September 14, 2023

The Honorable Jim Jordan The Honorable Dick Durbin

Chairman, House Judiciary Chairman, Senate Judiciary
Committee Committee
2138 Rayburn House Building 224 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20515 Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable James Comer The Honorable Gary Peters

Chairman, House Committee on Chairman, Senate Homeland Security
Oversight and Accountability & Governmental Affairs Committee
2157 Rayburn House Building 340 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20515 Washington, DC 20510

Dear Chairmen Jordan, Comer, Durbin, and Peters:

The federal background investigation (“BI”) process is broken. During the Trump
Administration, candidates for presidential appointments were subject to a BI
process that involved the FBI’s repeated, agency-wide violations of the Privacy Act
and the Paperwork Reduction Act, among other laws. During the Biden
Administration, opportunities to thwart compliance with laws have been magnified
because the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Policy rescinded regulations
designed to protect individuals subject to the BI process.

The attached report makes the following findings reflecting an institution-wide

violation by the FBI of the Privacy Act, the Paperwork Reduction Act, the Freedom
of Information Act, and the applicable FBI Manual of Investigative Operations and
Guidelines (MIOG):

Finding: The FBI violates the Paperwork Reduction Act’s requirements at

44 U.S.C. § 3506(c)(1)(B) by not ensuring that the form it uses to
obtain consent from applicants contains a valid control number;
by failing to disclose that the information is “being collected” or
“to be used” for a law enforcement purpose or to determine
suitability for federal civilian employment (which the FBI has
claimed); and by failing to disclose that the information would be
shared with the relevant Senate committee for its use in
determining a nominee’s fitness and qualifications.

611 Pennsylvania Ave SE #231 | Washington, DC 20003 | www.aflegal.org

Finding: The FBI violates the Paperwork Reduction Act’s requirements at
44 U.S.C. § 3512(a) because it collects information from the public
and third parties concerning nominees without using a form with
a valid OMB-approved control number.

Finding: Neither the FBI nor the DOJ complies with the Privacy Act’s
requirement that disclosure to the relevant Senate committee
staff be a publicly noticed and approved Routine Use.

Finding: The FBI violates FOIA because it fails to publicly disclose its
pattern and practice of disregarding legal rules when obtaining
third-party information.
Finding: The FBI violates 5 U.S.C. §§ 552a(e)(6) by no longer enforcing the
MIOG standards, which requires the FBI to seek to offset
derogatory information. As such, the FBI does not “make
reasonable efforts to assure that such records are accurate,
complete, timely, and relevant for agency purposes.”

Finding: Again, because it disregards the MIOG, the FBI violates 5 U.S.C.
§§ 552a(e)(1), (e)(2), (e)(3), and (e)(5) because the FBI or DOJ
maintains in its records information about applicants that is
likely irrelevant to their qualifications to fairly and competently
adjudicate cases arising under the Constitution and statutes in
conflict with (e)(1); does not collect positive information directly
from applicants in response to potentially derogatory
information, thus conflicting with (e)(2); does not use an OMB-
approved form to collect information from third parties about
applicants, which form must specify the FBI’s authority and
purpose in conducting the background investigation, specifying
that information would not only be shared with the White House
but would ultimately be shared with both political parties making
up the Senate committees and their staff and those committees
would make an adjudication decision, thus conflicting with 44
U.S.C. §§ 3506 & 3507 in violation of (e)(3); and, for all of the
above reasons, did not provide applicants with fundamental
fairness.

Finding: In response to America First Legal’s investigative efforts, the

Biden Department of Justice released new rules rescinding the
Privacy Act protections for candidates undergoing BI reviews.
The new Biden regulations permit the White House to direct the
FBI’s investigation of any person because it is no longer bound by
requirements to obtain the written consent of candidates, and the

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 White House and FBI can disclose those BIs outside the Executive
Branch without notice. Finally, the regulations exempt BI files
from the Privacy Act’s correction or amendment procedures. The
Biden Administration’s further exempting BI files from Privacy
Act and Paperwork Reduction Act requirements only risks
further politicization of the FBI.

We hope this report can assist the committee in its oversight and reform efforts
concerning the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Sincerely,

/s Gene P. Hamilton
Gene P. Hamilton
Vice President and General Counsel
America First Legal

cc: The Honorable Jerry Nadler, Ranking Member

The Honorable Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member
The Honorable Lindsey Graham, Ranking Member
The Honorable Rand Paul, Ranking Member

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 Unsecure: The FBI’s Politicization of Background
Investigations Process During the Trump Administration

I. The FBI Has Violated Congressionally Established Procedures

Governing Background Investigations

It is an axiom of American political history that when a presidential administration

routinely violates the Privacy Act, it is to politicize an otherwise neutral process.
Congressional investigations during the Clinton Administration revealed that the
Clinton White House improperly accessed the FBI files of nominees and appointees
from the prior presidency. 1 Subsequent to this crisis, known as “Filegate,” the White
House entered into an agreement, still in effect today, with the FBI subjecting
presidential appointee background checks to the Privacy Act. 2 The DOJ’s Office of
Legal Policy, which coordinates background investigations with the FBI on
appointees to the courts and law enforcement positions, established regulations to
prevent the Clinton Administration’s politicization of privacy to spy on its political
enemies. Yet, as this report reveals, those protections have been rescinded by the
Biden Administration. Worse, this report evidences a pattern and practice by the FBI
of routinely violating applicable privacy and information collection protections
established in federal law.

The FBI’s routine denigration of procedures during the Trump Administration is no

small irony. In 2018, due to concerns that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh
may have committed inappropriate activities when he was a minor, the Senate
Judiciary Committee sought—and the White House complied with—a supplemental
FBI investigation into the allegations. 3 After Justice Kavanaugh was confirmed with
no findings of wrongdoing, Senate Democrats determined that the FBI supplemental
investigation was “fake” and that “proper oversight” must be made into how

1 U.S. H. Comm. On Govt’ Reform & Oversight, Investigation Into The White House And Department
Of Justice On Security Of FBI Background Investigation Files: Interim Report, H.R. Rep. No. 104-862,
104th Cong., 2d Sess. (1996), available at http://bit.ly/1OQ8twW; accord William Neikirk, FBI Charges
Abuse Over Files, CHI. TRIB. (June 15, 1996), http://bit.ly/1Z45C9k (describing the lack of a process
leading to “egregious violations of privacy”).
2 Memorandum of Understanding Between the Department of Justice and the President of the United

States Regarding Name Checks and Background Investigations Conducted by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (Signed by Eric H. Holder, Jr., Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice, March 3,
2010, & Robert F. Bauer, Counsel to the President, The White House, March 4, 2010) (attached as
“Exhibit 2”).
3 Erin Kelly, GOP Releases Summary of FBI Report on Kavanaugh: ‘No Corroboration of the

Allegations’, USA TODAY (Oct. 5, 2018), https://bit.ly/3Zh0nJJ.

611 Pennsylvania Ave SE #231 | Washington, DC 20003 | www.aflegal.org

thoroughly the FBI investigated Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearing. 4 The
Kavanaugh confirmation theatrics raise several questions about the FBI background
investigation (BI) process during the Trump Administration. First, if the process is
thorough and objective, supplemental inquiries would never be needed. That the BI
process can be steered by either the Senate or the White House is evidence that it is
subject to significant bias. Second, and related, as revealed from numerous official
investigations and credible reports, the FBI Washington, DC field office was replete
with politically biased agents, which only further creates risks to the objectivity or
validity of BI reports. Special Counsel John Durham confirmed that the FBI acted
without appropriate objectivity and overly relied on information from individuals
connected to political opponents. 5

This report is based on a multi-year investigation by America First Legal, which

reveals procedural infirmities that biased the FBI BI process in ways that benefited
those politically opposed to former President Trump. It outlines the problems of a
process used to create agency records disclosed to the Senate. Congressional reform
should focus on correcting these procedural violations or categorize BI files as
presidential records (or otherwise privilege-protected agency records) exempt from
the Privacy Act, Paperwork Reduction Act, Administrative Procedure Act, and other
applicable statutes. Further, the expectation should be that the President has full
control over BI files and should exercise discretion as to what information the Senate
obtains. Notwithstanding the principle—articulated most recently in Buzzfeed v.
FBI 6—that administrative procedures do not normally apply to the President’s
nomination process, the FBI during the Trump Administration agreed to rules that
it subsequently failed to follow.

Finding: The FBI violates the Paperwork Reduction Act’s requirements at 44

U.S.C. § 3506(c)(1)(B) by not ensuring that the form it uses to obtain
consent from applicants contains a valid control number; by failing to
disclose that the information is “being collected” or “to be used” for a law
enforcement purpose or to determine suitability for federal civilian
employment (which the FBI has claimed); and by failing to disclose that
the information would be shared with the relevant Senate committee for
its use in determining a nominee’s fitness and qualifications.

4 See e.g., Stephanie Kirchgaessner, FBI Facing Allegation That Its 2018 Background Check of Brett
Kavanaugh Was ‘Fake,’ GUARDIAN (Mar. 16, 2021), https://bit.ly/3Z9Cjsp.
5 Special Counsel John H. Durham, Report on Matters Related to Intelligence Activities and

Investigations Arising Out of the 2016 Presidential Campaigns at 8–10, 17–19, 81–84, 89–91, 170–71,
265–66, 305, U.S. DEP’T JUST. (May 12, 2023), https://bit.ly/3QyLaBm (“Durham Report”); see id. at 18
(A “serious lack of analytical rigor, apparent confirmation bias, and an overwillingness to rely on
information from individuals connected to political opponents” caused the government “to act without
appropriate objectivity or restraint in pursuing allegations of collusion or conspiracy between a U.S.
political campaign and a foreign power.”).
6 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 80640, *23-24 (D.D.C. 2020).

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America First Legal’s litigation against the FBI reveals that the 2010 Memorandum
of Understanding (MOU) between the Department of Justice and the President (via
his Counsel) is still valid. 7 The stated purpose of the 2010 MOU is to fill “key
Administration positions … without undue delay.” 8 Further, the MOU is drafted with
a particular focus on the President’s nomination of appointees within, versus outside,
the executive branch. Paragraph 2 of the MOU states, “[t]he FBI will conduct file
reviews and background investigations … for applicants, employees, or any other
persons who will perform services for, or receive an award or recognition from, the
President.” 9 The FBI relies upon the MOU in conducting background investigations
on judicial nominees and, in abiding by the terms of the MOU, is bound by the Privacy
Act in collecting facts for purposes of creating a BI file.

These concerns are particularly stark when it comes to nominations that go through
the Senate Judiciary Committee. Given the FBI’s MOU with the White House and
the White House’s MOU with the Senate Judiciary Committee, 10 as well as the
Senate Judiciary Committee’s sole power to determine whether a judicial nominee
goes to the Senate floor, and the presumption that the FBI’s disclosure of BI files to
the Senate Judiciary Committee does not create a publicly accessible record, 11 at least
one, if not arguably the sole, relevant agency purpose for the BI is the Senate
Judiciary Committee’s decision-making authority. During the Trump
Administration, the FBI did not obtain candidate consent before disclosing an
individual’s BI file to Senate committees. As such, the Senate Judiciary Committee
gave no deference to the President’s designee’s determination, or that of the Office of
Legal Policy (OLP) at the Department of Justice, to evaluate the BI file for “assessing
a nominee’s fitness and qualification.” 12 This gave Senate committees the power to
unconstitutionally veto a nominee without a hearing.

Before the Biden Administration, a background investigation began with a candidate

for appointment signing a form developed by the DOJ Office of Legal Policy for the
White House identified as “DOJ-OLP-1/12/10.” 13 AFL’s litigation with the
Department of Justice reveals that this form is no longer used; instead, the FBI has
created an unnumbered form, not approved by the Office of Management and Budget,
for the White House’s use. 14 Both forms—the OLP and the FBI ones—indicate that
the background investigation file would only be provided to the White House (i.e., not
further disclosed to the Senate). Even if the White House, not the FBI, provides the

7 See Exhibit 2.
8 Memorandum of Understanding Between the Department of Justice and the President of the United
States 1, ¶ 1.
9 Id.
10 2009 MOU Between the White House and the Senate Judiciary Committee, https://bit.ly/45Sqppq

(hereinafter “2009 MOU”).

11 See discussion of inter-agency disclosures in Buzzfeed, infra.
12 2009 MOU.
13 See e.g., U.S. DEP’T JUST., “OLP Records Regarding Judgeship Nominations – Part 1 Interim” at 19,

https://bit.ly/3sPgcvc.
14 See Exhibits 1a, 1b, & 1c.

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file to the Senate, the MOU the White House has with the Department of Justice
states at §3(e), “[t]he reason for each background investigation will be indicated with
specificity (which may be accomplished by checking the appropriate boxes on the
form), and if known, shall include the position for which the Appointee is being
considered.”

The FBI acts without the candidate’s consent. Neither form used by the FBI
indicates that the primary reason for the background investigation is not simply to
inform the president’s nomination of an applicant but to determine whether the
applicable Senate committee “clears” that applicant for a hearing. None of the
publicly noticed 15 routine uses of background investigation files state that the files
are routinely disseminated to the Senate. 16 Even if the FBI does not directly provide
the file to the Senate, the FBI is obviously aware that the White House and/or OLP
at DOJ (in the case of judicial nominees) provide that information to the Senate
Judiciary Committee. To the extent that BI files are treated as agency records that
are routinely disclosed to, e.g., the Senate Judiciary Committee (by anyone other than
a nominee), a nominee’s not having direct notice of the fact has meant that
information risks being incomplete and/or irrelevant—if not subject to serious bias.

The FBI ignores legal requirements when it collects information from

witnesses. The FBI, in conducting information collections of members of the public
as part of an appointee’s background investigation without using an Office of
Management and Budget-approved form and control number, conflicts with the
Paperwork Reduction Act. 17 The Paperwork Reduction Act applies to FBI background
investigations because the FBI’s oral solicitations to third parties are not an
administrative action, nor does it involve the FBI “against specific individuals.” 18 The
BI inquiries are general investigations with reference to the category of individuals
identified in an SF-86, 19 or otherwise are inquiries contained in a rule of general
applicability, e.g., that all judicial nominee BI’s proceed from an SF-86 form that goes
back to the candidate’s eighteenth birthday. 20

The FBI failed to inform either candidates for appointment or witnesses

contacted about those candidates that the ultimate arbiter of the BI is not
the President but a Senate Committee. Neither Form DOJ-OLP-1/12/10 nor the
current FBI forms 21 are OMB-approved information collections. The Paperwork

15 5 U.S.C. § 552a(e)(4)(D).
16 Covert v. Harrington, 876 F.2d 751, 755-756 (9th Cir. 1989) (“Under the plain terms of the statute,
a collecting agency is under a duty to inform the individuals from whom it is collecting information of
the routine uses to which that information may be put. The statute gives the agency no discretion not
to discharge this duty”).
17 44 U.S.C. §§ 3506(c)(1)(B)(iii)(V) (“an agency may not conduct or sponsor … a collection of

information unless it displays a valid control number”).

18 44 U.S.C. § 3518(c)(1)(B)(ii) (emphasis added).
19 44 U.S.C. § 3518(c)(2).
20 5 C.F.R. § 1320.3(c)(4)(i).
21 Exhibits 1a, 1b, & 1c.

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Reduction Act at 44 U.S.C. § 3506(c)(1)(B) requires the FBI to ensure that the form
it uses to obtain consent from judicial candidates contains a valid control number.
Further, the form must disclose to candidates that the information is “being collected”
or “to be used” by the relevant Senate committee in determining a potential nominee’s
fitness and qualifications. 22 44 U.S.C. § 3512(a) states that a candidate should not be
subject to any penalty due to the BI consent form not being OMB-approved. 23 The
denial of a privilege, such as a hearing on a nomination, is covered by the Act’s
definition of a penalty. 24 These regulations do not simply apply to nominees before
the Senate Judiciary Committee but any Senate Committee that relies on a candidate
BI for purposes of “clearing” that nominee for a hearing. Several of President Trump’s
nominees, including Representative Darrell Issa, Representative Ronny Jackson,
Judge Sul Ozerden, Jeffrey Byard, and William Bryan were denied confirmations on
the basis of FBI BI issues. 25

Finding: The FBI violates the Paperwork Reduction Act’s requirements at 44

U.S.C. § 3512(a) because it collects information from the public and third
parties concerning nominees without using a form with a valid OMB-
approved control number.

Although the constitutional norms recognized in Buzzfeed v. FBI support the idea
that the FBI is preparing BI reports solely for the President’s use and control, the
FBI relies upon its MOU with the White House in conducting background
investigations on judicial nominees and the MOU manifests the FBI’s intent to
maintain control over the record with the White House’s agreeing to this
manifestation of control. 26 Despite these concessions of agency control, the FBI does
not seek OMB approval of its information collections as required by law. The FBI
clearly has the ability to use a form in compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act.
For instance, the United States Marshals Service uses OMB-approved Form CSO-
005 for Background Checks. That form complies with both the Privacy Act and

22 44 U.S.C. §§ 3506(c)(1)(B)(iii)(V) (“an agency may not conduct or sponsor … a collection of

information unless it displays a valid control number”).
23 United States v. Hatch, 919 F.2d 1394, 1398 (9th Cir. 1990).
24 44 U.S.C. § 3502(14).
25 E.g., Juligrace Brufke, Issa’s Senate Confirmations Hearing Delayed Over Concerns About

Background Check, THE HILL (Sep. 19, 2019), https://bit.ly/3sK3RYZ (Rep. Darrell Issa); Marianne
Levine, Republican Senators May Sink Another Trump Judicial Nominee, POLITICO (July 16, 2019),
https://bit.ly/45R8a3t (Judge Sul Ozerden); Laura Strickler and Tim Stelloh, Trump’s Former Pick to
Lead FEMA Resigns From Agency, NBC NEWS (updated Jan. 6, 2020), https://bit.ly/3ZjVoIs (Jeffrey
Byard); Joshua Eaton, Federal Agency Ordered to Investigate Homeland Security Nominee, ROLL
CALL (Sep. 19, 2019), https://bit.ly/3RhAJTb (William Bryan); Juana Summers, et al., Whistleblowers
Spoke to Lawmakers About VA Nominee, CNN (Apr. 24, 2018), https://bit.ly/3PgND1h (Ronny
Jackson).
26 MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE AND THE PRESIDENT OF

THE UNITED STATES § 3(c) (“[a]ll name check and background investigation requests must be on the
request form provided by the FBI[.]”); id. §3(e) (“[t]he reason for each background investigation will be
indicated with specificity (which may be accomplished by checking the appropriate boxes on the form),
and if known, shall include the position for which the Appointee is being considered.”).

5
Paperwork Reduction Act in ways the FBI fails to do: it identifies the primary purpose
for obtaining information and provides information concerning the mandatory nature
of the check for hiring purposes.

The WH-FBI MOU indicates FBI control of the records in §3(f): “a statement signed
by the Appointee acknowledging his or her consent to be investigated and
acknowledging that facts or information gathered shall be retained consistent with
the applicable FBI Privacy Act Records Systems Notices, Records Retention Plan, and
Disposition Schedule.” 27 Because the FBI controls the BI record, it must comply with
the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. § 3501, the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. 552a(b),
and the Freedom of Information Act.

Finding: Neither the FBI nor the DOJ complies with the Privacy Act’s
requirement that disclosure to the relevant Senate committee staff be a
publicly noticed and approved Routine Use.

The FBI must conduct background investigations on appointees with that candidate’s
consent. The Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552a(b) states, “[n]o agency shall disclose any
record which is contained in a system of records by any means of communication to
any person … except pursuant to a written request by, or with the prior written
consent of, the individual to whom the record pertains[.]” While the Privacy Act, 5
U.S.C. § 552a(b)(9), permits disclosures without consent to the Senate or a committee
or subcommittee of the Senate, the Office of Legal Counsel has stated that such
provisions of law apply only to requests from a committee or subcommittee chairman
and certainly not requests from committee staff. 28 The WH-SJC MOU permits
disclosure to the Senate by the FBI without a candidate’s consent. 29

5 U.S.C. § 552a(e)(6) bars disclosure to a “person other than an agency” unless it is a

“routine use” disclosure or a § (b)(2) disclosure in response to a request from a duly
authorized Committee of Congress. 5 U.S.C. § 552a(e)(6) requires the FBI “make
reasonable efforts to assure that such records are accurate, complete, timely, and
relevant for agency purposes” and 5 U.S.C. §§ 552a(e)(2) ensures such accuracy by
mandating that information about candidates is collected “directly from the subject
individual.” 30 The FBI’s authorized routine uses depend, in part, on which statement

27 Citing section (e)(3) of the Federal Privacy Act of 1974; accord id. at § 5(d) (“[i]nformation obtained

during an investigation will be retained at FBI Headquarters and FBI field offices in accordance with
the FBI’s Privacy Act records systems notices, Records Retention Plan, and Disposition Schedule”).
28 Application of Privacy Act Congressional-Disclosure Exception to Disclosures to Ranking Minority

Members, 25 Op. O.L.C. 289, 289–90 (2001).

29 2009 MOU BETWEEN THE WHITE HOUSE AND THE SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE,
https://bit.ly/45Sqppq (mandating disclosure of the FBI BI file to Committee for the purpose of
“assessing a nominee’s fitness and qualification”).
30 Waters v. Thornburgh, 888 F.2d 870, 873–75 (D.C. Cir. 1989) (“in the context of an investigation that

is seeking objective, unalterable information, reasonable questions about a subject’s credibility cannot
relieve an agency from its responsibility to collect that information first from the subject. [The Privacy

6
of records notice applies to judicial background investigation files. 31 To the extent the
FBI believes that FBI-002—the FBI Central Records System—governs the treatment
of BI files, the Attorney General exempted from disclosure and amendment “cards on
persons who have been the subject of a full field investigation in connection with their
consideration of employment in sensitive positions with Department of Justice, such
as U.S. Attorney, Federal judges, or a high-level Department position. It is active at
FBI Headquarters.” 32 This authority is attenuated as applied to federal judicial
nominees because judges are not considered for employment with the Department of
Justice. Notwithstanding this fact, in disclosing the “routine uses” of BI files, the
notice states, as applied to disclosures to Congress, “[i]nformation contained in this
system, may be made available to a Member of Congress or staff acting upon the
member’s behalf when the member of staff requests the information [o]n behalf of
and at the request of the individual who is the subject of the record.” 33 Thus, under
the system of records notice (SORN) governing FBI-002, unless a candidate requested
the FBI to disclose to Congress, the FBI may not disclose it.

A more germane notice reflects that “United States Judge and Department of Justice
Presidential Appointee Records” reside in the Office of the Deputy Attorney General.
Notice No. DAG-10. This regulatory notice 34 is more particularized to background
files for federal judges as presidential (rather than DOJ) appointees, identifying
“Categories of Records in the System” as including “a confidential evaluation of [the
judicial nominee’s] qualifications for the position [and] completed background
investigations on the individual.” Further, the Privacy Act notice claims no Privacy
Act exemptions and specifically clarifies the “routine use” of the relevant files: “[a]fter
a candidate is nominated and his nomination is pending 35 Senate confirmation, the
background investigation is routinely provided to [the] Chairman of the Senate
Judiciary Committee.” 36 Under this notice, only the Senate Judiciary Chairman (not
the staff) is provided the BI file.

The DOJ ODAG 1985 Privacy Act notice, which is available at the DOJ’s website for
its Systems of Records Notices, 37 and has not been materially updated since 1985,
appears to meaningfully govern the “routine use” disclosures of judicial BI files to the

Act] is fundamentally concerned with privacy. It supports the principle that an individual should, to
the greatest extent possible, be in control of information about him which is given to the government
… a principle designed to insure fairness in information collection which should be instituted
whenever possible.”) (omission in original); Dong v. Smithsonian Inst., 943 F. Supp. 69, 72 (D.D.C.
1996) (same).
31 See U.S. DEP’T JUST., DOJ Systems of Records, https://bit.ly/44Ny2Mf.
32 63 Fed. Reg. 8659, 8678 (Feb. 20, 1998), available at https://bit.ly/45N92Gh.
33 63 Fed. Reg. at 8682–83 (emphasis added).
34 See e.g., 50 Fed. Reg. 42607, available at https://bit.ly/488siQd.
35 “Pending” in the context of a nomination means before the full Senate. United States v. Phlipot, 1988

U.S. App. LEXIS 8244, *10 (6th Cir. 1988).

36 50 Fed. Reg. at 42608.
37 U.S. DEP’T JUST., DOJ Systems of Records, https://bit.ly/44Ny2Mf.

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Senate Judiciary Committee. 38 However, to the extent the WH-SJC MOU authorizes
disclosure of BI files to the Ranking Member or to any staff, that would violate the
Privacy Act, which requires a Federal Register notice of routine use
disclosures. When the Sixth Circuit interpreted the meaning of “pending Senate
confirmation” for purposes of the vacancy provisions for U.S. Attorneys under 28
U.S.C. § 546, it defined the term to mean a vote on the floor. 39 To disclose the BI file
before a floor vote would empower a Committee and its unelected staff to veto a
presidential nomination without the required “advice and consent” of the full Senate
body as constitutionally required.

Notwithstanding the constitutional problems with disclosing files to committee staff,

the Department of Justice Deputy Attorney General’s “routine use” disclosures
simply do not include disclosure of nominee files to the Senate as an approved routine
use. 40 As such, those disclosures are legally prohibited.

Finding: The FBI violates FOIA because it fails to publicly disclose its pattern
and practice of disregarding legal rules when obtaining third-party
information.

The Paperwork Reduction Act requires that interviewed subjects (i.e., witnesses)
provide information on an OMB-approved form. 41 Required use of an OMB-approved
form deters third parties from providing misleading or inaccurate information to the
FBI by subjecting them to potential prosecution for misleading the government. 42

Further, federal law requires that “rules of procedure” and “interpretations of general
applicability formulated and adopted by the agency” must be published in the Federal
Register. 43 These policies can also be clarified in the FBI’s Systems of Records Notice
under the Privacy Act, but no such policy is disclosed. This failure to publish these
policies harmed President Trump’s nominees (Darrell Issa, Ronny Jackson, Sul
Ozerden, Jeffrey Byard, and William Bryan, among others). 44

The law protects candidates from being “adversely affected” due to the FBI’s failure
to provide “actual and timely notice” of its policy not to ensure that individuals for

38 See e.g. 50 Fed. Reg. 42603, at 42608 (“[a]fter a candidate is nominated and his nomination is
pending Senate confirmation, the background investigation is routinely provided to [the] Chairman of
the Senate Judiciary Committee”), available at https://bit.ly/488siQd.
39 United States v. Phlipot, 1988 U.S. App. LEXIS 8244, *10 (6th Cir. 1988).
40 See e.g. 50 Fed. Reg. 42607, available at https://bit.ly/488siQd.
41 44 U.S.C. §§ 3506–07.
42 5 U.S.C. § 552a(e)(3), §§ (e)(3)(B), (e)(4)(C), & (e)(4)(D); Covert v. Harrington, 876 F.2d 751, 755–56

(9th Cir. 1989) (“Under the plain terms of the statute, a collecting agency is under a duty to inform the
individuals from whom it is collecting information of the routine uses to which that information may
be put. The statute gives the agency no discretion not to discharge this duty”).
43 5 U.S.C. §§ 552(a)(1)(C) & (E).
44 See 5 U.S.C. §§ 552a(e)(6) (requiring the FBI to “make reasonable efforts to assure that such records

are accurate, complete, timely, and relevant for agency purposes.”).

8
whom information is being collected provide that information on an OMB-approved
form. 45 Because it fails to follow Paperwork Reduction Act and Privacy Act
procedures, as it pertains to the BI files of Darrell Issa, Ronny Jackson, Sul Ozerden,
Jeffrey Byard, and William Bryan, the FBI “fail[ed] to maintain any record
concerning any individual with such accuracy, relevance, timeliness, and
completeness as is necessary to assure fairness in any determination relating to the
qualifications, character, rights, or opportunities of, or benefits to the individual that
may be made on the basis of such record, and consequently a determination is made
which is adverse to the individual.” 46

Because the FBI discloses the BI to Senate committees and their staff as part of its
clearance process, its policy of informally obtaining information from third parties,
which fails to ensure only credible information is disclosed, invites non-credible and
inaccurate information into BI files, which adversely affects those candidates who are
refused clearance on the basis of the BI file. This violates the “fundamental fairness”
requirement of 5 U.S.C. § 552(e)(5).

Finding: The FBI violates 5 U.S.C. §§ 552a(e)(6) by no longer enforcing the MIOG
standards, which requires the FBI to seek to offset derogatory
information. As such, the FBI does not “make reasonable efforts to
assure that such records are accurate, complete, timely, and relevant for
agency purposes.”

Finding: Again, because it disregards the MIOG, the FBI violates 5 U.S.C. §§
552a(e)(1), (e)(2), (e)(3), and (e)(5) because the FBI or DOJ maintains in
its records information about applicants that is likely irrelevant to their
qualifications to fairly and competently adjudicate cases arising under
the Constitution and statutes in conflict with (e)(1); does not collect
positive information directly from applicants in response to potentially
derogatory information, thus conflicting with (e)(2); does not use an
OMB-approved form to collect information from third parties about
applicants, which form must specify the FBI’s authority and purpose in
conducting the background investigation, specifying that information
would not only be shared with the White House but would ultimately be
shared with both political parties making up the Senate committees and
their staff and those committees would make an adjudication decision,
thus conflicting with 44 U.S.C. §§ 3506 & 3507 in violation of (e)(3); and,
for all of the above reasons, did not provide applicants with fundamental
fairness.

45 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(1).
46 See 5 U.S.C. § 552a(g) et seq.

9
In an e-mail from an FBI insider (the Washington field agent in charge of sensitive
background investigations) to AFL staff, the agent stated:

The short answer is that MIOG was discontinued in 2008. The longer
answer follows. MIOG was replaced by a dissimilar Domestic
Investigations and Operations Guide (DIOG) that was implemented
under the direction of the AG. FBI background investigation cases are
all run out of FBIHQ. Although the EOP BIs are now guided by
government-wide Federal Investigative Standards (FIS), those
standards do not apply to cases involving Senate confirmation. The
judgeship leads that we get are still similar to what we got in the MIOG
days, but I am not positive what guidance FBIHQ now uses for those.
Under DIOG, other FBI investigations with which I am familiar now
rely on program guides, and I would suspect that to also be the case with
judgeship BIs. Again, FBIHQ runs the cases and sets leads for field
offices (such as the one to which I am assigned) to cover. Hopefully, my
response has been helpful. 47

AFL investigators discovered that what the FBI agent believed and what his entire
staff likely implemented was materially false. The Domestic Investigations and
Operations Guide (“DIOG”) used by the FBI did not supersede the Manual of
Investigative Operations and Guidelines (“MIOG”) in its entirety. In particular, the
MIOG section granting individuals undergoing a BI the right to respond to derogatory
information presented by interviewees has not been superseded. 48 It is, therefore,
telling that an FBI Washington Field Office insider, who himself conducted BI
interviews and compiled reports, believed the “MIOG was discontinued in 2008.” 49
Clearly, the FBI, when conducting vets for presidential nominees, believed the whole
process was subject to the President’s discretion and, therefore, did not require any
adherence to legally required procedures.

The MIOG is important for due process reasons. Part II, Pages 17–15 of the MIOG
states that if unfavorable comments are provided about an applicant, the FBI must
“obtain specific details including whether the information is based on direct
knowledge or hearsay.” 50

The MIOG requires that for any derogatory information, the FBI “must ensure that
sufficient investigation is conducted in an attempt to verify or disprove the
allegation.” 51 The MIOG states that individuals providing derogatory information

47 E-mail from to AFL Staff (Aug. 23, 2020) (on file with author).
48 Page 663/698 (Appendix R) of the current DIOG (available at https://bit.ly/3RjremI) indicates that
Part II, Section 17 (page 166/208, Part 2/4) of the Manual of Investigative Operations and Guidelines
(available at https://bit.ly/3sQOqhV) has not been superseded.
49 E-mail from to (Aug. 23, 2020) (on file with author).
50 MIOG, 17-5(6).
51 MIOG, 17-5.1; accord. DOJ report, infra at 20 (1983), https://bit.ly/3RkgmVs.

10
about an applicant must be advised to provide a signed statement and affirm their
availability to testify at a hearing precisely because these requirements ensure that
those providing derogatory information are credible. 52 As shown below, the Biden
OLP’s new regulations, however, prevent the MIOG’s due process requirements from
being enforced.

The FBI’s discontinuing the use of MIOG standards meant that the FBI no longer
complied with requirements to include “favorable information which offsets the
derogatory information” (called “mitigation”), which is necessary to protect “the
nominee’s interest in not having his reputation damaged by unsubstantiated
allegations which may arise during the background investigation.” 53

II. The Biden Administration has further politicized the BI process.

During the Reagan Administration, a committee of administration officials analyzed

the constitutional principles involved in the President’s nomination process with
particular attention paid to the FBI’s role in informing the President about potential
appointees. As the Report stated, “[i]n balancing the Senate’s need for information
against the interest of the Executive Branch in maintaining the confidentiality of its
investigative reports, the President may choose to follow either of two courses: (1) he
may refuse to disclose some, or all, investigative material compiled to assist him in
selecting nominees; or (2) he may arrange for the disclosure of relevant information
concerning his nominees, under terms which safeguard the interests of the Executive
Branch.” 54 Furthermore, the Report stated, “the FBI historically has furnished the
results of its background investigations on Presidential nominees solely to the White
House and, at times, the Attorney General. It has not generally provided information
concerning a nominee to the Senate Committee considering confirmation.” 55

The Reagan Justice Department recognized that the Senate’s need for information on
a nominee must be balanced by the need to avoid disclosing “unsubstantiated
allegations.” 56 During the Trump Administration, the FBI provided files directly to
the Senate without filtering unsubstantiated allegations or making determinations
about what information may be irrelevant. The White House deferred to an FBI
process that did not itself follow procedures designed to ensure accuracy of
information obtained or fairness to candidates for appointment. And the White House
disclosed these unedited accounts to the relevant Senate committees. Ironically, the

52 MIOG, 17-5.7.
53 DOJ Report infra at 37, https://bit.ly/3RkgmVs.
54 Departmental Study Committee: Special Inquiries on Presidential Nominees, Report to the Attorney

General, §I: Constitutional Background Regarding the Presidential Appointment Process (“DOJ
Report) at 11 (1983), available at https://bit.ly/3RkgmVs.
55 Id. at 24.
56 Id. at 43.

11
White House refused to review or modify the FBI BI files for purposes of ensuring
accuracy or fairness on “Privacy Act” grounds.

Allowing the disclosure of legally flawed BI files to the Senate not only invites bias
into the nomination process but inappropriately subjects the FBI to political scrutiny.
The Reagan Department of Justice Report concluded that the FBI should not be
involved directly with the Senate concerning the consideration of nominees, stating
“[t]he FBI has no stake in the appointment and placing it in this position will only
endanger the independence and objectivity upon which both the White House and the
Senate must necessarily rely.” 57 The Report substantiated that the FBI should not
provide BI files to the Senate and that, instead, the ideal process is one where “the
FBI provides information concerning a potential nominee to the White House
Counsel’s Office, which would then forward this information to the appropriate
Senate Committee.” 58

The Report made clear that FBI BIs are conducted “for the White House in connection
with a Presidential appointment … to provide White House officials with information
from which they can make an informed judgment as to whether the President should
proceed with a nomination.” 59 As such, the BI files are created by the FBI as a service
to the President in exercising a constitutional duty. 60 The President, not the FBI, has
legal control over BI files. 61

In Buzzfeed v. FBI, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia determined
that a federal judicial nominee’s background investigation differs from any other FBI-
conducted suitability review because the file is itself both “‘solicited and received by
the White House Counsel’s Office” and the background investigation is conducted
solely to assist “the President [to] ‘effectively and faithfully carry out his Article II
duties’[.]” 62 The Buzzfeed court’s determination to protect judicial nominee
background investigation (BI) files from public disclosure under the Freedom of
Information Act as presidential communications, 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(5), depended upon
its conclusion that such files are not compiled for law enforcement purposes nor for
determining suitability for employment in, or access to classified information in, the
executive branch, 5 U.S.C. § 552a(k)(2) & (5), but instead are solicited and received

57 Id.
58 Id.
59 Id. at 17.
60 Doyle v. U.S. Dep’t of Homeland Sec., 331 F. Supp. 3d 27, 38 (S.D.N.Y. 2018), aff’d sub nom. Doyle

v. United States Dep’t of Homeland Sec., 959 F.3d 72 (2d Cir. 2020); accord. Ariane De Vogue, FBI
Says It Got More Than 4,500 Tips on Kavanaugh, Providing ‘Relevant’ Ones to Trump White House,
CNN (July 23, 2021), https://bit.ly/3qZrkVS (“Tyson reiterated comments that FBI Director
Christopher Wray made in past congressional testimony: that the FBI serves as an “investigative
service provider” for federal background investigations, and that its role in the Kavanaugh matter was
to respond to requests from the White House counsel”).
61 Id.
62 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 80640, *23-24 (D.D.C. 2020).

12
by the President’s designees for the purposes of advising the President in carrying
out his constitutional power to nominate judges.

In its Motion for Summary Judgment filed in Buzzfeed et al. v. FBI, the FBI made its
authority and purpose in conducting background investigations for judicial
candidates clear. 63 The Department of Justice, through the FBI, conducts background
investigations “[t]o assist the President with [his] constitutional decisionmaking
responsibility” to nominate and appoint federal judges. 64 Further, the FBI stated,
“[t]he purpose of the investigation … is to aid and inform the President in his
determination of a person’s suitability for a certain position, and the President’s
ultimate decision whether (or not) to move forward with a particular nomination or
appointment.” 65

In theory, the President has complete control over information in a BI report and can
determine what information is disclosed to the Senate. Of course, the fact that the
FBI, as a “routine use” of BI files, discloses them to Senate committees reflects the
extent to which the President is not the ultimate decision-maker as to suitability, for
the 2009 MOU between the Senate Judiciary Committee and the White House
reflects that the Senate Judiciary Committee gives no deference to the qualifications
and fitness determinations by the Office of Legal Policy or the White House
concerning a judicial nominee. 66

The Reagan DOJ Report noted that only if the President proceeds with a nomination
must he provide the complete BI report to the Senate. As then-Associate Counsel
John Roberts wrote on the margins around this claim in the Report, “NO—IT
DOESN’T HAVE TO BE GIVEN TO THE SENATE AT ALL.” 67

• Finding: In response to America First Legal’s investigative efforts, 68 the

Biden Department of Justice released new rules rescinding the Privacy Act
protections for candidates undergoing BI reviews. The new Biden regulations
permit the White House to direct the FBI’s investigation of any person because
it is no longer bound by requirements to obtain the written consent of

63 Defs.’ Mot. Summ. J., Jason Leopold and Buzzfeed, Inc. v. Federal Bureau of Investigation, Case No.
13-2567 (D.D.C. Oct. 25, 2019).
64 Id. at 4 (citing U.S. CONST. art. II, § 2).
65 Id. at 5.
66 Buzzfeed, Inc. v. FBI, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 80640, *19 (D.D.C. May 7, 2020) (relying on Dep’t of

Interior v. Klamath Water Users Protective Ass’n., 532 U.S. 1, 8–11, 121 S. Ct. 1060 (2001); Judicial
Watch, Inc. v. Department of Energy, 412 F.3d 125, 130–31 (D.C. Cir. 2005)); accord Murphy v.
Department of Army, 613 F.2d 1151, 1156–57 (D.C. Cir. 1979) (where congressional committee
requesting information from an executive agency is treated as an “agency”).
67 DOJ Report at 38, https://bit.ly/3RkgmVs (emphasis in original).
68 Compare Letter from Andrew J. Block, America First Legal Found., to Bobak Talebian, Dir., Off.

Info. Pol’y, U.S. Dep’t Just. (June 24, 2021), https://bit.ly/3PeThRr to Privacy Act of 1974; Systems of
Records, U.S. DEP’T JUST., 86 Fed. Reg. 54368-54371 (Effective November 1, 2021),
https://shorturl.at/aFIRS.

13
 candidates, and the White House and FBI can disclose those BIs outside the
Executive Branch without notice. Finally, the regulations exempt BI files from
the Privacy Act’s correction or amendment procedures. The Biden
Administration’s further exempting BI files from Privacy Act and Paperwork
Reduction Act requirements only risks further politicization of the FBI.

President Biden was not bound to let the FBI’s violations of the Privacy Act and
Paperwork Reduction Act interfere with him pushing forward ideologically preferred
nominees. It is obvious the Trump White House deferred to the Privacy Act, which
the FBI used as a shield to prevent the White House from ensuring only credible BI
files were produced and as a sword when the FBI routinely violated procedural
requirements designed to prevent bias in the process. 69

Effective November 1, 2021, the Biden DOJ amended its Privacy Act regulations
concerning the DOJ’s Office of Legal Policy exemption of nominee BI files from the
Privacy Act. 70 While Privacy Act exemptions can be established by regulation, the
Biden Administration’s regulations skirt several longstanding principles.

First, before 2021, 28 C.F.R. § 16.73(c) required that “all name check and background
investigation requests must be on the request form provided by the FBI.” 71 This
requirement corresponded to the Paperwork Reduction Act’s information collection
requirements, where the use of forms protects the integrity of the process. The Biden
Administration removed this requirement.

Second, the regulation required “a statement signed by the Appointee acknowledging

his or her consent to be investigated and acknowledging that facts or information
gathered shall be retained consistent with the applicable FBI Privacy Act Records
Systems Notices, Records Retention Plan, and Disposition Schedule” 72 Consent for BI
files protects individual rights and ensures that disclosures to third parties (like
Senate staff) or reinvestigations are done with consent. The Biden Administration
removed this requirement.

AFL’s litigation against the Biden Administration revealed that the effective date of
the forms used by the Biden Administration to obtain nominee consent was January
20, 2021. After November 1, 2021, we can assume the Biden Administration ceased
using consent forms for FBI background investigations. 73

69 A White House either treats the Privacy Act and the Paperwork Reduction Act as applying to BI
files and ensures that the FBI complies with the process, or it takes the position that the FBI is merely
a service provider and that the BI reports are exempt from the Privacy Act and related statutes.
70 See e.g., 28 C.F.R. § 16.73(c), https://bit.ly/3ri4pVA (effective November 1, 2021); see Privacy Act of

1974; Implementation, 86 Fed. Reg. 54368 (Oct. 1, 2021), https://bit.ly/467a93u.

71 28 C.F.R. § 16.73(c) §3c (prior to 2021 deletions).
72 Id. § 3f.
73 See Exhibit 2.

14
The Biden Administration can now conduct background investigations on individuals
without their consent. This raises the same risk that occurred during the
Clinton Administration, where President Clinton accessed information
about his political enemies.

Moreover, the old regulations required that the President or his designated
represented restricted access to BI files only “to persons directly involved in ensuring
the safety and security of the President or in determining an Appointee’s suitability
for employment, appointment, recognition or trustworthiness for access to sensitive
or classified information.” 74 The Biden Administration removed this
requirement. This requirement prevents political groups from accessing private or
sensitive information about individuals.

III. Congress Must Clarify the FBI’s Role in Conducting Background

Investigations for Candidates for Presidential Appointments

Despite existing laws and well-understood Constitutional principles, a biased FBI

has scuttled potential appointments of a presidency it politically opposed, and an
unscrupulously partisan President has abused FBI background investigations to
potentially access information about his political enemies while pushing his
ideological partisan allies into lifetime appointments without having to be slowed
down by complying with legal procedures. Accordingly, Congress must reform the
existing legal framework to clarify the FBI’s role in conducting background
investigations for candidates for presidential appointments so the process cannot be
weaponized against partisan enemies.

74 Id. § 5a.

15
EXHIBIT 1a
EXHIBIT 1b
EXHIBIT 1c
EXHIBIT 2