Documents / FOIA release
This AARO FOIA release, reviewed for release on 27 March 2025, is built around a 8 January 2024 memorandum for record. The memo describes AARO's repeated efforts from June 2023 to January 2024 to interview David Grusch for its Historical Record Report. It says Grusch agreed to an interview on 14 November 2023 but did not appear, citing security concerns. The release also includes supporting emails and text messages, including exchanges with Chris Mellon, plus DoD and ODNI memos authorizing disclosures to AARO.
On Tue. Nov 14. 2023. 5:37 Ad (b)(6) (b)(6) wrote: Mr. Grusch, The law is clear in that we can receive information at all classification levels. We can discuss when you come in. - From: David Grusch1Tb)(6) ST: Monday. November 13. 2023 12:24:06 PM (b)(6) (b)(6) Subject: Re: Contact Request Good Morning (b)(6) Thank you for sending these items. As a former agency-level SAPMO and CAPCO I take security policies very seriously. In the DoD SAPCO memo, the term "UAP-related" is not defined. FY23 NDAA Sec. 1673 Subsection B defines it as the following: "any activity or program by a department or agency of the Federal Government or a contractor of such a department or agency relating to unidentified anomalous phenomena, including with respect to material retrieval, material analysis, reverse engineering, research and development, detection and tracking, developmental or operational testing, and security protections and enforcement." The key issue here is that many of these activities have conventional classified and compartmented Security Classification Guides that also cover non-UAP activities as well. To discuss the UAP-related activities would also expose these conventional SAP mission areas. An oral history interview subject must also be absolved of this obligation to protect this information as well, some of it may be bigoted or WAIVED (lAW DODI 5205.11 and 10 USC Sec 119). Furthermore, as discussed Friday, I am seeking a ODNI CAPCO determination to absolve an oral history interview subject of any NDA's relating to UAP-related and adjacent (as stated above) IC CAP information. Additionally, in my particular case, in order to horizontally protect a portion of my oral history testimony previously provided to ICIG and the intelligence committees, we would need to conduct the interview at the HCS-Operations (0) Restricted 4 AARO FY2024 NDAA 44 U.S.C. 2107 §1843(a)(3) Page determined to be Unclassified Reviewed by Chief of Staff, AARO IAW FY24 NDAA, Section 1841(a)(1)(C) Date: 03/27/2025 032
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FOIA release, from the aaro collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 26 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.