Going back and forth with authorities, what now?

[mrmunchkins4]

What is the name of your state?
Virginia

So basically some background.
I was alleged to have joined a shady group chat for something related to financial fraud and my information was subpoenaed and retrieved according to an insider credible source. I want to find out which agency, so I'm currently head to head with my telecom company to be transparent on whether a law enforcement agency ever tried to obtain my personal information. I went back and forth, filed TONS of complaints against telecom, and they refuse to provide any response about my information being transferred to law enforcement. They promise to be transparent, and under the wire act or telecommunications act, I can request for anything relative to my PII. I am thinking of filing an injunction or court order to force them to turn over that information.
Anyways, using the powers of FOIA and PA, I FOIA'd DOJ Attorney's office. Nothing came up. I FOIA'd the FBI. They claim to have no criminal investigative records on me. I FOIA'd the Secret Service, the same thing. I am thinking, does Homeland Security investigate this kind of thing, where they set up honeypots for illegal group chats?
The last thing I recently did was sent FOIA to the DOJ NCIC program to tell me if anyone tried to run my personal information through NCIC via personal lookup requests, but they claim criminal justice information system requests are exempt, and my request is considered internal protocol anyhow, so my FOIA was denied.
I've spent 6 months going back and forth with authorities. I think at this point I'm going to focus on telecom for now. I want to find out which agency, and background behind their investigation. It's my choice, don't talk me down into telling me I'm wasting my time. Only productive advise here. What FOIA/PA can I use at my disposal to get more information or leads on which agency investigated me?

FYI: I am not at risk of being arrested. The case is closed and this was a while ago.

 

[Taxing Matters]

First under that the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the federal Privacy Act (PA) only apply to records in the hand of federal government agencies and that under FOIA and PA there is a law enforcement exception that agencies my rely upon to refuse to release certain records of investigations that the agency is or has undertaken. I don't know how you can declare the case was closed long ago if you don't even know the agency involved. You cannot get state or local government records under the federal FOIA or PA.

Second, subpoenas are only valid when issued as part of a court case that you are involved in. And for a subpoena to a federal agency to be enforceable the subpoena must come from a federal court. So what federal court case did you have that would allow for issuing a subpoena for these records? Note that you could not issue a valid subpoena in a FOIA or PA case for the records that are at issue in that case. That's because the issue in the case is whether or not the agency must release the requested records and you can't get around that by trying to subpoena the records. You have to make your case that the agency was required by FOIA or the PA to release them and that the agency wrongfully withheld them. If you win, then the court orders the release and you don't need a subpoena. If you lose then you weren't entitled to the records i nteh first place and cannot obtain them through the back door by subpoena.

As for the telecom company, it is not obligated to release anything to you unless there is a law or court order that compels the company to do it. Note that depending on the authority under which the agency compelled the release of records from the telecom company it may be prohibited from disclosing the information or even telling you that it got a request for the information.

What FOIA/PA can I use at my disposal to get more information or leads on which agency investigated me?

If it was a federal law enforcement agency then to get records from the agency you are limited to the FOIA and PA, and you have to make the request to each agency that might have the records. There is no central agency to which you can make the request and have it ferret out for you which agency was the one who did the investigation. If the agency denies release of records based on a FOIA/PA exemption and you think the agency wrongfully applied the exemption you have to first exhaust the agency appeal of the denial, and then if that too is denied then you have to file a lawsuit in federal district court to get the court to order the release of the records. Again, in that process a subpoena would not work and would be inappropriate.

The only other route to get the records would be through discovery if you were suing the federal agency and the records were relevant to the lawsuit. Of course, that would mean that you would have to know the federal agency involved AND have a valid cause of action against the agency.

 

[mrmunchkins4]

First under that the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the federal Privacy Act (PA) only apply to records in the hand of federal government agencies and that under FOIA and PA there is a law enforcement exception that agencies my rely upon to refuse to release certain records of investigations that the agency is or has undertaken. I don't know how you can declare the case was closed long ago if you don't even know the agency involved. You cannot get state or local government records under the federal FOIA or PA.

Second, subpoenas are only valid when issued as part of a court case that you are involved in. And for a subpoena to a federal agency to be enforceable, the subpoena must come from a federal court. So what federal court case did you have that would allow for issuing a subpoena for these records? Note that you could not issue a valid subpoena in a FOIA or PA case for the records that are at issue in that case. That's because the issue in the case is whether or not the agency must release the requested records and you can't get around that by trying to subpoena the records. You have to make your case that the agency was required by FOIA or the PA to release them and that the agency wrongfully withheld them. If you win, then the court orders the release and you don't need a subpoena. If you lose then you weren't entitled to the records i nteh first place and cannot obtain them through the back door by subpoena.

As for the telecom company, it is not obligated to release anything to you unless there is a law or court order that compels the company to do it. Note that depending on the authority under which the agency compelled the release of records from the telecom company it may be prohibited from disclosing the information or even telling you that it got a request for the information.



If it was a federal law enforcement agency then to get records from the agency you are limited to the FOIA and PA, and you have to make the request to each agency that might have the records. There is no central agency to which you can make the request and have it ferret out for you which agency was the one who did the investigation. If the agency denies release of records based on a FOIA/PA exemption and you think the agency wrongfully applied for the exemption you have to first exhaust the agency appeal of the denial, and then if that too is denied then you have to file a lawsuit in federal district court to get the court to order the release of the records. Again, in that process, a subpoena would not work and would be inappropriate.

The only other route to get the records would be through discovery if you were suing the federal agency and the records were relevant to the lawsuit. Of course, that would mean that you would have to know the federal agency involved AND have a valid cause of action against the agency.

My bad. I didn't clarify things at all. Let me reword what I meant.

1. I sent a FOIA request, not a subpoena. I understand FOIA/PA is a federal subject matter. This incident happened nearly on or about 2 years ago.
2. These agencies, if the case is cold, and there is no risk of jeopardizing an active criminal investigation, can release valuable information about a closed investigation. The FBI, Secret Service, DOJ all sent back an official letter saying they had no records in their databases of ever investigating me.
3. Telecommunications providers are required to notify and release information pertaining to the subscriber according to the Telecommunications act. This includes all third parties, except when in their not allowed to by law, such as Virginia and I think federal law, a 90-day rule is applied to prohibit disclosure to the subscriber for remote computer and service provider companies in order to protect the proceedings of a criminal investigation.
4. I contacted Verizon Executive Relations. They had the legal team review my complaint and forwarded a final response through executive relations. They will not acknowledge whether they received legal processes by law enforcement. They are non-compliant.
5. I reported Telecommunications provider to FCC, attorney general and around 5 other government utility regulator companies across America who agreed to take my case and informally forward my complaint to Verizon. They responded to my complaint in the same way they did previously, and with the same generic front, they will not release related law enforcement records or acknowledgment that such records exist.
6. To proceed with a shortcut, I tried submitting a request via FOIA/PA for audit logs of any authorized criminal justice agent who used my personal identifiers. This request was rightfully denied as an internal protocol. I uploaded the letter as a reference.
7. I am considering, through the privacy policy of Verizon promising to release PII related requests, a special performance or injunction court order to release such records, through subpoena powers or mandated by a legal process when I commence a lawsuit.
8. I am further considering a formal complaint to the FCC commissioner, who can fine and forcefully through administrative powers honor my request under explicit granted executive powers through the Telecommunications Act.
9. My relief is to simply find out which agency was responsible behind this. I'm frustrated, I'm curious, and I'm relentless, and won't give up.

I hope I clarified my post better. It may be seen as more clear and concise, and more understanding of my background and situation.

Attached:
(Removed by moderator)

 

[cbg]

https://forum.freeadvice.com/threads/internet-service-provider-disclosing-that-they-received-legal-process.657725/#post-3673242

 

[mrmunchkins4]

https://forum.freeadvice.com/threads/internet-service-provider-disclosing-that-they-received-legal-process.657725/#post-3673242

That post explained things terribly. I am essentially covering all grounds here. I have nothing against ISP, I actually explained in more detail and truth what is happening and my need to resolve it.

 

[cbg]

It is nonetheless relevant information.

 

[mrmunchkins4]

It is nonetheless relevant information.

While relevant, many things in this post are unaddressed. Mny questions to answer here.

 

[Zigner]

Please keep your related (and, essentially, alike) questions in your original thread.

 

[mrmunchkins4]

Please keep your related (and, essentially, alike) questions in your original thread.

I made a new one because I felt the focus on my older post was confusing, so I deleted it. Could this post be visible so I can get valuable input to help with my discovery for my request?

 

[Zigner]

I made a new one because I felt the focus on my older post was confusing, so I deleted it. Could this post be visible so I can get valuable input to help with my discovery for my request?

After all those nice volunteers spent so much time advising you, you simply DELETED the thread? So, why should anyone put any additional energy in to answering THIS thread? I mean, when you get answers you don't like, you'll simply delete again. What a waste.

 

[mrmunchkins4]

After all those nice volunteers spent so much time advising you, you simply DELETED the thread? So, why should anyone put any additional energy in to answering THIS thread? I mean, when you get answers you don't like, you'll simply delete again. What a waste.

I kept those in memory. I put new variables, addressed the root of the concern, and just more information to go off of to solve my problem then specifically focusing on telecom.

 

[NeilTheCop]

Put this in memory.
On the internet, or on any form of electronic communication, such as social media, there is no such thing as 'private'.

 

[mrmunchkins4]

Put this in memory.
On the internet, or on any form of electronic communication, such as social media, there is no such thing as 'private'.

I didn't try to make anything private. I just needed to solve an issue.

 

[Zigner]

Please take your concern to an attorney.