November 12, 2008 [Edited on January 27, 2009, as noted]

TO:   Lewis Kamb, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
         Todd Bensman, San Antonio Express-News
         Nadja Drost, Albany Times Union
         Lise Olsen, Houston Chronicle
         Seth Rosenfeld, San Francisco Chronicle

FROM: Deron Smith: Edelman on behalf of the Boy Scouts of America 

RE: Response to various inquiries regarding the Boy Scouts of America

On behalf of the national council of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) I am writing you regarding the story you and several of your Hearst Newspapers colleagues are writing about the BSA. 

We very much welcome the opportunity to participate in this story and look forward to seeing the final product.  However, we do have several general concerns and some specific clarifications that we feel require your attention.

For the past six months we have responded to multiple requests and inquiries you and your team have made regarding the BSA.  In the past three months alone we have granted roughly 20 individual interviews, in writing and in person, at the local council and national council level and spent literally hundreds of hours preparing information in response to your investigation.