Public Comments Submitted by Michael Binder on April 27, 2022

I am submitting these comments in response to the draft document presented to the full FOIA Advisory Committee by the Classification Subcommittee at the April 7, 2022 meeting.

First, let me say that ALL classified information is originally classified information; there is NO derivatively classified information, only derivatively classified records.  The E.O.-prescribed criteria for properly classified information can be found in relevant security classification guides, where are listed the name of the Original Classification Authority (OCA) with name of originating agency and office, the classification level, the reason(s) for classification as delineated in the applicable section(s) 1.4 and/or section 3.3 of the E.O., and declassification instructions (including duration of classification defined by date or event). 

These classification criteria are not reproduced in derivatively-classified documents which contain classified information.  Portion marking of paragraphs in such documents, with classification level and category (as necessary), is as fine a scale as you will find a document marked.  A single paragraph might have a dozen or more individual classified elements, and those elements are not annotated as to OCA, reason for classification, duration of classification, etc.  In typically “purple” DoD documents which may contain classified equities from a multitude of Military Departments (Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force) and other Defense agencies, as well as equities from the Department of Energy and a number of components of the Intelligence Community, there could be a dozen or more OCAs who “own” the originally classified information contained therein.  It is not possible to list the identities of all of those OCAs, nor is it required by the E.O.  What does happen is that the identity of the derivative classifier who classified the document is listed on the document’s cover or front page, as are the multiple SCGs used to classify the document.

Given that SCGs, which are the “storehouses” of properly originally classified information, are not normally made available to the public, the latter will have great difficulty trying to argue from an informed position that agencies are improperly withholding information “which does not comport with all of the requirements of the Executive Order…”

Michael S. Binder

Program Manager

Air Force Declassification Office