Free Status Report - District Court of Federal Claims - federal

Case 1:97-cv-00579-MCW

Document 148-2

Filed 10/31/2007

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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS SGS-92-X003 Plaintiff, ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

No. 97-579C (Judge Williams)

v. THE UNITED STATES Defendant

DECLARATION OF RONALD J. PLAVCHAN I, Ronald J. Plavchan, make the following declaration in accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 1746. I am aware that this declaration will be used in the United States Court of Federal Claims, and that this declaration is the legal equivalent to a statement under oath. 1. I am the Senior Archivist in the Departmental Executive Secretariat for

the United States Department of Justice ("the Department"). I hold a Ph.D. in History from St. Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri. I have been an archivist in the Executive Secretariat since 1988. 2. The responsibilities of the Departmental Executive Secretariat include

tracking and controlling correspondence to and from the Offices of the Attorney General, the Deputy Attorney General and the Associate Attorney General, (collectively, "the leadership offices"). This correspondence is referred to as controlled correspondence. These records are permanent records of the United States. The Executive Secretariat is responsible for preparing these files for retention and ultimate transfer to the National Archives.

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3.

I and the other archivist in the Departmental Executive Secretariat also

have responsibility with respect to the files of individual officers and staff who have served in the leadership offices. As Senior Archivist, I am responsible for preparing all of the office files of the senior officials in the leadership offices and processing them for ultimate deposit in the National Archives. 4. On October 15, 2007, the Departmental Executive Secretariat received a

copy of the Court's Order filed September 26, 2007, in which the Court ordered Defendant to conduct a search for Sensitive Activities Review Commission ("SARC") documents from the Office of the Attorney General pertaining to "the Princess" or "Operation Princess" during the time period from December 1991 through December 1996. 5. After receiving and reviewing the Court's Order, I searched the index of

the controlled correspondence and the indices of the office files of Attorneys General William Barr and Janet Reno and their professional staffs. In searching these indices for potentially responsive documents, I used the following search terms: Operation Princess; Princess; SGS-92-X003; [redacted: name of SGS-92-X003]; GS 92-X033; SARC; and the Sensitive Activities Review Committee. 6. The index for controlled correspondence for the period from 1991 to 1996

is maintained electronically in a Records Management Systems ("RMS") database. In the electronic index in the RMS database, I located one potentially responsive document using the search term "SARC." I then obtained and reviewed a hard copy of the document and determined that the document is not responsive to the Court's Order in that it does not pertain to Operation Princess, but instead pertains to another DEA operation.

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7.

With respect to the office files of Attorneys General Barr and Reno and

their staffs, I first reviewed the Department's records in order to identify the individuals who served in a professional capacity as counselors to Attorneys General Barr or Reno. I determined that the Department has the files of six (6) individuals who served Attorney General Barr during the time period from December 1991 to January 1993, and of 15 individuals who served Attorney General Reno between March 1993 and December 1996. 8. The files of Attorneys General Barr and Reno and members of their

professional staffs are organized and indexed by subject matter, and there are separate indices for unclassified and classified files. I reviewed the paper indices of both classified and unclassified files for any office files kept by Attorneys General Barr and Reno whose subject matter descriptions suggested that the files might include documents responsive to the Court's Order. I did the same for the indices of the office files kept by members of their respective staffs. I found that none of the files contained any mentions of, or references to, the terms I was requested to search. 9. Approximately twenty (20) office file folders bore titles, which suggested

that the folders might possibly contain documents related to drugs or DEA operations. I reviewed the documents contained in each of those file folders individually, page by page. I found that none of the documents contained any mentions of, or references to, the terms I was requested to search. 10. Finally, with regard to the files of Attorney General Janet Reno, I searched

five (5) accordion file folders containing Ms. Reno's handwritten notes. I reviewed these

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notes page by page, and found that they contained no mentions of, or references to, "the Princess," "Operation Princess," or any of the other terms I was requested to search. I have read the foregoing declaration consisting of ten numbered paragraphs, and I certify under penalty of perjury that the declaration is true and correct.

Executed on this 30th day of October, 2007

s/ Ronald J. Plavchan Ronald J. Plavchan

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