I don't know where they would have gotten the impression that there was a chill, because the handling of their requests was still consistent with the handling of all our requests. That could well have been their interpretation of the material when they got it, but I can assure you that there has not been any change of attitude inside my department with respect to handling these requests.
I can't speak for them, of course. They may have other evidence on the matter that they feel is important, and I wouldn't wish to presume anything about that.