Where in the world was Michael Chertoff on August 30, 2005, as Hurricane Katrina was devastating the Gulf Coast?

To answer that question CREW filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the Department of Homeland Security seeking, among other documents, calendar entries for Secretary Chertoff.

In response, the agency produced pages and pages of calendar entries with one curious omission: August 30, 2005.

When pressed by CREW, the agency purportedly redoubled its search, but still came up empty handed. The best it could do was a record of a meeting that it claimed Secretary Chertoff had in Atlanta with the Center for Disease Control and an event with FEMA employees; the document, however, does not even mention the Secretary by name or title.

So once again CREW has to ask: Just where was Michael Chertoff on August 30, 2005, and what exactly is the agency trying to hide about his whereabouts?