The Institutional Fingerprint of the FBI Russia-Gate File
The first page of the FBI FOIA release does not describe allegations, interviews, or investigative findings. Instead, it documents the institutional architecture of the file itself.
At first glance, the opening page of the FBI FOIA release appears to be routine administrative paperwork.
It is not.
The FBI’s processing sheet documents:
- 47 fully deleted pages within an approximately 150-page FOIA release,
- multiple “Referral/Consult” blocks,
- duplicate-page clusters,
- and shifting exemption patterns across the file itself.
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Early portions of the file repeatedly invoke:
- b7D — confidential source
- b7E — investigative methods/procedures
Under FOIA, b7D is used to protect confidential-source information and protected source relationships. The FBI’s Deleted Page Information Sheet reflects repeated use of b7D across portions of the early file.
Later portions of the file repeatedly invoke:
- b5 — deliberative process
Unlike b7D, b5 protects:
- internal analysis,
- recommendations,
- evaluative discussion,
- and institutional/government deliberation.
The exemption pattern changes across the file.
The structure is also notable. The release begins with “Referral/Consult” processing blocks and later returns to an additional “Referral/Consult” section near the end of the file, suggesting that multiple institutional or agency equities were implicated within the responsive records.
Separate HHS-OIG records later produced through FOIA documented overlapping investigative activity involving University of Michigan Radiology, MiChart/upcoding allegations, NIH Grant R01 NS082304, and subsequent federal investigative memoranda. Notably, an October 6, 2017 HHS-OIG Investigative Memorandum separately stated that HHS-OIG was the “sole investigating agency at this time,” a chronology later placed in additional context by the subsequent FBI records released through FOIA.
Together, the released FBI and HHS-OIG records reflect parallel institutional and federal record systems intersecting across FBI, HHS-OIG, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Police Department, and related investigative channels.
The fingerprint is structural. Related chronology and contemporaneous records are summarized in the executive summary page.
Document: FBI FOIA processing sheet from the litigated Russia-Gate file release.
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Brad Foerster, MD PhD
Brad Foerster is a FOIA advocate documenting requests, transparency disputes, and accountability investigations involving public agencies, universities, police oversight, and Russia-Gate related inquiries. His work compiles original documents, timelines, and analysis of public records and institutional responses. Brad is also a board-certified radiologist, author of Town & Gown, and has published over 40 peer-reviewed articles. Brad lives in Potomac, Maryland with his family and is active in the Montgomery County Medical Society and the Takoma Park U.S. & World History Book Club.