CIA, DOJ Refuse To Acknowledge Whether Eric Ciaramella Records Exist

The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) each refused to either confirm or deny the existence of records related to Obama White House Ukrainian intelligence holdover Eric Ciaramella who is also charged with being the whistleblower at the heart of the Democrats’ recent impeachment proceedings kicked off last fall.

Judicial Watch received two letters from the top government agencies that were sent in response to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits filed in December. Judicial Watch reports that both the CIA and DOJ failed to provide communications between Ciaramella and former deep-state FBI operatives Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, or former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe. The group also requested communications records between Ciaramella and the Special Counsel’s Office.

“The CIA can neither confirm or deny the existence or nonexistence of records responsive to the requests,” the CIA wrote in a letter to Judicial Watch.

The fact of the existence or nonexistence of such records is itself exempt from FO IA under exemption (b )(3) and Section 6 of the CIA Act of I 949, 50 U.S.C. § 3507, and, to the extent your request could relate to CIA intelligence sources and methods information, the fact of the existence or nonexistence of such records is exempt from FOIA under exemption (b)( I) and exemption (b)(3) in conjunction with Section 102A(i)(l) of the National Security Act of 1947, 50 U.S.C § 3024(i)( I).