February 2023 - cypherpunks@lists.ogf.org

A Document Implicating Powerful People Is Blocked from Public Viewing in Sam Bankman-Fried Criminal Case
by Gunnar Larson 01 Feb '23

01 Feb '23

https://wallstreetonparade.com/2023/02/a-document-implicating-powerful-peop… By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: February 1, 2023 ~ Sam Bankman-Fried Sam Bankman-Fried Five pages of a deeply sensitive document that is both embarrassing and potentially a legal threat to people in positions of power vanished yesterday from public viewing in the criminal case against former crypto-kingpin Sam Bankman-Fried. The document is a letter written by five federal prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. The courthouse where the five pages vanished from view is where the case is being heard: the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. According to personnel in the Press Office and Records Management Office of that District Court that we spoke to yesterday, all six pages of the document had been filed electronically on Monday, January 30, and all six pages of the document were able to be viewed in the court’s ECF system (Electronic Case Files) according to those personnel. ECF is the federal judiciary’s system that allows case documents, such as pleadings and motions, to be filed electronically. What’s available for viewing on the ECF system should also be available for attorneys, the press and the general public to view through the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system at a cost of ten cents per page. We’ve been using PACER for many years and our experience yesterday was a first. We learned of the situation as follows: On Monday evening, CNN reporter Kara Scannell quoted a portion of one paragraph from this document. We didn’t come across that CNN story until Tuesday morning. When we went to PACER to view and download the full document, only the first page of the six-page document appeared with text. The other five pages were completely blank except for the case number and page number at the top of page six. That is, the five blank pages were not redacted using thick black lines which is the customary technique for redacting court documents; they were simply blank with no text other than the header on page six. We checked the Court Docket to see if a redaction or sealing request had been made for this document. We could find none. After learning from the Press Office and Records Management Office that all six pages had been filed by the federal prosecutors, we were referred to the Courtroom Deputy for the Presiding Judge in the case, Lewis A. Kaplan. We left a voice mail explaining the problem, along with our email address and a request to receive the full document via email. We promptly received via email from the Courtroom Deputy a complete copy of the document and its two exhibits. You can view the six-page document and exhibits here. In a return email, we thanked the Courtroom Deputy for the document and asked that the problem be corrected so that all six pages could be accessed and viewed via PACER. As of this morning, the five pages are still blank on PACER. It was immediately obvious to us that multiple powerful persons might have had an interest in suppressing further press coverage of the material on those five pages. We’ve broken down the most sensitive areas into two parts below, along with essential background information. Information Embarrassing to, and/or a Legal Threat to, Big Law Firm Sullivan & Cromwell, Which Has Already Been Under a Barrage of Negative Publicity for Aggressively Pushing to Become Lead Counsel in the FTX Bankruptcy Case, Despite a Mountain of Conflicts of Interest: Page Six of the document carries this information: “…the defendant [Sam Bankman-Fried] moved to take control of approximately $500 million of Robinhood shares that were purchased using misappropriated FTX customer funds by a special purpose entity owned primarily by the defendant. The Government has since seized the shares after demonstrating probable cause to believe that they are the proceeds of wire fraud and are property involved in money laundering. Since the Government’s seizure, the defendant has claimed that he would direct the majority of these funds toward making customers whole, but the original circumstances of the purchase of these shares, through a foreign special purpose vehicle with no public connection to FTX or Alameda, further indicate the steps the defendant has taken to obscure his criminal misuse of FTX customer property.” (Italics added.) On January 17, Sullivan & Cromwell law partner, Andrew Dietderich, filed a document with the bankruptcy court acknowledging that the law firm had not only done extensive legal work for FTX but personally represented its CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, from April 14, 2022 through August 5, 2022. The disclosure noted that “This matter was arranged, and paid for, by Alameda.” That’s Bankman-Fried’s hedge fund which prosecutors have charged he used to loot FTX customer funds. The specific nature of the work Sullivan & Cromwell did for Bankman-Fried involved “a position that had been established in the stock of Robinhood Markets, Inc.” according to the Dietderich declaration. So the paragraph above, that has vanished from public viewing, adds the smoking gun that federal prosecutors believe that some lawyer or law firm created “a foreign special purpose vehicle” to hide more than half a billion dollars of looted funds. It also means that it is highly likely that federal prosecutors know who that lawyer or law firm is. This information comes at a delicate time for Sullivan & Cromwell. Next Monday, February 6, the U.S. Trustee in the FTX bankruptcy case, who represents the U.S. Department of Justice, is scheduled to present its case at a hearing as to why an independent examiner should be appointed so that Sullivan & Cromwell is not afforded the ability to investigate its own conduct in its previous legal dealings with FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried. Sullivan & Cromwell has aggressively opposed that intervention. The government’s newly disclosed position that the half billion dollars of Robinhood shares – on which Sullivan & Cromwell provided legal guidance to Sam Bankman-Fried – came from “the proceeds of wire fraud” and “money laundering” isn’t a good look for Sullivan & Cromwell. The Document Is Deeply Embarrassing and a Potential Legal Threat to the Government of the Bahamas: The third paragraph on page three of the document carries this revelation, backed by an explosive email from Bankman-Fried: “Moreover, although the Government has not identified the source of the hack that occurred shortly before the initial conference, the defendant’s misuse of FTX and Alameda assets during November 2022 independently justifies the bail condition. As FTX struggled to meet customer withdrawal requests in early November, Bankman-Fried approved halting customer withdrawals from the exchange. Shortly thereafter, however, he reopened withdrawals only for customers in the Bahamas. In an email to Ryan Pinder, Attorney General of the Bahamas on November 10, 2022, Bankman-Fried wrote in part, ‘We are deeply grateful for what The Bahamas has done for us, and deeply committed to it. We are also deeply sorry about this mess. As part of this: we have segregated funds for all Bahamian customers on FTX. And we would be more than happy to open up withdrawals for all Bahamian customers on FTX, so that they can, tomorrow, fully withdraw all of their assets, making them fully whole. It’s your call whether you want us to do this–but we are more than happy to and would consider it the very least of our duty to the country, and could open it up immediately if you reply saying you want us to. If we don’t hear back from you, we are going to go ahead and do it tomorrow.’ Opening withdrawals exclusively for Bahamians resulted in millions of dollars being withdrawn from the exchange, while other customers of FTX had no ability to access withdrawals.” This is not the first time that something less than transparent has occurred in FTX cases. In fact, a dark curtain has been drawn around much of what is going on in both the FTX bankruptcy case in Delaware and the criminal case in lower Manhattan. For starters, the media has been unable to obtain a list of customer names in the FTX bankruptcy case and had to hire a lawyer to get creditors’ names released. After the creditors names were finally released, and mega banks on Wall Street were included on the list of creditors, a clarifying statement was issued saying that not all of the names on the creditors’ list might actually be creditors. So, almost three months after the FTX bankruptcy petition was filed, the public has no clarity on who the creditors or customers are. In the criminal case against Sam Bankman-Fried, media outlets had to intervene to ask the court to reveal the names of two unnamed persons who guaranteed bonds of $500,000 and $200,000 to secure Bankman-Fried’s release on bail, in addition to his parents who put up their California home as collateral. Judge Kaplan ruled in favor of the media but has put his decision on hold pending an appeal. The criminal court case also suffered an embarrassment when the first judge assigned to the case, Judge Ronnie Abrams, had to later recuse herself because her husband, Greg Andres, is a law partner at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, which handled a deal involving crypto exchanges FTX and BlockFi, both of which are now in bankruptcy. See our report: Sam Bankman-Fried’s Criminal Trial Judge Is Married to Law Partner of Firm that Arranged the FTX-BlockFi Deal. The polling organization, Gallup, reported last September that American adults’ trust in the federal judicial branch had fallen from a high of 80 percent in 1999 to a new low of just 47 percent last year. If American democracy is to survive, our federal institutions must do a far better job at providing transparency to the public and policing conflicts of interest.

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Re: [EXT]Re: Confirmation of Zoom Orientation
by Gunnar Larson 01 Feb '23

01 Feb '23

Ms. Knight: Ms. James and Ms. Harris know what is going on here. Again, obstruction of justice is a crime. Gunnar Larson On Wed, Feb 1, 2023, 10:01 AM Denae Knight <DKnight(a)nadap.org> wrote: > Duly noted, thank you. Once again, I will be here when you are ready to > truly commit to this process and can keep your scheduled appointments. If > this was a job interview, you would not be able to continually reschedule > that either. > > > > > > *Denae Knight* > Career Services Coordinator > NADAP > 1825 Park Avenue, 5th Floor > New York, NY 10035 > T: (646) 809-4865 > F: (646) 791-4959 > DKnight(a)nadap.org > <https://www.facebook.com/NADAPInc> <https://twitter.com/NADAP_Inc> > <https://www.linkedin.com/company/nadap> > <https://www.youtube.com/user/NADAP1971> > <https://www.pinterest.com/user_name_here> > <https://www.instagram.com/nadap_inc/>. > www.nadap.org > > > > Confidentiality Note: This e-mail, and any attachment to it, contains > privileged and confidential information intended only for the use of the > individual(s) or entity named on the e-mail. If the reader of this e-mail > is not the intended recipient, or the employee or agent responsible for > delivering it to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that > reading it is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in > error, please immediately return it to the sender and delete it from your > system. > > *From:* Gunnar Larson <g(a)xny.io> > *Sent:* Wednesday, February 1, 2023 9:53 AM > *To:* Denae Knight <DKnight(a)nadap.org>; letitia.james(a)ag.ny.gov; Harris, > Adrienne A (DFS) <Adrienne.Harris(a)dfs.ny.gov> > *Cc:* cypherpunks <cypherpunks(a)lists.cpunks.org> > *Subject:* Re: [EXT]Re: Confirmation of Zoom Orientation > > > > Obstruction of justice is a crime. > > > > On Wed, Feb 1, 2023, 9:08 AM Denae Knight <DKnight(a)nadap.org> wrote: > > No, we cannot keep pushing orientation back. If you are not able to make > orientation this week, I will need to remove you from our list. You can > reach back out when you are ready to move forward with the process without > rescheduling appointments. > > > > > > [image: Image removed by sender.] > > *Denae Knight* > Career Services Coordinator > NADAP > 1825 Park Avenue, 5th Floor > New York, NY 10035 > T: (646) 809-4865 > F: (646) 791-4959 > DKnight(a)nadap.org > [image: Image removed by sender.] > <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.facebook.com_NADAP…> > [image: Image removed by sender.] > <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__twitter.com_NADAP-5FIn…> > [image: Image removed by sender.] > <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.linkedin.com_compa…> > [image: Image removed by sender.] > <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.youtube.com_user_N…> > [image: Image removed by sender.] > <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.instagram.com_nada…> > . > www.nadap.org > <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.nadap.org&d=DwQFaQ&…> > > > > > Confidentiality Note: This e-mail, and any attachment to it, contains > privileged and confidential information intended only for the use of the > individual(s) or entity named on the e-mail. If the reader of this e-mail > is not the intended recipient, or the employee or agent responsible for > delivering it to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that > reading it is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in > error, please immediately return it to the sender and delete it from your > system. > > *From:* Gunnar Larson <g(a)xny.io> > *Sent:* Wednesday, February 1, 2023 8:49 AM > *To:* Denae Knight <DKnight(a)nadap.org> > *Subject:* [EXT]Re: Confirmation of Zoom Orientation > > > > *CAUTION:* This email originated from outside of NADAP's network. Please > use caution before clicking any links or attachments. Do not follow a link > that asks you to sign in with your credentials. > > Denae: > > > > Can I please schedule our conversation for next Monday at 2:00pm? > > > > Hope you have a great day. > > > > Thank you, > > > > Gunnar > > > > > > On Mon, Jan 30, 2023, 12:21 PM Gunnar Larson <g(a)xny.io> wrote: > > Denae: > > > > Would it be possible to schedule this meeting for tomorrow or Wednesday at > the same time? > > > > Thank you, > > > > Gunnar > > > > On Fri, Jan 27, 2023, 10:24 AM Gunnar Larson <g(a)xny.io> wrote: > > Denae: > > > > Thank you for the call today. > > > > My CV is attached. > > > > Have a great day. > > > > Thank you, > > > > Gunnar > > > > Gunnar Larson > > 646-454-9107 > > > > On Fri, Jan 27, 2023, 10:21 AM Denae Knight <DKnight(a)nadap.org> wrote: > > Hi Gunner, > > > > As discussed, I have registered you for our zoom orientation which will > take place next Monday (1/30) at 2pm. You should have received a separate > email with the zoom link. Here is the zoom link if you have not received > the registration email: > > > > > https://us06web.zoom.us/w/84261393031?tk=Z3XDgLOJ-eEPyoBM4q4ZfqcLP1auPGGLjZ… > <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__us06web.zoom.us_w_8426…> > > > > In the meantime, if you have an existing resume, please forward it along > with any diplomas/certifications. If you have any questions or concerns, > please don’t hesitate to reach out at the phone number below. You can also > text me at 516-995-1745. > > > > Regards, > > > > > > > > [image: Image removed by sender.] > > *Denae Knight* > Career Services Coordinator > NADAP > 1825 Park Avenue, 5th Floor > New York, NY 10035 > T: (646) 809-4865 > F: (646) 791-4959 > DKnight(a)nadap.org > [image: Image removed by sender.] > <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.facebook.com_NADAP…> > [image: Image removed by sender.] > <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__twitter.com_NADAP-5FIn…> > [image: Image removed by sender.] > <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.linkedin.com_compa…> > [image: Image removed by sender.] > <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.youtube.com_user_N…> > [image: Image removed by sender.] > <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.instagram.com_nada…> > . > www.nadap.org > <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.nadap.org&d=DwQFaQ&…> > > > > > Confidentiality Note: This e-mail, and any attachment to it, contains > privileged and confidential information intended only for the use of the > individual(s) or entity named on the e-mail. If the reader of this e-mail > is not the intended recipient, or the employee or agent responsible for > delivering it to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that > reading it is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in > error, please immediately return it to the sender and delete it from your > system. > >

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Driving-while-black still a capital crime in the fascist USA
by professor rat 01 Feb '23

01 Feb '23

>> Fool Anarchists always raging in the street battling the Cops that the Puppetmasters among the State happily throw as cannon fodder against them from their endless supply of same. So long as the Anarchists continue falling for that trap, wasting their own limited resources on failed strategy, there will be no Peace, Love, and Voluntary An-archy. << No justice - no peace. Its cryptoanarchy not quantum gravity. > Clearly this is not a Black and White problem - Its a Black and Blue one. >> Disprove that both, and much more, are not all manufactured distraction, by State, Politician, Media, Masters, and Corp, to keep the Fool Anarchist distanced and busy. << I never assert conspiracy where stupidity will cover it. >> Wake up. << Get fucked. Only Anarchism believes in abolition of the Police, and this is the most hotly-disputed argument of Anarchism. Yet the police force as we know it is a comparatively modern phenomenon, fiercely resisted when introduced for reasons which have since been proved up to the hilt, such as the ability of the Police to introduce or bolster up a dictatorship, known indeed as a police state.

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Freckle Punch
by professor rat 01 Feb '23

01 Feb '23

keet_io · Jan 31 🍐Keet Mobile Alpha is Now Live📱🦜 🚀👉Download Keet for iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/keet-by-holepunch/id6443880549 🚀👉Download Keet for Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=io.keet.app Show this thread adam3us · Jan 31 🚀 decentralized future. IMO @keet_io end to end secure p2p voice, video, chat and large file sharing is the killer app to replace signal, zoom, dropbox and slack. Planning to switch over.

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Driving-while-black still a capital crime in the fascist USA
by professor rat 01 Feb '23

01 Feb '23

All minority and female police in the US must be assumed to be fans of Adolph Hitler as we as staunchly militant blue-collar trade-unionists. Clearly this is not a Black and White problem - Its a Black and Blue one. And only anarchists will abolish the Police. Most political reformers have some part of the unfree system they wish to abolish Republicans would abolish the monarchy, Secularists would abolish or disestablish the Church, Socialists would (or used to) wish to abolish the apparatus of exploitation; pacifists would abolish the Army. Anarchism is unique in wishing to abolish all. Could be a good week for Big Igloo types in the US to ambush and murder minority cops - or any cops. They have my full tactical solidarity and support. Esp in Florida. You don't want to get frost-nip when killing pig-cops. Men and women of the worlds police work every day to fuck the public. You can fuck some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you are going to end up in a body bag or a pinebox before you manage to fuck all of the people all of the time.

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Nexo Mulls Suing Bulgaria for $1 Billion, Says Co-Founder Antoni Trenchev
by Gunnar Larson 01 Feb '23

01 Feb '23

https://cryptopotato.com/nexo-mulls-suing-bulgaria-for-1-billion-says-co-fo… Nexo Mulls Suing Bulgaria for $1 Billion, Says Co-Founder Antoni Trenchev Antoni Trenchev – Co-Founder of the cryptocurrency lending platform Nexo – said the company could sue the Bulgarian government for more than $1 billion for raiding its offices and undermining its reputation. He also refuted the rumors that members of the entity run an organized criminal group, and commit money laundering and terrorist financing operations. ‘We Will Defend our Interests’ The clash between Nexo and the Bulgarian authorities escalated after Trenchev vowed to take the dispute to court: “Our consultants estimate the damages at over $1 billion. We were in the process of listing on the American stock exchange, and now it has to be postponed because of the reputational damage that was done to us.” – he explained. Antoni Trenchev Antoni Trenchev, Source: Dnes The executive claimed the actions of the Bulgarian prosecutors to raid the offices in the capital Sofia were “absurd, unnecessary, and a large part of them – illegal.” The Nexo scandal happened just a day before President Rumen Radev was about to give the third and final mandate to form an acting government. Some assumed Democratic Bulgaria (a center-right political party that pledged to cope with corruption and enforce several judiciary reforms) had the best chance of receiving the mandate. However, it was revealed that more than a dozen Nexo employees had previously made significant donations to the aforementioned party, which might have affected the President’s decision. He eventually gave the mandate to the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP). Trenchev agreed with the assumption that raiding Nexo’s offices precisely that day was an orchestrated PR move from the prosecution. He also admitted knowing the leader of Democratic Bulgaria – Hristo Ivanov: “I know Hristo Ivanov. I was part of public life in Bulgaria years ago. But I don’t see how that’s relevant. We are a handful of people in Bulgaria.” Nexo’s boss said people are free to make donations and sees nothing wrong with those that gave away funds to Democratic Bulgaria since they have publicly registered and reported everything to the Audit Office. Despite the confrontation, Trenchev assured that the crypto lender still has a solid base of five million customers and processes millions of transactions every day. Paying $45 Million to the US Apart from its issues in Bulgaria, Nexo recently agreed to pay $45 million in penalties to the US SEC and the NASAA over allegations that it offered crypto lending products without complying with the necessary regulations. Commenting was Gary Gensler – Chairman of the SEC: “We charged Nexo with failing to register its retail crypto lending product before offering it to the public, bypassing essential disclosure requirements designed to protect investors. Compliance with our time-tested public policies isn’t a choice. Where crypto companies do not comply, we will continue to follow the facts and the law to hold them accountable. In this case, among other actions, Nexo is ceasing its unregistered lending product as to all U.S. investors.” Nexo confirmed the fines, stating they are pleased to have engaged in a “constructive dialogue” with the watchdog and settled all the issues.

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FOIL # 2022-090627 Appeal
by Gunnar Larson 01 Feb '23

01 Feb '23

Transmitted by Email to Mr. Gunnar Larson 406 West 25th Street New York, New York 10001 g(a)xny.io Re: Freedom of Information Law request No. 2022-090627: Appeal dated November 2, 2022 of the Department of Financial Services’ November 1, 2022 response Dear Mr. Larson: By email dated November 2, 2022, you are appealing pursuant to New York State Public Officers Law Section 89, the Department of Financial Services’ (the “Department”) November 1, 2022 response (the “Determination”) to your Freedom of Information Law (“FOIL”) request No. 2022- 090627 for copies of: “[M]emo requests records related to NY-DFS monitoring of $10,610,000,000 of pledge funds (detailed below) specific to financial inclusion. xNY.io would like to receive any and all records related to NY-DFS' monitoring of Goldman Sachs' potential money laundering and other abuses of Goldman project, One Million Black Women, with $10B in direct capital and $100M in charity investments: https://www.goldmansachs.com/our- commitments/sustainability/one-million-black-women/ xNY.io would like to receive any and all documents correlating NY-DFS monitoring of (or, confirming no correlation) the One Million Black Women fund related to any association to other Goldman student scholarship funds in Africa ... Furthermore, xNY.io would like to receive any and all documents, related to NY-DFS' regulatory scrutiny of interlocking directorates at the NAACP, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo and PayPal with potential collusion in leveraging marketplace spoofing tactics (or, records confirming no spoofing tactics) concerning $810 million in pledge funds associated with the 2020 Mission Driven Banks whitepaper: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rOXE7ierZcd8HlvNVy7hAYg7d86q_1dv/view?usp=… ring Attached and below, kindly find outline of the $850M pledged: Goldman Sachs Industry: Financial Services Pledge Amount: $250 million Use of Funds: Goldman Sachs has committed $250 million for small business lending. Goldman Sachs will not issue these loans directly since it is not an approved small business loan provider in the United States. Instead, it will provide the financing to CDFIs and other mission-driven lenders to make the loans. Wells Fargo Industry: Banking Pledge Amount: $50 million Use of Funds: Wells Fargo has pledged a $50 million investment in African American MDIs. See Press Release PayPal Industry: Financial Services Pledge Amount: $510 million Use of Funds: PayPal has pledged $500 million for a long-term economic opportunity fund to support African American and underrepresented minority businesses and communities. The initiative will include “bolstering the company’s relationships with community banks and credit unions serving underrepresented minority communities, as well as investing directly into African American and minority led startups and minority-focused investment funds.” PayPal deposited $50 million in Optus Bank, an African American MDI in Columbia, South Carolina. PayPal will use another $10 million for grants to African American-owned businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic or civil unrest surrounding protests. The very best, Gunnar Larson.” In your appeal, you state: “For example, One Million Black Women's board of directors states inclusion of policy and social leadership from Apple. Mr. Bogdan, xNY.io - Bank.org has filed another FOIL request concerning DFS' recent "Apple Card Report." The Apple Card Report and associated DFS investigation focused on financial inclusion metrics for women in New York State. Between the Apple Card Report and One Million Black Women being under DFS' umbrell of oversight, it would appear no records being publicly available would signal potential marketplace spoofing.Furthermore, DFS' "Student Protection Unit" licenses and supervises student loan servicers, monitors student-related financial practices in New York, and educates and advocates for student consumers and their families about available financial products and services.As a "Bill and Melinda Gates Scholar" and a "Blockchain Scholar" and a "Al Neuharth Freedom Forum Scholar" I am aware of a scholarship program funded from New York targeting students in Africa. Mr. Bogdan, from New York this fund advertises over $100M in scholarships for online degrees for students in Africa.” [Sic] The Determination informed you that Public Officers Law (“POL”) § 89(3) requires a FOIL request to reasonably describe the records sought meaning that the description of the documents sought must be sufficient to allow the agency to locateand identify the documents requested.1 To support its conclusion, the Determination explained that the New York State Committee on Open Government (the “Committee”), which is responsible for, inter alia, issuing advisory opinions regarding FOIL, has opined that “[w]hether a request reasonably describes the records sought . . . may be dependent upon the terms of a request, as well as the nature of an agency’s filing or record- keeping system.” Committee Opinion No.. FOIL-AO-16073 (July 17, 2006). Additionally, in the Committee’s Opinion No. FOIL-AO-11960 (February 17, 2000), it opined that a FOIL request that sought records ‘tending to support’ a particular statement, or ‘utilized’, ‘used’ or ‘relating to’ various activities of the Department of Environmental Conservation” was not a reasonably described request for records under POL Article 6. The Committee stated that a response to such a request “would involve making a series of judgments based on opinions, some of which would be subjective, mental impressions”, and require “ascertaining which records might ‘tend to support’ a statement [that] would involve an attempt to render a judgment regarding the use, utility, accuracy or value of records.” The Committee held that “for purposes of [FOIL], a request for such materials would not meet the standard of ‘reasonably describing’ the records sought, for such a request would not enable the [agency] to locate and identify the records in the manner envisioned by that statute.” The Determination also informed you that your FOIL request specifically failed to meet the “reasonably describe” requirement in POL § 89(3) because of the very broad nature of the records requested and your use of such expansive phrases such as “any and all,” and “relate to” when applied to excessively broad categories. I agree with the Determination’s conclusion that your FOIL request does not reasonably describe the records that you seek and your appeal also does not make your FOIL request any clearer. Therefore, I affirm the Determination. Nevertheless, I conducted a de novo search of the Department’s records and I found that the Department does not possess any records regarding the Goldman Sachs’s investment in the One Million Black Women project. Sincerely, Christine M. Tomczak Assistant Counsel cc: NYS Committee on Open Government One Commerce Plaza 99 Washington Avenue, Suite 650 Albany, NY 12231 ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Tomczak, Christine (DFS) <christine.tomczak(a)dfs.ny.gov> Date: Mon, Jan 30, 2023, 3:28 PM Subject: FOIL # 2022-090627 Appeal To: Gunnar Larson <g(a)xny.io> Dear Mr. Larson, See attached letter. Christine M. Tomczak Assistant Counsel New York State Department of Financial Services 1 State Street, New York, New York 10004

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