced on February 8, 2013.

For your information, Congress excluded three discrete categories of law enforcement
and national security records from the requirements of the FOIA. See 5 U.S.C. 552(c) (2006
& Supp. IV 2013). This response is limited to those records that are subject to the
requirements of the FOIA. This is a standard notification that is given to all our requesters and
should not be taken as an indication that excluded records do, or do not, exist.


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Although I am aware that your request is the subject of ongoing litigation and that
administrative appeals are not ordinarily acted on in such situations, I am required by statute
and regulation to inform you of your right to file an administrative appeal.

Sincerely,

Douglas R. Hibbard
Senior Advisor, IR Staff

Enclosure