WEBVTT - Asking the FBI to Release the Santa Files

0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:05.800
<v Speaker 1>What the are you wearing? Okay, this is a little scary,

0:00:06.240 --> 0:00:08.680
<v Speaker 1>isn't it obvious? I can't tell you that. What are

0:00:08.720 --> 0:00:09.240
<v Speaker 1>you an elf?

0:00:09.960 --> 0:00:10.559
<v Speaker 2>I'm an elf?

0:00:10.840 --> 0:00:15.160
<v Speaker 1>Yes, you are wearing an health outfit? Why are you

0:00:15.240 --> 0:00:16.200
<v Speaker 1>wearing an elf? Costa?

0:00:16.320 --> 0:00:20.080
<v Speaker 2>Because, Jason, I have a very special holiday foyer story

0:00:20.120 --> 0:00:23.040
<v Speaker 2>for you today, and I think you're gonna like it.

0:00:23.079 --> 0:00:23.640
<v Speaker 2>Are you ready?

0:00:23.640 --> 0:00:24.960
<v Speaker 1>Oh my god? I'm ready.

0:00:25.120 --> 0:00:26.360
<v Speaker 2>Can I do the thing this time?

0:00:26.480 --> 0:00:31.440
<v Speaker 1>Do it? Brather, jingle them bells. I'm investigative journalist Jason Leopold.

0:00:31.480 --> 0:00:34.159
<v Speaker 1>I spend most of my days getting documents from the government.

0:00:34.240 --> 0:00:36.360
<v Speaker 2>I'm attorney Matt Tabbit, and I fight them in court

0:00:36.400 --> 0:00:37.960
<v Speaker 2>to open their files when they don't want to.

0:00:38.960 --> 0:00:43.280
<v Speaker 1>From Bloomberg and no smiling, This is Disclosure, a podcast

0:00:43.320 --> 0:00:46.920
<v Speaker 1>about buying loose government secrets, the Freedom of Information Act,

0:00:47.080 --> 0:00:50.760
<v Speaker 1>and the unexpected places that takes us.

0:00:54.040 --> 0:00:57.080
<v Speaker 2>So I have a special story for you, Jason. I'm

0:00:57.080 --> 0:01:00.120
<v Speaker 2>going to take you back to twenty twenty three.

0:01:00.200 --> 0:01:01.600
<v Speaker 1>It up all right, So.

0:01:02.080 --> 0:01:09.280
<v Speaker 2>Picture this Chicago, Matt's office, December eighth, twenty twenty three.

0:01:09.480 --> 0:01:12.640
<v Speaker 2>Our law firm. We have a pretty big holiday party

0:01:13.360 --> 0:01:16.640
<v Speaker 2>every year. A bunch of other lawyers come clients come

0:01:17.120 --> 0:01:19.680
<v Speaker 2>and it's like an hour or so before our big

0:01:19.760 --> 0:01:22.840
<v Speaker 2>annual holiday party is going to start. You know, I'm

0:01:22.880 --> 0:01:27.480
<v Speaker 2>sitting around, I'm having a pregame whiskey. I'm listening to

0:01:27.560 --> 0:01:30.760
<v Speaker 2>some Nat King Cole, a little bit of Santa Claus

0:01:30.840 --> 0:01:33.720
<v Speaker 2>is coming to town. Just getting in the mood for

0:01:34.440 --> 0:01:37.640
<v Speaker 2>holiday time, and I think to myself, I should make

0:01:37.680 --> 0:01:42.400
<v Speaker 2>some kind of a holiday boyer requests. So this is

0:01:42.440 --> 0:01:44.319
<v Speaker 2>what I saw on I decided to make a foyer

0:01:44.360 --> 0:01:47.960
<v Speaker 2>request to our very good friends at the Federal Bureau

0:01:48.120 --> 0:01:53.960
<v Speaker 2>of Investigation. And here is my request. Greetings, I request

0:01:54.000 --> 0:01:57.280
<v Speaker 2>the first twenty five pages you locate from a CRS

0:01:57.400 --> 0:02:01.400
<v Speaker 2>main file in cross reference, search for the term quote

0:02:01.640 --> 0:02:04.120
<v Speaker 2>Santa Claus end quote.

0:02:05.720 --> 0:02:07.200
<v Speaker 1>Oh my god, amazing.

0:02:07.800 --> 0:02:08.280
<v Speaker 2>You like that?

0:02:09.080 --> 0:02:14.080
<v Speaker 1>Amazing? So what's the CRS, Jason, Well, the CRS is

0:02:14.080 --> 0:02:18.959
<v Speaker 1>the Central Record System, the database that holds one hundred

0:02:19.080 --> 0:02:22.760
<v Speaker 1>million FBI files, investigative file.

0:02:23.200 --> 0:02:28.560
<v Speaker 2>So investigative, right, It's not like communications with Congress or

0:02:28.919 --> 0:02:32.359
<v Speaker 2>you know, kind of internal policy things. For the most part,

0:02:32.480 --> 0:02:35.000
<v Speaker 2>like this is this is investigative records. This is the

0:02:35.040 --> 0:02:38.600
<v Speaker 2>bread and butter. You know, FBI is investigating and they

0:02:38.639 --> 0:02:41.560
<v Speaker 2>need a system and they keep it all in the CRS. Right,

0:02:41.639 --> 0:02:46.160
<v Speaker 2>So tell us about main file and cross reference searches.

0:02:46.200 --> 0:02:51.120
<v Speaker 1>What does that mean? A main file is the file

0:02:51.400 --> 0:02:58.040
<v Speaker 1>on the subject. The subject would be Santa Claus, and

0:02:58.120 --> 0:03:03.760
<v Speaker 1>a cross reference search would be where there are references

0:03:04.480 --> 0:03:09.480
<v Speaker 1>to that subject in other investigative files that the FBI maintains.

0:03:09.680 --> 0:03:12.080
<v Speaker 1>It's sort of like if the FBI were investigating Satan,

0:03:13.240 --> 0:03:17.960
<v Speaker 1>and you know, Satan and Santa had some interactions and

0:03:18.440 --> 0:03:21.239
<v Speaker 1>Santa ends up in Satan's file? Is that right?

0:03:21.560 --> 0:03:25.079
<v Speaker 2>Are you breaking news here about a previously unknown relationship

0:03:25.080 --> 0:03:26.480
<v Speaker 2>between Santa Claus and Citan.

0:03:26.520 --> 0:03:31.239
<v Speaker 1>I mean their names are anagrams, all right, So back

0:03:31.280 --> 0:03:31.880
<v Speaker 1>to the story.

0:03:32.480 --> 0:03:35.480
<v Speaker 2>What I'm doing here is I'm saying, go to your

0:03:35.560 --> 0:03:40.120
<v Speaker 2>fancy record keeping system and search that I want to

0:03:40.160 --> 0:03:42.920
<v Speaker 2>see if you have any main files that hit on

0:03:42.960 --> 0:03:45.440
<v Speaker 2>the search term Santa Claus and then a cross reference

0:03:45.480 --> 0:03:48.320
<v Speaker 2>files that hit on the term Santa Claus. And I'm thinking,

0:03:48.880 --> 0:03:51.560
<v Speaker 2>you know, probably there's not going to be a main file,

0:03:51.720 --> 0:03:55.480
<v Speaker 2>unless maybe Santa Claus is some alias for somebody, but

0:03:55.520 --> 0:03:58.040
<v Speaker 2>there could be cross references. And what I'm thinking, as

0:03:58.080 --> 0:04:01.800
<v Speaker 2>one example, might be if there were bank robberies and

0:04:01.880 --> 0:04:04.200
<v Speaker 2>people were dressed up as Santa Claus. They might want

0:04:04.240 --> 0:04:06.560
<v Speaker 2>to at some point be liketay, I need a list.

0:04:06.680 --> 0:04:08.640
<v Speaker 2>I need a list of every bank robbery in which

0:04:08.640 --> 0:04:10.920
<v Speaker 2>someone was dressed up with Santa Claus in that's what

0:04:10.960 --> 0:04:14.400
<v Speaker 2>the cross reference searches in the cross referencing system would

0:04:14.440 --> 0:04:16.880
<v Speaker 2>allow you to do. So I make my request, and

0:04:17.000 --> 0:04:20.080
<v Speaker 2>I finished my whiskey, and I enjoy my colleagues and

0:04:20.160 --> 0:04:23.599
<v Speaker 2>clients and friends at our holiday party, and I and

0:04:23.680 --> 0:04:25.880
<v Speaker 2>I wait, I wait a little bit, and I don't

0:04:25.920 --> 0:04:29.560
<v Speaker 2>have to wait that long because on December thirteenth, twenty

0:04:29.600 --> 0:04:32.479
<v Speaker 2>twenty three, five days after I make my request, I

0:04:32.560 --> 0:04:35.880
<v Speaker 2>get a response from the FBI. And that's pretty fast, right,

0:04:35.960 --> 0:04:39.599
<v Speaker 2>that is really fast. Would you care to venture a

0:04:39.680 --> 0:04:41.560
<v Speaker 2>guess as to what the response was?

0:04:41.800 --> 0:04:43.960
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, so this is twenty twenty three. I was going

0:04:44.040 --> 0:04:47.800
<v Speaker 1>to say, if you filed this request in say twenty

0:04:47.920 --> 0:04:51.760
<v Speaker 1>fifteen or sixteen, I would have said that the FBI's

0:04:51.800 --> 0:04:56.200
<v Speaker 1>response to you would have been they were unable to

0:04:56.320 --> 0:04:59.800
<v Speaker 1>locate any responsive records. But since you filed it in

0:04:59.839 --> 0:05:04.560
<v Speaker 1>tw twenty three, I'm going to say that the FBI glomar.

0:05:04.640 --> 0:05:07.200
<v Speaker 2>Do you glomar? So that that would be Hey, wait

0:05:07.200 --> 0:05:10.120
<v Speaker 2>a second. Now, we can't tell you if we're investigating

0:05:10.160 --> 0:05:13.400
<v Speaker 2>Santa or not because we can't tip Santa off that

0:05:13.480 --> 0:05:16.680
<v Speaker 2>we're onto them exactly right, that would be the glomar

0:05:17.120 --> 0:05:20.120
<v Speaker 2>or or it would be Hey, Now, Santa Claus has

0:05:20.120 --> 0:05:22.400
<v Speaker 2>got privacy rights, and we're not going to invade those

0:05:22.440 --> 0:05:25.599
<v Speaker 2>privacy rights by telling you whether we investigated Santa Claus

0:05:25.680 --> 0:05:28.719
<v Speaker 2>or not. That's my guess. That's a good guess. That

0:05:28.880 --> 0:05:33.040
<v Speaker 2>is not actually what their response is. Oh what, here's

0:05:33.080 --> 0:05:37.880
<v Speaker 2>a response Jason December thirteenth, twenty twenty three, Request number

0:05:38.040 --> 0:05:40.920
<v Speaker 2>one six one two nine four five dash triple zero,

0:05:41.080 --> 0:05:45.200
<v Speaker 2>subject Santa Claus. Dear mister topic. This is in response

0:05:45.240 --> 0:05:49.040
<v Speaker 2>to your Freedom of Information Privacy Acts FOIPA requests to

0:05:49.080 --> 0:05:52.240
<v Speaker 2>the FBI. Below you find information relevant to your request.

0:05:52.560 --> 0:05:56.400
<v Speaker 2>Please read each item carefully. Your request did not contain

0:05:56.520 --> 0:05:59.320
<v Speaker 2>enough identifying information for this off is to make a

0:05:59.320 --> 0:06:03.800
<v Speaker 2>determination regarding the responsiveness of records in our central record system.

0:06:04.040 --> 0:06:05.839
<v Speaker 2>We're not even getting a really good party.

0:06:05.880 --> 0:06:06.480
<v Speaker 1>Oh my god.

0:06:07.040 --> 0:06:12.360
<v Speaker 2>Therefore, your request is being administratively closed. Please provide any

0:06:12.400 --> 0:06:15.840
<v Speaker 2>additional information that would help locate the records with a

0:06:15.880 --> 0:06:21.080
<v Speaker 2>reasonable amount of effort. This might include the subject's complete name,

0:06:21.720 --> 0:06:27.240
<v Speaker 2>date of birth, prior addresses former employment in God, this

0:06:27.320 --> 0:06:30.559
<v Speaker 2>is so good, or any incidents for which you believe

0:06:30.640 --> 0:06:34.960
<v Speaker 2>the FBI may have investigated the subject. This office will

0:06:34.960 --> 0:06:39.120
<v Speaker 2>conduct a new search upon receipt of the additional information.

0:06:41.080 --> 0:06:44.000
<v Speaker 1>That's news right there by the way. The fact that

0:06:44.080 --> 0:06:46.520
<v Speaker 1>the FBI I would have turned that immediately into a

0:06:46.560 --> 0:06:52.400
<v Speaker 1>story the FBI does not know who Santa Claus is.

0:06:52.720 --> 0:06:54.960
<v Speaker 1>That would be the headline. If they do not know

0:06:55.000 --> 0:06:57.640
<v Speaker 1>who Santa Claus is.

0:06:58.080 --> 0:07:00.599
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, exactly. And I kind of wonder if maybe this

0:07:00.760 --> 0:07:03.360
<v Speaker 2>was like, oh, wait a second, the existence of Santa

0:07:03.400 --> 0:07:05.839
<v Speaker 2>Claus or not is a subject that the FBI should

0:07:05.880 --> 0:07:07.080
<v Speaker 2>not be taking a position on.

0:07:07.279 --> 0:07:10.600
<v Speaker 1>It also seems to be like, is the FBI messing

0:07:10.640 --> 0:07:13.720
<v Speaker 1>with you? Are they like, oh, okay, this is a

0:07:13.720 --> 0:07:16.680
<v Speaker 1>good request. Now we want you to tell us what

0:07:16.800 --> 0:07:20.040
<v Speaker 1>Santa Claus's real name is. They want you to say

0:07:20.080 --> 0:07:22.240
<v Speaker 1>he lives at the North Pole. They want you to

0:07:22.320 --> 0:07:27.880
<v Speaker 1>say his name's Chris Kringle. So I'm wonder born on

0:07:28.320 --> 0:07:31.680
<v Speaker 1>December twenty fifth, right, is that right? I'm assuming I

0:07:31.680 --> 0:07:32.040
<v Speaker 1>don't know.

0:07:33.120 --> 0:07:36.640
<v Speaker 2>That's allegedly the birth date of Jesus, in which all right, right,

0:07:36.960 --> 0:07:40.760
<v Speaker 2>my bad. I did wonder if they were like taking

0:07:40.800 --> 0:07:43.880
<v Speaker 2>de bait a little bit, or the opposite would be

0:07:43.960 --> 0:07:46.720
<v Speaker 2>like no human even really like read it. It was

0:07:46.800 --> 0:07:50.000
<v Speaker 2>just all like automated, and no one actually thought for

0:07:50.040 --> 0:07:53.720
<v Speaker 2>a second, are we seriously going to say this about

0:07:53.880 --> 0:07:56.840
<v Speaker 2>Santa Claus. So what do you think, Jason, Am I

0:07:56.960 --> 0:07:59.000
<v Speaker 2>gonna be like, oh, oh too bad?

0:07:59.080 --> 0:07:59.360
<v Speaker 1>Nothing?

0:07:59.400 --> 0:08:01.000
<v Speaker 2>There is that what I do? Uh?

0:08:01.320 --> 0:08:04.160
<v Speaker 1>No, I assume you immediately appealed.

0:08:04.480 --> 0:08:09.160
<v Speaker 2>Well, so they didn't deny it. They administratively closed it,

0:08:09.560 --> 0:08:12.640
<v Speaker 2>which and they did not include language requiring me to appeal,

0:08:13.080 --> 0:08:16.560
<v Speaker 2>so I did not appeal. Instead, I sent an email

0:08:16.640 --> 0:08:21.040
<v Speaker 2>to the good folks at FOIPA questions at FBI dot

0:08:21.080 --> 0:08:25.320
<v Speaker 2>gov and to the OGIS and to OJIS.

0:08:25.040 --> 0:08:29.720
<v Speaker 1>The office of the Office of Government Information Services, that

0:08:29.920 --> 0:08:33.920
<v Speaker 1>is sort of like the mediator. They mediate requests or

0:08:34.000 --> 0:08:38.280
<v Speaker 1>try to get you some relief if an agency is

0:08:38.400 --> 0:08:42.320
<v Speaker 1>not being responsive or turning over records, and maybe you

0:08:42.320 --> 0:08:44.360
<v Speaker 1>don't want to go to litigation, but you want them

0:08:44.400 --> 0:08:46.199
<v Speaker 1>to kind of step in exactly.

0:08:46.240 --> 0:08:50.400
<v Speaker 2>They can kind of help to broker resolution and help

0:08:50.520 --> 0:08:53.880
<v Speaker 2>clear up confusion. And I think especially with requesters who

0:08:54.559 --> 0:08:56.960
<v Speaker 2>who don't who are new to it. They can be

0:08:57.040 --> 0:09:01.040
<v Speaker 2>really helpful to help them understand how Stone works. So

0:09:01.559 --> 0:09:05.920
<v Speaker 2>I send a two and a half page email addressing

0:09:05.920 --> 0:09:08.000
<v Speaker 2>the things that the FBI tells me they need to

0:09:08.080 --> 0:09:12.640
<v Speaker 2>know in order to process my request. All right, are

0:09:12.640 --> 0:09:13.520
<v Speaker 2>you ready, Jason?

0:09:13.840 --> 0:09:14.440
<v Speaker 1>I'm ready.

0:09:14.720 --> 0:09:18.200
<v Speaker 2>Here we go. All right, dear FBI and ogis. I

0:09:18.240 --> 0:09:21.120
<v Speaker 2>submitted the above reference to feuer request. The request sought

0:09:21.120 --> 0:09:24.120
<v Speaker 2>the first twenty five pages resulting from CRS main file

0:09:24.160 --> 0:09:26.920
<v Speaker 2>and cross reference searches for the term quote Santa Claus.

0:09:27.360 --> 0:09:30.240
<v Speaker 2>FBI denied my request, stating that it quote did not

0:09:30.320 --> 0:09:33.240
<v Speaker 2>contain enough identifying information for this office to make a

0:09:33.280 --> 0:09:36.880
<v Speaker 2>determination regarding the responsiveness of records in our Central Record

0:09:36.880 --> 0:09:41.439
<v Speaker 2>System end quote, and administratively closed the request. FBI also

0:09:41.480 --> 0:09:44.959
<v Speaker 2>suggested that I provide the quote subject's complete name, date

0:09:45.000 --> 0:09:49.240
<v Speaker 2>of birth, prior addresses former employment information or any incidents

0:09:49.240 --> 0:09:52.079
<v Speaker 2>for which you believe the FBI may have investigated the subject.

0:09:52.200 --> 0:09:52.640
<v Speaker 1>End quote.

0:09:53.080 --> 0:09:56.240
<v Speaker 2>I write asking that FBI reconsidered.

0:09:55.760 --> 0:09:57.640
<v Speaker 1>By the way, that is too nice.

0:09:57.920 --> 0:10:00.720
<v Speaker 2>Well, you know, Jason, this is the holiday, my friend,

0:10:00.840 --> 0:10:03.600
<v Speaker 2>So I was I.

0:10:03.480 --> 0:10:06.800
<v Speaker 1>Think the health suit is making you soft? Were you

0:10:06.840 --> 0:10:08.920
<v Speaker 1>wearing the helf suit while you file.

0:10:08.720 --> 0:10:10.720
<v Speaker 2>This I was not wearing the elf suit.

0:10:10.840 --> 0:10:17.640
<v Speaker 1>Okay, okay, fair, okay, I was not wearing the elf suit.

0:10:18.240 --> 0:10:20.800
<v Speaker 2>So first though, I gotta kind of clear some things

0:10:20.920 --> 0:10:23.440
<v Speaker 2>up because you might have picked up on this. But

0:10:23.520 --> 0:10:25.800
<v Speaker 2>in addition to it being like, do you really need

0:10:25.840 --> 0:10:28.760
<v Speaker 2>me to tell you who Santa Claus is, they're really

0:10:28.840 --> 0:10:33.360
<v Speaker 2>not properly interpreting my request. And it is exactly what

0:10:33.400 --> 0:10:35.839
<v Speaker 2>they do to people all the time. So while this

0:10:35.880 --> 0:10:40.400
<v Speaker 2>is meant to be funny, this also illustrates the absurdity

0:10:40.440 --> 0:10:43.920
<v Speaker 2>of how the FBI sometimes handles things. They don't really

0:10:44.000 --> 0:10:46.320
<v Speaker 2>read their request and understand it. They just have this

0:10:46.520 --> 0:10:49.720
<v Speaker 2>robotic way that they go about it. I must search

0:10:49.800 --> 0:10:52.440
<v Speaker 2>the CRS, and I must see if this is here right.

0:10:52.480 --> 0:10:55.560
<v Speaker 2>They're not really thinking about it. So first I'm gonna

0:10:55.600 --> 0:10:58.840
<v Speaker 2>explain to them here why they're not interpreting my request.

0:10:59.160 --> 0:11:01.760
<v Speaker 2>Records are response to my request if they result from

0:11:01.800 --> 0:11:05.360
<v Speaker 2>the search that I specified. There is no separate responsiveness review.

0:11:05.600 --> 0:11:07.920
<v Speaker 2>It does not matter what the record is or what

0:11:08.080 --> 0:11:10.160
<v Speaker 2>or who it is about, and it is not necessary

0:11:10.160 --> 0:11:13.319
<v Speaker 2>that Santa Claus be the subject of an FBI investigation

0:11:13.720 --> 0:11:16.400
<v Speaker 2>for a record to be responsive to my request. If

0:11:16.440 --> 0:11:18.480
<v Speaker 2>a record results from the search I specified.

0:11:18.880 --> 0:11:19.800
<v Speaker 1>It is responsive.

0:11:20.320 --> 0:11:22.240
<v Speaker 2>This should be the easiest way to make a request.

0:11:22.320 --> 0:11:24.320
<v Speaker 2>Just give them the search terms, they run the search,

0:11:24.360 --> 0:11:26.440
<v Speaker 2>and you get the results instead of like, I want

0:11:26.480 --> 0:11:29.120
<v Speaker 2>records about this person. Right, it's This should have been

0:11:29.240 --> 0:11:32.040
<v Speaker 2>very clean and simple, so I should not have even

0:11:32.080 --> 0:11:34.600
<v Speaker 2>needed to explain to them who Santa Claus is. Yeah,

0:11:34.640 --> 0:11:37.400
<v Speaker 2>so I go on, Well, the additional information FBI requested

0:11:37.559 --> 0:11:40.439
<v Speaker 2>is not necessary because it is misunderstood the scope of

0:11:40.480 --> 0:11:43.920
<v Speaker 2>the request to be records in which the FBI investigated

0:11:43.960 --> 0:11:47.840
<v Speaker 2>Santa Claus. I'm happy to provide some additional information. Now,

0:11:47.880 --> 0:11:48.640
<v Speaker 2>are you ready to go?

0:11:48.840 --> 0:11:49.160
<v Speaker 1>Buddy?

0:11:49.679 --> 0:11:53.880
<v Speaker 2>Oh man, I actually learned some things about Santa Claus

0:11:53.920 --> 0:11:57.960
<v Speaker 2>that I hadn't really previously known. Santa Claus is completely

0:11:58.000 --> 0:12:00.000
<v Speaker 2>miss Santa Claus, but he's also been known as far

0:12:00.000 --> 0:12:03.959
<v Speaker 2>Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nicky, Chris Springle, or Santa

0:12:04.240 --> 0:12:07.280
<v Speaker 2>Love it to provide some additional context about who Santa

0:12:07.320 --> 0:12:11.240
<v Speaker 2>Claus is. According to legend, every Christmas Eve, I can't

0:12:11.320 --> 0:12:15.200
<v Speaker 2>do this. At eleven every Christmas Eve, Santa delivers presence

0:12:15.240 --> 0:12:17.640
<v Speaker 2>to children around the world, but only if they have

0:12:17.720 --> 0:12:21.000
<v Speaker 2>been good. Santa Claus is said to have origins in

0:12:21.120 --> 0:12:26.680
<v Speaker 2>Saint Nicholas of Mirra, who was born March fifteenth to it,

0:12:28.040 --> 0:12:31.680
<v Speaker 2>who was born March fifteenth to seventy a d. And

0:12:31.760 --> 0:12:35.880
<v Speaker 2>Father Christmas, who originated in sixteenth century England. But Santa

0:12:35.920 --> 0:12:38.880
<v Speaker 2>Claus as we understand him in America is generally considered

0:12:38.880 --> 0:12:41.400
<v Speaker 2>to have originated with the publication of the book in

0:12:41.440 --> 0:12:43.760
<v Speaker 2>New Year's Present to the Little Ones from five to

0:12:43.840 --> 0:12:47.600
<v Speaker 2>twelve in eighteen twenty one, and the poem A Visit

0:12:47.640 --> 0:12:51.480
<v Speaker 2>from Saint Nicholas now known as The Night Before Christmas

0:12:51.880 --> 0:12:53.320
<v Speaker 2>in eighteen twenty three.

0:12:54.280 --> 0:12:55.240
<v Speaker 1>I love it, all.

0:12:55.200 --> 0:12:58.080
<v Speaker 2>Right, So they've asked me, like, hey, who's this Santa

0:12:58.080 --> 0:13:00.880
<v Speaker 2>Claus guy you're you're talking about? When was he born?

0:13:01.480 --> 0:13:04.679
<v Speaker 2>There you go, I mean born. We don't really know.

0:13:04.720 --> 0:13:07.680
<v Speaker 2>He's magical, but like, these are the origins of where

0:13:07.800 --> 0:13:09.520
<v Speaker 2>Santa Claus behan fa.

0:13:09.200 --> 0:13:12.240
<v Speaker 1>The Christmas give us some money. Oh it's good.

0:13:12.360 --> 0:13:14.920
<v Speaker 2>The Kinks and you know what, now you mentioned that

0:13:15.080 --> 0:13:18.000
<v Speaker 2>you could see that perhaps the FBI found that song

0:13:18.080 --> 0:13:22.160
<v Speaker 2>to be subversive and began an investigation into the Kings. Yeah,

0:13:22.240 --> 0:13:26.360
<v Speaker 2>Cross referenced Santa Claus. Not so crazy, right, this could happen,

0:13:27.200 --> 0:13:30.600
<v Speaker 2>all right, continuing, to the best of my knowledge, Santa

0:13:30.640 --> 0:13:33.400
<v Speaker 2>Claus has always resided at the North Pole, although it

0:13:33.440 --> 0:13:35.920
<v Speaker 2>has been said that he spends time in tropical locations

0:13:36.000 --> 0:13:37.280
<v Speaker 2>immediately after Christmas.

0:13:38.160 --> 0:13:43.520
<v Speaker 1>I just love. I love to the best of my knowledge, Like, like, hey,

0:13:44.160 --> 0:13:46.520
<v Speaker 1>you know, I'm saying this under penalty of perjury. Right

0:13:46.600 --> 0:13:49.320
<v Speaker 1>to the best of my knowledge, that's where he resort.

0:13:51.000 --> 0:13:53.240
<v Speaker 2>We don't really know. There's a lot of mystery around

0:13:53.240 --> 0:13:55.640
<v Speaker 2>Santa Claus. I'm attempting to clear it up to these

0:13:55.640 --> 0:13:58.240
<v Speaker 2>people at the FBI who apparently have never heard of

0:13:58.240 --> 0:14:01.839
<v Speaker 2>Santa Claus. I'm trying to get them enough to understand

0:14:02.160 --> 0:14:05.000
<v Speaker 2>who Santa Claus is, even though again they didn't really

0:14:05.320 --> 0:14:07.160
<v Speaker 2>All they needed to do is like type it into

0:14:07.200 --> 0:14:10.760
<v Speaker 2>the search box and give me the results. Continuing on

0:14:11.000 --> 0:14:15.320
<v Speaker 2>the subject of Santa's employment, Santa's employment has always been

0:14:15.400 --> 0:14:20.320
<v Speaker 2>judging the perceived goodness or badness of children, manufacturing toys

0:14:20.400 --> 0:14:24.400
<v Speaker 2>and other presents, and delivering the appropriate presence or coal

0:14:24.480 --> 0:14:27.760
<v Speaker 2>for those judge to be bad, and more generally to

0:14:27.840 --> 0:14:31.960
<v Speaker 2>the spreading of good cheer at Christmas. Santa also frequently

0:14:32.000 --> 0:14:35.560
<v Speaker 2>appears in advertisements and in popular films and TV shows.

0:14:36.160 --> 0:14:39.040
<v Speaker 2>A more cynical person, one we may commonly refer to

0:14:39.120 --> 0:14:42.720
<v Speaker 2>as a quote Scrooge or quote Grinch may say that

0:14:42.760 --> 0:14:46.280
<v Speaker 2>Santa's job has been to promote materialism, that Santa is

0:14:46.280 --> 0:14:48.800
<v Speaker 2>a tool to make poor children feel bad about themselves

0:14:48.840 --> 0:14:51.240
<v Speaker 2>as a result of the lesser volume of Christmas presents

0:14:51.320 --> 0:14:52.320
<v Speaker 2>or even no presence.

0:14:52.520 --> 0:14:56.080
<v Speaker 1>They often receive, Wow, you take this to another level,

0:14:56.440 --> 0:14:59.120
<v Speaker 1>Oh dude, Like if I'm in it, I'm in it.

0:14:58.600 --> 0:15:00.920
<v Speaker 2>You want me to tell you who Santa Claus is.

0:15:01.280 --> 0:15:04.000
<v Speaker 2>I'm going to tell you who Santa Claus is.

0:15:04.280 --> 0:15:06.560
<v Speaker 1>Oh man, this is a paper on Santa Claus. I

0:15:06.600 --> 0:15:06.960
<v Speaker 1>love it.

0:15:07.040 --> 0:15:09.240
<v Speaker 2>We're not even halfway through the letter yet, just so

0:15:09.360 --> 0:15:12.800
<v Speaker 2>you have a frame of reference, right, all right, So

0:15:13.040 --> 0:15:17.240
<v Speaker 2>I'm talking about Santa's jobs, and a cynical person may

0:15:17.240 --> 0:15:19.680
<v Speaker 2>say that he's a tool to make poor children feel

0:15:19.720 --> 0:15:22.200
<v Speaker 2>bad about themselves as a result of the lesser volume

0:15:22.200 --> 0:15:24.680
<v Speaker 2>of Christmas presents or even no presents they often see

0:15:24.960 --> 0:15:28.200
<v Speaker 2>ce eg Ruby SU's character in the film Christmas Vacation,

0:15:29.200 --> 0:15:32.520
<v Speaker 2>or that Santa Claus normalizes Christianity in America and others

0:15:32.560 --> 0:15:35.480
<v Speaker 2>people who do not celebrate Christmas, and that Santa Claus

0:15:35.480 --> 0:15:38.800
<v Speaker 2>teaches children to accept the modern surveillance state God.

0:15:39.520 --> 0:15:40.040
<v Speaker 1>That's good.

0:15:42.400 --> 0:15:45.760
<v Speaker 2>Still, other people believe that Santa Claus is taken away

0:15:45.760 --> 0:15:48.480
<v Speaker 2>from the quote true meaning of Christmas, which they could

0:15:48.480 --> 0:15:50.640
<v Speaker 2>tend to be a celebration of the birth of Jesus

0:15:50.720 --> 0:15:54.680
<v Speaker 2>Christ parentheses for your reference. Jesus Christ is a central

0:15:54.680 --> 0:15:57.480
<v Speaker 2>figure in Christianity, believed by Christians to be the son

0:15:57.520 --> 0:15:59.600
<v Speaker 2>of God who was born zero eight in Bethlehem.

0:15:59.640 --> 0:16:01.800
<v Speaker 1>To say, the world, I will be making a request

0:16:01.840 --> 0:16:06.280
<v Speaker 1>on Jesus Christ on December twenty fifth, please start processing that.

0:16:08.000 --> 0:16:09.800
<v Speaker 2>I mean, if they did know who Santa Claus, it

0:16:09.840 --> 0:16:11.560
<v Speaker 2>was fair for me to wonder if maybe they didn't

0:16:11.600 --> 0:16:13.560
<v Speaker 2>never heard of Jesus and so I'm going to go

0:16:13.640 --> 0:16:17.520
<v Speaker 2>in and just affirmatively address that now. Okay, Depending on

0:16:17.520 --> 0:16:20.400
<v Speaker 2>one's perspective, any of these might be considered Santa Claus's

0:16:20.560 --> 0:16:24.040
<v Speaker 2>quote unployment. FBI's letter also asked that identify incidents for

0:16:24.040 --> 0:16:26.520
<v Speaker 2>which I believe Santa Claus may have been investigated by

0:16:26.520 --> 0:16:30.640
<v Speaker 2>the FBI to my knowledge, despite what may be unauthorized

0:16:30.720 --> 0:16:34.920
<v Speaker 2>violations of US airspace, violations of eavesdropping and privacy laws

0:16:34.960 --> 0:16:38.720
<v Speaker 2>involving minor children, and the opportunity to use his annual

0:16:38.760 --> 0:16:47.640
<v Speaker 2>delivery run to just appreciate, give me a second, Oh

0:16:47.720 --> 0:16:51.560
<v Speaker 2>my god, and the opportunity to use his annual delivery

0:16:51.640 --> 0:16:55.840
<v Speaker 2>run to distribute narcotics manufactured byselves. The FBI has never

0:16:56.040 --> 0:16:58.920
<v Speaker 2>investigated Santa c Did you say that that's what that's

0:16:58.920 --> 0:17:03.680
<v Speaker 2>in your letter? That's what I said. Yes, I'm reading

0:17:03.720 --> 0:17:04.240
<v Speaker 2>you the letter.

0:17:04.359 --> 0:17:05.440
<v Speaker 1>That is amazing.

0:17:05.640 --> 0:17:08.359
<v Speaker 2>If I'm the FBI, I could think, hey, Santa Claus

0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:12.480
<v Speaker 2>could be a great comic for like narcotics distribution. All right,

0:17:12.560 --> 0:17:14.880
<v Speaker 2>we're coming to the end here. I hope this additional

0:17:14.880 --> 0:17:17.879
<v Speaker 2>information is useful. But to reiterate again, my request simply

0:17:17.880 --> 0:17:21.040
<v Speaker 2>seeks whatever records result from typing Santa Claus into whatever

0:17:21.119 --> 0:17:24.159
<v Speaker 2>search tool in the CRS the FBI uses to conduct

0:17:24.200 --> 0:17:27.360
<v Speaker 2>main file and cross reference searches. While there's been much

0:17:27.400 --> 0:17:30.639
<v Speaker 2>debate about whether Santa Claus is real, please note that,

0:17:30.680 --> 0:17:33.080
<v Speaker 2>because of the manner in which my request was phrased,

0:17:33.400 --> 0:17:36.720
<v Speaker 2>responding to the request does not require the FBI to

0:17:36.760 --> 0:17:40.880
<v Speaker 2>reach any conclusion or take any position on this controversial subject.

0:17:41.080 --> 0:17:43.960
<v Speaker 2>I asked that you reconsider your decision to administratively close

0:17:44.000 --> 0:17:47.679
<v Speaker 2>this request and run the searches. I requested happy holidays,

0:17:47.880 --> 0:17:48.520
<v Speaker 2>Matt topic.

0:17:48.720 --> 0:17:51.919
<v Speaker 1>Wow, you didn't say Merry Christmas. You said happy Holidays.

0:17:52.160 --> 0:17:55.399
<v Speaker 2>Well, I don't know what holidays they celebrate or not fair.

0:17:55.520 --> 0:17:57.240
<v Speaker 2>I'm a happy holidays person, you know.

0:17:57.560 --> 0:17:59.840
<v Speaker 1>I know I'm a happy holidays person.

0:17:59.880 --> 0:18:02.639
<v Speaker 2>To let the hate mail go ahead and start flowing

0:18:02.640 --> 0:18:06.160
<v Speaker 2>on in here. But like, I think, some people celebrate Christmas,

0:18:06.160 --> 0:18:09.040
<v Speaker 2>some people celebrate other holidays, some people don't celebrate anything.

0:18:09.119 --> 0:18:11.280
<v Speaker 2>So I think I prefer happy holities.

0:18:12.840 --> 0:18:15.600
<v Speaker 1>This is well. First of all, the letter I mean

0:18:15.720 --> 0:18:20.000
<v Speaker 1>needs to be framed. You gotta frame the FBI's response

0:18:20.320 --> 0:18:23.240
<v Speaker 1>to your request and then your letter next to it,

0:18:23.320 --> 0:18:28.200
<v Speaker 1>because it is not presented in any sarcastic way. I mean,

0:18:28.280 --> 0:18:32.000
<v Speaker 1>it is serious. They're like, okay, you need more info.

0:18:32.400 --> 0:18:35.719
<v Speaker 1>You got it, you asked, I answered, all right? Did

0:18:35.760 --> 0:18:36.400
<v Speaker 1>they respond?

0:18:36.560 --> 0:18:38.840
<v Speaker 2>So see what I'm doing here is instead of getting

0:18:39.280 --> 0:18:41.760
<v Speaker 2>to them, right, I'm just like, I'm gonna kill them

0:18:41.760 --> 0:18:44.040
<v Speaker 2>with kindness. Yeah, this is so to speak.

0:18:44.200 --> 0:18:46.200
<v Speaker 1>Did they respond? Okay?

0:18:46.840 --> 0:18:49.800
<v Speaker 2>December twenty second, twenty twenty three.

0:18:49.920 --> 0:18:51.919
<v Speaker 1>Oh, We'll getting up to the liar.

0:18:52.119 --> 0:18:57.160
<v Speaker 2>It's a Christmas miracle. It is a Christmas miracle because

0:18:57.359 --> 0:19:00.960
<v Speaker 2>they agree to reconsider. Oh my, I get a letter

0:19:01.000 --> 0:19:04.000
<v Speaker 2>from them. It says, we're reopening your requests in light

0:19:04.040 --> 0:19:06.760
<v Speaker 2>of the additional information that you have provide.

0:19:06.800 --> 0:19:09.680
<v Speaker 1>But there's only three days so Christmas.

0:19:09.040 --> 0:19:12.000
<v Speaker 2>I know, and I didn't get anything. I just got

0:19:12.040 --> 0:19:15.480
<v Speaker 2>their commitment that they were going to reopen it, and

0:19:15.520 --> 0:19:18.320
<v Speaker 2>they would see so apparently now that they've been properly

0:19:18.440 --> 0:19:20.120
<v Speaker 2>educated on who Santa Claus is.

0:19:20.119 --> 0:19:23.920
<v Speaker 1>Oh you men, Santa Claus, Like like really a Santa Claus.

0:19:24.040 --> 0:19:28.359
<v Speaker 1>Oh okay, wait, this is like, let's let's just stop

0:19:28.400 --> 0:19:30.920
<v Speaker 1>for a second here. This is a big deal, right.

0:19:31.119 --> 0:19:38.280
<v Speaker 1>Just getting the FBI to reconsider and saying, okay, we're

0:19:38.400 --> 0:19:42.160
<v Speaker 1>gonna reopen your request, we'll process it is a big

0:19:42.200 --> 0:19:46.760
<v Speaker 1>deal because they don't often do that unless a requester

0:19:47.000 --> 0:19:50.439
<v Speaker 1>actually provides them with that kind of info that you

0:19:50.720 --> 0:19:54.000
<v Speaker 1>that you sent them, right, And the reality is most

0:19:54.040 --> 0:19:56.880
<v Speaker 1>requesters will just kind of throw their hands up at it, right,

0:19:56.960 --> 0:19:59.560
<v Speaker 1>It's like too much work, not gonna do it. Yep.

0:19:59.760 --> 0:20:03.200
<v Speaker 1>This is why it's important when you're following a request

0:20:03.640 --> 0:20:06.760
<v Speaker 1>to just really follow it through to the end. Oh yeah,

0:20:07.160 --> 0:20:11.119
<v Speaker 1>even if the response is as ridiculous as please provide

0:20:11.200 --> 0:20:14.199
<v Speaker 1>us with Santa's date of birth and previous places of

0:20:14.240 --> 0:20:15.240
<v Speaker 1>employment and.

0:20:17.080 --> 0:20:20.240
<v Speaker 2>Why we might have been investigating him. Right, So December

0:20:20.280 --> 0:20:23.240
<v Speaker 2>twenty second, just a few days before Christmas, they tell

0:20:23.240 --> 0:20:27.120
<v Speaker 2>me they're gonna reconsider. So late January twenty twenty four,

0:20:27.880 --> 0:20:31.119
<v Speaker 2>I get a CD in the main and usually I

0:20:31.240 --> 0:20:34.920
<v Speaker 2>just get we get your CDs and then we load them.

0:20:34.880 --> 0:20:35.520
<v Speaker 1>Up and give them to you.

0:20:35.560 --> 0:20:38.120
<v Speaker 2>But like this one's to me, right, Like it's addressed

0:20:38.119 --> 0:20:41.720
<v Speaker 2>to me, Matthew Vincent Topic and Foyer requests number subjects

0:20:41.760 --> 0:20:44.400
<v Speaker 2>Santa Claus. And I get a letter and I get

0:20:44.440 --> 0:20:47.560
<v Speaker 2>a CD. All right, now I'm gonna read you from

0:20:47.560 --> 0:20:51.040
<v Speaker 2>the letter. Okay, dear Matthew Topic, The FBI has completed

0:20:51.080 --> 0:20:54.680
<v Speaker 2>its search for records subject to the Freedom of Information

0:20:54.760 --> 0:20:57.800
<v Speaker 2>Act that are responsive to your request. The enclosed twenty

0:20:57.840 --> 0:21:00.399
<v Speaker 2>five pages of records were determined to be respect to

0:21:00.440 --> 0:21:04.560
<v Speaker 2>your subject and were previously processed and released.

0:21:04.720 --> 0:21:10.640
<v Speaker 1>Well whoa, whoa, uh huh previously processed. Uh huh. All right,

0:21:10.760 --> 0:21:15.800
<v Speaker 1>I'm like I definitely feel my blood pot sure, yeah,

0:21:15.840 --> 0:21:17.920
<v Speaker 1>starting to increase on this one there.

0:21:18.040 --> 0:21:18.840
<v Speaker 2>Now they're taunting me.

0:21:18.960 --> 0:21:23.040
<v Speaker 1>Now, yeah, this is they're with you. First of all,

0:21:23.440 --> 0:21:26.920
<v Speaker 1>they had previously processed records for Santa Claus. And they

0:21:27.000 --> 0:21:30.520
<v Speaker 1>respond to you with we need more info when they

0:21:30.680 --> 0:21:34.760
<v Speaker 1>actually previously processed records and they didn't even conduct a

0:21:34.840 --> 0:21:38.000
<v Speaker 1>new search, right, That's not what I asked for.

0:21:38.600 --> 0:21:41.800
<v Speaker 2>And I don't think there was a prior Santa Claus request.

0:21:41.960 --> 0:21:44.159
<v Speaker 2>I think they just went to the database of records

0:21:44.200 --> 0:21:47.480
<v Speaker 2>they previously released. They searched for Santa Claus, right, and

0:21:47.520 --> 0:21:48.240
<v Speaker 2>they gave me the hit.

0:21:48.400 --> 0:21:49.120
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, so they.

0:21:49.000 --> 0:21:51.600
<v Speaker 2>Did the right search in the wrong place. I didn't

0:21:51.640 --> 0:21:55.000
<v Speaker 2>want preprocessed stuff. I wanted to see what did they

0:21:55.600 --> 0:21:59.320
<v Speaker 2>tag in the CRS on the search term Santa Claus.

0:21:59.400 --> 0:22:03.040
<v Speaker 1>This is exact, Athlete, what the FBI did to Attorney

0:22:03.119 --> 0:22:06.320
<v Speaker 1>General Pam Bondi when she requested ESDN five.

0:22:06.440 --> 0:22:08.160
<v Speaker 2>That's exactly what happened.

0:22:09.080 --> 0:22:12.280
<v Speaker 1>This is exactly what the FBI did. They gave her

0:22:12.359 --> 0:22:13.920
<v Speaker 1>preprocessed records.

0:22:14.119 --> 0:22:15.760
<v Speaker 2>I wonder I should tell her about this.

0:22:15.840 --> 0:22:18.439
<v Speaker 1>She might be like, yeah, she might be sympathetic, but

0:22:18.480 --> 0:22:19.920
<v Speaker 1>that's what the FBI does.

0:22:20.680 --> 0:22:23.399
<v Speaker 2>There should really be an inspector general investigation into how

0:22:23.400 --> 0:22:24.440
<v Speaker 2>they handled this request.

0:22:24.480 --> 0:22:25.119
<v Speaker 1>In my opinion.

0:22:25.200 --> 0:22:27.359
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, So the letter goes on, in an effort to

0:22:27.400 --> 0:22:30.639
<v Speaker 2>provide you with responsive records as expeditiously as possible, we

0:22:30.680 --> 0:22:34.480
<v Speaker 2>are releasing documents from previous requests regarding your subject. We

0:22:34.560 --> 0:22:38.359
<v Speaker 2>consider your requests fulfilled. And then they're saying, if I

0:22:38.400 --> 0:22:41.560
<v Speaker 2>want something else, then I have to make a new request,

0:22:41.960 --> 0:22:44.880
<v Speaker 2>which is just the classic. They're just they're going through

0:22:44.920 --> 0:22:48.320
<v Speaker 2>the whole playbook man of like of how to be difficult,

0:22:48.840 --> 0:22:50.560
<v Speaker 2>and then it's like you fight them on the first

0:22:50.560 --> 0:22:52.600
<v Speaker 2>one and then now it's now it's the next one.

0:22:53.200 --> 0:23:06.160
<v Speaker 2>But I did get some documents.

0:23:00.160 --> 0:23:02.240
<v Speaker 1>Of all, what are these previously processed records?

0:23:02.440 --> 0:23:07.359
<v Speaker 2>So I get these preprocessed documents and a lot of

0:23:07.400 --> 0:23:11.200
<v Speaker 2>them have they have stamps on them that indicate certain

0:23:11.280 --> 0:23:15.760
<v Speaker 2>lawsuits that they were released like during those lawsuits you

0:23:15.760 --> 0:23:17.639
<v Speaker 2>probably never said on your documents that will have like

0:23:17.680 --> 0:23:20.399
<v Speaker 2>the you know, twenty three CV. Twelve twenty two or

0:23:20.400 --> 0:23:21.560
<v Speaker 2>whatever it is the case number.

0:23:21.640 --> 0:23:21.840
<v Speaker 1>Right.

0:23:21.920 --> 0:23:29.080
<v Speaker 2>Okay, So first item Chicago Sun Times Editorials, Thursday, December

0:23:29.160 --> 0:23:32.359
<v Speaker 2>twenty fifth, nineteen seventy five.

0:23:32.640 --> 0:23:34.960
<v Speaker 1>Not oh man, wow.

0:23:34.840 --> 0:23:36.240
<v Speaker 2>So this is a news clipping.

0:23:36.560 --> 0:23:38.560
<v Speaker 1>Okay, they do love their news clippings.

0:23:38.800 --> 0:23:42.159
<v Speaker 2>The headline is there's hope for Santa Claus, and then

0:23:42.200 --> 0:23:45.640
<v Speaker 2>it explains we've gotten letters from children asking the old

0:23:45.720 --> 0:23:48.320
<v Speaker 2>question is there a Santa Claus. It's tempting to give

0:23:48.359 --> 0:23:51.600
<v Speaker 2>the old answer, but we've been uneasy about that. Maybe

0:23:51.640 --> 0:23:55.040
<v Speaker 2>it's a little too unsophisticated. Anyway, they're sort of talking

0:23:55.080 --> 0:23:57.920
<v Speaker 2>about how to respond to the question of whether there's

0:23:58.040 --> 0:24:01.440
<v Speaker 2>Santa Claus in a Sun Times editorial, and they've only

0:24:01.440 --> 0:24:03.480
<v Speaker 2>given us the first page, so I don't know what

0:24:03.520 --> 0:24:06.240
<v Speaker 2>the rest of it says. But here is the super

0:24:06.280 --> 0:24:09.720
<v Speaker 2>interesting part of that. There's a note, a handwritten little

0:24:09.760 --> 0:24:13.119
<v Speaker 2>note that somebody puts in there. Okay, next to the

0:24:13.160 --> 0:24:17.439
<v Speaker 2>headline there's hope for Santa Claus, it says, correct, but

0:24:17.640 --> 0:24:21.359
<v Speaker 2>not for the Republican Party. Oh my god. Wow?

0:24:22.920 --> 0:24:28.280
<v Speaker 1>Wait, well wait what so this is obviously during Nixon's

0:24:28.280 --> 0:24:29.879
<v Speaker 1>tenure in office.

0:24:29.680 --> 0:24:34.760
<v Speaker 2>Nineteen seventy five, No, this would have been I think

0:24:35.119 --> 0:24:38.200
<v Speaker 2>Ford is wrapping up, right, So Nixon resigns in seventy four,

0:24:38.760 --> 0:24:41.760
<v Speaker 2>so Ford is in office, and you know, at this

0:24:41.840 --> 0:24:44.800
<v Speaker 2>point and somebody believes that, well there may be hope

0:24:44.840 --> 0:24:48.880
<v Speaker 2>for Santa Claus, there's no hope for the republic all yeah. Five.

0:24:49.119 --> 0:24:51.919
<v Speaker 1>We wait they added this to a file.

0:24:52.640 --> 0:24:56.320
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, Like, we don't know where this document originated. We

0:24:56.400 --> 0:24:58.320
<v Speaker 2>know that for some reason it was produced in this

0:24:58.400 --> 0:25:02.840
<v Speaker 2>other lawsuit. Yeah, as it turns out I went and

0:25:02.840 --> 0:25:05.840
<v Speaker 2>looked up the case number that stamped on it. It's

0:25:05.880 --> 0:25:06.760
<v Speaker 2>one of my cases.

0:25:06.880 --> 0:25:10.400
<v Speaker 1>Get out of here. Yeah yeah wait wait wait yeah,

0:25:10.560 --> 0:25:13.800
<v Speaker 1>so this was already released to you or your FIAT.

0:25:14.240 --> 0:25:16.600
<v Speaker 2>Well this, yeah, this had already been released to the

0:25:16.880 --> 0:25:20.960
<v Speaker 2>in This is page three and fourteen of a production

0:25:21.320 --> 0:25:22.200
<v Speaker 2>to a different client.

0:25:22.440 --> 0:25:25.840
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, okay, voluminous records. They are Church Committee. I mean

0:25:26.000 --> 0:25:28.639
<v Speaker 1>in seventy five. The Church Committee did issue their report

0:25:28.680 --> 0:25:29.640
<v Speaker 1>in nineteen seventy five.

0:25:30.440 --> 0:25:32.320
<v Speaker 2>I think that's what it is. We did a case

0:25:32.560 --> 0:25:35.880
<v Speaker 2>for Church Committee records, and I think that clipping for

0:25:35.920 --> 0:25:37.359
<v Speaker 2>some reason must have been in there.

0:25:37.720 --> 0:25:41.360
<v Speaker 1>And one of the revelations of the committee include Operation

0:25:41.600 --> 0:25:45.040
<v Speaker 1>mk Ultra, which involved the drugging of US citizens as

0:25:45.080 --> 0:25:47.119
<v Speaker 1>part of mind control human experiments.

0:25:47.560 --> 0:25:50.159
<v Speaker 2>I mean you could see how potentially they would recruit

0:25:50.200 --> 0:25:51.560
<v Speaker 2>Santa Claus into those kinds.

0:25:51.359 --> 0:25:55.159
<v Speaker 1>Of efforts, right, I mean, what a perfect cover too, Right,

0:25:55.200 --> 0:25:59.159
<v Speaker 1>I'm Santa Claus. You want to give children gifts and

0:25:59.200 --> 0:26:01.920
<v Speaker 1>sent them installing bugs in people's houses? Right, exactly?

0:26:02.359 --> 0:26:06.880
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, So that's document number one. Document number two. This

0:26:06.960 --> 0:26:10.359
<v Speaker 2>is it looks like a magazine article, So it's another

0:26:10.400 --> 0:26:13.960
<v Speaker 2>press clipping and it's called the CIA and the Sheik.

0:26:14.280 --> 0:26:18.920
<v Speaker 2>The agency coddled Omar abdel Rahman, allowing him to operate

0:26:18.960 --> 0:26:22.159
<v Speaker 2>in the US. Now this unholy alliance has blown up

0:26:22.200 --> 0:26:25.440
<v Speaker 2>in our faces. Now, this doesn't have a lawsuit number

0:26:25.480 --> 0:26:29.000
<v Speaker 2>on it, but it must have been produced in response

0:26:29.040 --> 0:26:32.080
<v Speaker 2>to somebody else's request. And it looks like the article

0:26:32.200 --> 0:26:35.280
<v Speaker 2>was published according to the little note they put on

0:26:35.400 --> 0:26:39.560
<v Speaker 2>here on March thirtieth, nineteen ninety three. So I did

0:26:39.560 --> 0:26:42.159
<v Speaker 2>a little research, and it looks like this article is

0:26:42.200 --> 0:26:45.720
<v Speaker 2>from the Village Voice and was written five weeks after

0:26:45.760 --> 0:26:49.320
<v Speaker 2>the nineteen ninety three World Trade Center bombing, and Omar

0:26:49.359 --> 0:26:52.879
<v Speaker 2>abdel Rahman that they're writing about was later convicted and

0:26:52.960 --> 0:26:56.680
<v Speaker 2>jailed for that. This article was thirteen pages long, which

0:26:56.720 --> 0:26:58.760
<v Speaker 2>is more than half of the twenty five pages the

0:26:58.840 --> 0:27:02.760
<v Speaker 2>FBI set me. Wow, so you're probably thinking, well, what

0:27:02.800 --> 0:27:04.560
<v Speaker 2>does this have to do with Santa Claus?

0:27:04.840 --> 0:27:07.880
<v Speaker 1>Right? Yeah? I was just going to say, what's the

0:27:07.920 --> 0:27:10.000
<v Speaker 1>Santa reference in that one? Yeah?

0:27:10.040 --> 0:27:15.040
<v Speaker 2>So you gotta go way deep into the document and

0:27:15.520 --> 0:27:19.000
<v Speaker 2>still going, still going here, we go, like, well into it,

0:27:19.000 --> 0:27:22.200
<v Speaker 2>it says the Sheikh then moved entirely to the El

0:27:22.280 --> 0:27:26.080
<v Speaker 2>Salam Mosque in Jersey City. The founder of the mosque

0:27:26.160 --> 0:27:31.480
<v Speaker 2>is Sultan Ibrahim el Gowali, a wealthy fifty five year

0:27:31.480 --> 0:27:34.920
<v Speaker 2>old Egyptian businessman who was convicted by a federal jury

0:27:34.960 --> 0:27:38.959
<v Speaker 2>in July nineteen eighty six for conspiring to export one

0:27:39.000 --> 0:27:41.840
<v Speaker 2>hundred and fifty pounds of Sea four plastic explosives to

0:27:41.920 --> 0:27:46.320
<v Speaker 2>Israel for use by the PLO in a Christmas bombing.

0:27:46.560 --> 0:27:52.520
<v Speaker 2>Oh Man El Gwali, who sports a full white Santa

0:27:52.560 --> 0:27:57.120
<v Speaker 2>Claus beer Ah, served eighteen months in prison before returning

0:27:57.119 --> 0:28:00.439
<v Speaker 2>to Jersey City. So that's all we got is a

0:28:00.520 --> 0:28:04.520
<v Speaker 2>reference to Santa Claus. So that's number two.

0:28:04.720 --> 0:28:07.120
<v Speaker 1>So wait, I just need to ask, are these all

0:28:07.200 --> 0:28:09.480
<v Speaker 1>news clippings? Is that what they essentially gave you.

0:28:10.119 --> 0:28:13.520
<v Speaker 2>Yes, everything is news clippings, which I find old news

0:28:13.520 --> 0:28:18.720
<v Speaker 2>clippings in government files to be really interesting, especially.

0:28:18.240 --> 0:28:21.840
<v Speaker 1>The ones where they do leave notations on the clippings.

0:28:21.920 --> 0:28:25.199
<v Speaker 1>Oh yeah, that's great, and have these handwritten notations and.

0:28:25.320 --> 0:28:29.240
<v Speaker 2>They think they're so funny. They just think they're so funny,

0:28:29.320 --> 0:28:34.840
<v Speaker 2>all right. Next up is a website called the Ruckus Society.

0:28:35.040 --> 0:28:37.919
<v Speaker 2>Well I like that, and it's an article from the

0:28:37.920 --> 0:28:41.760
<v Speaker 2>Saint Petersburg Times. The headline is a boot Camp for Rebellion.

0:28:41.800 --> 0:28:44.240
<v Speaker 2>It's from March of two thousand. It looks like it's

0:28:44.240 --> 0:28:47.360
<v Speaker 2>been republished on the Ruckus Society website, and for some

0:28:47.480 --> 0:28:50.280
<v Speaker 2>reason that we don't know, the FBI took some kind

0:28:50.280 --> 0:28:52.400
<v Speaker 2>of interest in this and put it in a file.

0:28:52.840 --> 0:28:54.880
<v Speaker 2>There's a line in here that I really like. These

0:28:54.920 --> 0:28:57.600
<v Speaker 2>spring Breakers aren't working on their tans. They're gathered along

0:28:57.640 --> 0:29:00.160
<v Speaker 2>the Peace River to learn how best to stage a protest.

0:29:00.800 --> 0:29:03.240
<v Speaker 2>So here's the Santa Claus reference. I heard this was

0:29:03.280 --> 0:29:06.080
<v Speaker 2>the place to be, said Sarah Austin, twenty one, who

0:29:06.120 --> 0:29:10.680
<v Speaker 2>with four fellow American University students, spent nineteen hours driving

0:29:10.760 --> 0:29:16.720
<v Speaker 2>a rattle trap van from Washington, DC. Austin had altered

0:29:16.800 --> 0:29:21.560
<v Speaker 2>a Santa Claus shirt to say I believe in sabotage

0:29:22.160 --> 0:29:24.760
<v Speaker 2>and plans to be part of the World Bank protest.

0:29:24.960 --> 0:29:26.720
<v Speaker 1>Next. Oh man, I thought I was going to say

0:29:26.800 --> 0:29:31.480
<v Speaker 1>I believe insane. I mean, if you're altering a Santa

0:29:31.480 --> 0:29:35.520
<v Speaker 1>Claus shirt, seems that you just rearrange the letters. Yeah,

0:29:35.560 --> 0:29:35.960
<v Speaker 1>all right.

0:29:36.080 --> 0:29:40.440
<v Speaker 2>So obviously those were interesting documents, but they still not

0:29:40.520 --> 0:29:43.280
<v Speaker 2>what I asked for, And the FBI insisted that if

0:29:43.280 --> 0:29:45.440
<v Speaker 2>I wanted something else, I had to make a new request,

0:29:45.480 --> 0:29:47.760
<v Speaker 2>which I shouldn't have had to do, but I did

0:29:47.760 --> 0:29:51.120
<v Speaker 2>it anyway, And at January thirtieth, twenty twenty four, I

0:29:51.160 --> 0:29:55.000
<v Speaker 2>make a new request for the five most recently dated

0:29:55.040 --> 0:29:58.560
<v Speaker 2>records resulting from a main file CRS index search for

0:29:58.600 --> 0:30:01.480
<v Speaker 2>the term Santa Claus. May limit this to ten pages.

0:30:02.080 --> 0:30:04.880
<v Speaker 2>The five most recently dated records resulting from a cross

0:30:04.880 --> 0:30:08.000
<v Speaker 2>reference CRS index search for the term Santa Claus. You

0:30:08.040 --> 0:30:11.280
<v Speaker 2>may limit this to thirty nine pages. So forty nine

0:30:11.280 --> 0:30:13.240
<v Speaker 2>total pages. Jason, what does that make you think of?

0:30:13.560 --> 0:30:15.760
<v Speaker 1>Oh, you're trying to keep it under fifty pages so

0:30:15.800 --> 0:30:19.320
<v Speaker 1>you can stay in what you might call the simple track,

0:30:20.160 --> 0:30:22.880
<v Speaker 1>which theoretically allows for faster processing.

0:30:23.160 --> 0:30:24.040
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, exactly.

0:30:24.560 --> 0:30:27.040
<v Speaker 1>You know. I'm like, let's keep the momentum going. Did

0:30:27.040 --> 0:30:30.240
<v Speaker 1>you tell them that you did not want previously processed

0:30:30.280 --> 0:30:32.160
<v Speaker 1>records or are you saying no?

0:30:32.400 --> 0:30:35.360
<v Speaker 2>I just said I want the records resulting from the

0:30:35.400 --> 0:30:38.400
<v Speaker 2>particular search that I asked for, which should be the

0:30:38.480 --> 0:30:41.080
<v Speaker 2>easiest way to make a request, And I'm expecting like, oh,

0:30:41.120 --> 0:30:44.440
<v Speaker 2>this should be pretty easy, right Nope. February twenty seventh,

0:30:44.440 --> 0:30:48.800
<v Speaker 2>twenty twenty four. Please be advised that unusual circumstances apply

0:30:48.880 --> 0:30:52.680
<v Speaker 2>to the processing of your request. Unusual circumstances include one

0:30:52.760 --> 0:30:54.960
<v Speaker 2>or more of the following scenarios and then like stuff

0:30:55.000 --> 0:30:58.880
<v Speaker 2>about searching and consulting. These unusual circumstances will delay our

0:30:58.880 --> 0:31:01.200
<v Speaker 2>ability to make it a term on your request within

0:31:01.240 --> 0:31:06.840
<v Speaker 2>twenty days. So they made this complicated. I indulged them

0:31:06.840 --> 0:31:09.400
<v Speaker 2>and made a new request, and then they hit me

0:31:09.480 --> 0:31:11.040
<v Speaker 2>with unusual circumstances.

0:31:11.080 --> 0:31:13.800
<v Speaker 1>This totally reminds me of what Mike Sarah was saying.

0:31:14.160 --> 0:31:16.960
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, Mike was on the episode previous to this when

0:31:17.000 --> 0:31:18.960
<v Speaker 2>he's a former FOY officer, and he talked a lot

0:31:19.000 --> 0:31:21.480
<v Speaker 2>about how FOY officers, if they don't have enough experience

0:31:21.560 --> 0:31:23.400
<v Speaker 2>or confidence, they're going to air on the side of

0:31:23.440 --> 0:31:27.440
<v Speaker 2>withholding documents instead of producing, which is exactly the opposite

0:31:27.440 --> 0:31:29.480
<v Speaker 2>of what the statue is supposed to make happen.

0:31:29.920 --> 0:31:32.160
<v Speaker 1>And that's exactly what happened here with your request to

0:31:32.200 --> 0:31:34.600
<v Speaker 1>the FBI. I mean, how long would it have taken

0:31:34.600 --> 0:31:36.360
<v Speaker 1>for them to do the search you outline.

0:31:36.240 --> 0:31:39.680
<v Speaker 2>Like, go to the search query box, type in Santa Claus,

0:31:39.840 --> 0:31:42.400
<v Speaker 2>press enter and look at the results. I mean, they

0:31:42.400 --> 0:31:43.800
<v Speaker 2>could have been done in like a minute.

0:31:44.000 --> 0:31:47.680
<v Speaker 1>The weird thing is that they went back and forth

0:31:47.720 --> 0:31:50.600
<v Speaker 1>with you with like a series of letters needing more information.

0:31:51.160 --> 0:31:54.200
<v Speaker 1>But that's why I also think or I made that comment, like,

0:31:54.240 --> 0:31:56.800
<v Speaker 1>I think they were messing with you because they send

0:31:56.840 --> 0:31:59.959
<v Speaker 1>you this letter. Maybe they didn't realize that you're an attorney.

0:32:00.520 --> 0:32:04.120
<v Speaker 1>They ask you for more info. They then get a

0:32:04.200 --> 0:32:08.960
<v Speaker 1>letter back providing them with more info. So they were

0:32:09.360 --> 0:32:15.480
<v Speaker 1>spending more time communicating with you than actually doing a

0:32:15.600 --> 0:32:18.360
<v Speaker 1>search and locating these documents.

0:32:18.720 --> 0:32:22.640
<v Speaker 2>Oh absolutely, I mean just reading my email took longer

0:32:22.640 --> 0:32:26.360
<v Speaker 2>than it would have taken to go just like run

0:32:26.400 --> 0:32:26.880
<v Speaker 2>this search.

0:32:27.440 --> 0:32:30.360
<v Speaker 1>The FBI did not respond to our request for comment.

0:32:31.040 --> 0:32:32.880
<v Speaker 1>But Matt, is something we need to get to the

0:32:32.920 --> 0:32:35.120
<v Speaker 1>bottom of. I mean, what if you find out that

0:32:35.360 --> 0:32:41.520
<v Speaker 1>the FBI has a pretty robust investigation into Chris Kringle

0:32:41.720 --> 0:32:43.120
<v Speaker 1>aka Santa Claus.

0:32:43.320 --> 0:32:45.800
<v Speaker 2>I mean, maybe they wanted to know is he real?

0:32:46.080 --> 0:32:49.840
<v Speaker 2>The FBI, for the benefit of our national security, may

0:32:49.880 --> 0:32:53.000
<v Speaker 2>feel they need to know that, Yeah, or maybe they

0:32:53.000 --> 0:32:55.680
<v Speaker 2>think he is some sort of a communist, you know,

0:32:55.760 --> 0:32:59.840
<v Speaker 2>agitator given toys to everyone who's good. I mean, come on,

0:33:00.080 --> 0:33:03.680
<v Speaker 2>that's just communism, Jason, it is, but it is a

0:33:03.720 --> 0:33:04.520
<v Speaker 2>good request.

0:33:04.760 --> 0:33:07.480
<v Speaker 1>It's worth it. I mean, if we sort of joke

0:33:07.560 --> 0:33:14.160
<v Speaker 1>about this, when someone prominent passes away suddenly, and you know,

0:33:14.200 --> 0:33:17.720
<v Speaker 1>my reaction is to immediately file request for their FBI file.

0:33:18.040 --> 0:33:22.720
<v Speaker 1>And certainly in some instances there are records that may

0:33:22.760 --> 0:33:27.640
<v Speaker 1>relate to an investigation or it's a cross reference file.

0:33:28.320 --> 0:33:33.280
<v Speaker 1>But there's also evidence showing that they just have files

0:33:33.320 --> 0:33:37.840
<v Speaker 1>on everyone, you know. Yes, yeah, and that's the reality.

0:33:38.000 --> 0:33:41.360
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, And that's why I am really eager to see

0:33:41.400 --> 0:33:45.120
<v Speaker 2>what do they have where they actually like we're focused

0:33:45.160 --> 0:33:47.880
<v Speaker 2>on Santa Claus at least as a cross reference, because

0:33:48.160 --> 0:33:51.560
<v Speaker 2>I mean, he sees you when you're sleeping, he knows

0:33:51.600 --> 0:33:54.600
<v Speaker 2>when you're awake. You could see how maybe there's some

0:33:55.080 --> 0:33:58.160
<v Speaker 2>Santa Claus FBI collaboration that they just don't want us

0:33:58.200 --> 0:34:01.040
<v Speaker 2>to know about. I did eventually get a bounce back, Jason.

0:34:01.160 --> 0:34:03.360
<v Speaker 2>Let me let me tell you about it. Dear Matthew topic.

0:34:03.760 --> 0:34:06.480
<v Speaker 2>This is in response to your Freedom of Information Privacy

0:34:06.520 --> 0:34:10.600
<v Speaker 2>Act FOIPA request. Based on the information you provided, we

0:34:10.640 --> 0:34:14.920
<v Speaker 2>conducted a main and reference entity record search of the

0:34:14.960 --> 0:34:18.920
<v Speaker 2>Central Record system per our standard search policy. However, we

0:34:18.920 --> 0:34:23.640
<v Speaker 2>were unable to identify records subject to the FOIPA that

0:34:23.719 --> 0:34:28.160
<v Speaker 2>are responsive to the request. Therefore your request is being closed,

0:34:28.239 --> 0:34:30.920
<v Speaker 2>and then some like additional verbiage after that.

0:34:31.440 --> 0:34:33.319
<v Speaker 1>Okay, can I just stop you for a second. Here

0:34:34.160 --> 0:34:38.320
<v Speaker 1>they said we conducted a main and cross reference search

0:34:38.680 --> 0:34:42.759
<v Speaker 1>per our standard search policy. That is not usually their

0:34:42.800 --> 0:34:47.239
<v Speaker 1>standard search policy. Sometimes they will say we've conducted a

0:34:47.280 --> 0:34:50.080
<v Speaker 1>main file search, and if you want a cross reference search,

0:34:50.640 --> 0:34:53.040
<v Speaker 1>you know you got to then request it all over again.

0:34:53.280 --> 0:34:55.640
<v Speaker 2>Wait are you saying they might still be messing with

0:34:55.680 --> 0:34:58.240
<v Speaker 2>me and that they never actually did a cross reference search.

0:34:58.560 --> 0:35:00.960
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, so I would appeal this.

0:35:01.560 --> 0:35:03.719
<v Speaker 2>So there's one other thing here though, too that it

0:35:03.760 --> 0:35:08.560
<v Speaker 2>says they were unable to identify records subject to the FOIPA,

0:35:08.719 --> 0:35:11.760
<v Speaker 2>so subject to FOYA. So there is this quirky little

0:35:11.760 --> 0:35:16.160
<v Speaker 2>provision that says if revealing the existence of records would

0:35:16.200 --> 0:35:19.839
<v Speaker 2>jeopardize an investigation, they can just say that there are

0:35:19.880 --> 0:35:22.120
<v Speaker 2>no records. They don't even have to do a regular

0:35:22.200 --> 0:35:24.480
<v Speaker 2>glomar and say we can't admit or deny. They just

0:35:24.560 --> 0:35:28.080
<v Speaker 2>can kind of treat them like they don't exist. So

0:35:28.840 --> 0:35:32.640
<v Speaker 2>it could be that there are records about Santa but

0:35:32.719 --> 0:35:36.479
<v Speaker 2>they're using that provision because they do not want Santa

0:35:36.520 --> 0:35:39.360
<v Speaker 2>Claus to know that they're hot on his trail. We

0:35:39.400 --> 0:35:42.200
<v Speaker 2>can't rule that possibility out, Like, we literally cannot rule

0:35:42.239 --> 0:35:43.319
<v Speaker 2>that possibility yet.

0:35:43.320 --> 0:35:47.080
<v Speaker 1>I mean, these are tumultuous times. Who knows what will

0:35:47.120 --> 0:35:51.040
<v Speaker 1>happen uh this Christmas with Santa. You know, he may

0:35:51.040 --> 0:35:55.120
<v Speaker 1>get busted for going into people's houses. This DOJ will.

0:35:55.000 --> 0:35:59.440
<v Speaker 2>Not tolerate breaking an entering by people, by communists dressed

0:35:59.440 --> 0:36:02.640
<v Speaker 2>in red delivering toys to people who didn't pay for that, Like,

0:36:02.920 --> 0:36:03.279
<v Speaker 2>what is.

0:36:03.239 --> 0:36:08.680
<v Speaker 1>This socialistic thing that's going on here? Also terriffs? Can

0:36:08.719 --> 0:36:11.400
<v Speaker 1>we just like say that, like, you know, toys are expensive?

0:36:11.440 --> 0:36:13.600
<v Speaker 1>Now is a tariff? I don't know how san is

0:36:13.920 --> 0:36:15.240
<v Speaker 1>gonna do it?

0:36:15.840 --> 0:36:18.160
<v Speaker 2>Get you go underneath the tree, there's a box, but

0:36:18.160 --> 0:36:22.160
<v Speaker 2>then there's also like four thousand dollars tariff charge.

0:36:22.239 --> 0:36:25.160
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, sorry kids this year, you're gonna have to pay me.

0:36:25.640 --> 0:36:26.000
<v Speaker 1>All right.

0:36:26.040 --> 0:36:29.080
<v Speaker 2>Well, as always is the case with us, one thing

0:36:29.160 --> 0:36:31.879
<v Speaker 2>leads to another thing leads to another thing. So we'll

0:36:31.880 --> 0:36:32.839
<v Speaker 2>see what we turn up.

0:36:33.400 --> 0:36:36.359
<v Speaker 1>All right. Happy holidays, brother, Happy holidays.

0:36:36.719 --> 0:36:37.680
<v Speaker 2>See all in the new year.

0:36:38.040 --> 0:36:47.200
<v Speaker 1>Watch this space from Bloomberg and no smiling. This is disclosure.

0:36:47.680 --> 0:36:50.920
<v Speaker 1>The show is hosted by Matt Topic and me Jason Leopold.

0:36:51.320 --> 0:36:54.800
<v Speaker 1>It's produced by Heather Schroing and Sean Cannon for No Smiling.

0:36:55.120 --> 0:36:59.000
<v Speaker 1>Our editor for Bloomberg is Jeff Brocott. Our executive producers

0:36:59.000 --> 0:37:03.960
<v Speaker 1>for Bloomberg Sagebauman and me Jason Leopold, and our executive

0:37:04.000 --> 0:37:07.680
<v Speaker 1>producers for No Smiling are Sean Cannon, Heather Schrowing and

0:37:07.760 --> 0:37:12.000
<v Speaker 1>Matt Topic. The disclosure theme song is by Nick, with

0:37:12.080 --> 0:37:16.680
<v Speaker 1>additional music by Nick An Epidemic sound sound design and

0:37:16.760 --> 0:37:20.719
<v Speaker 1>mixing is by Sean Cannon. For more transparency news and

0:37:20.800 --> 0:37:24.600
<v Speaker 1>important document dumps, you can subscribe to my Weeklyfoya Files

0:37:24.640 --> 0:37:30.600
<v Speaker 1>newsletter at Bloomberg dot com slash Foya Files. That's Foia Files.

0:37:31.280 --> 0:37:34.520
<v Speaker 1>To get every episode early on Apple Podcasts, become a

0:37:34.520 --> 0:37:38.279
<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg dot com subscriber today. Check out our special intro

0:37:38.400 --> 0:37:42.120
<v Speaker 1>offer right now at Bloomberg dot com Slash podcast offer,

0:37:42.400 --> 0:37:44.680
<v Speaker 1>or click the link in the show notes. You'll also

0:37:44.760 --> 0:37:49.120
<v Speaker 1>unlock deep reporting data and analysis from reporters around the world.

0:37:49.560 --> 0:37:58.439
<v Speaker 1>We'll see you again next Tuesday, Matt. I don't think

0:37:58.440 --> 0:38:02.400
<v Speaker 1>I've ever received an invite to that holiday office party.

0:38:02.440 --> 0:38:03.880
<v Speaker 2>You might be a little cold for you, but I

0:38:03.920 --> 0:38:04.680
<v Speaker 2>would love to have you.

0:38:05.000 --> 0:38:07.600
<v Speaker 1>I mean, I probably would decline, but you know, I

0:38:07.640 --> 0:38:11.040
<v Speaker 1>would like the invite, so that's that's okay.

0:38:11.239 --> 0:38:12.080
<v Speaker 2>You got it, buddy,