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Blunt
In a pique over allegations that Gov. Matt Blunt’s staff tried to destroy public records, the governor’s office Wednesday demanded copies of every e-mail and document to or from a state lawmaker for the last 5½ years.
The request came a day after the governor’s office demanded backup computer tapes of all e-mails from the attorney general’s office and two days after an independent investigative team sued Blunt to obtain computer backup tapes that contain e-mail messages deleted from the governor’s office computers.
The governor’s latest target is Rep. Jeff Harris, a Columbia Democrat now running for attorney general. Harris called the governor’s demand “a cheap political stunt” but said he would comply with the request as quickly as possible.
He said it apparently was prompted by a speech Harris made on the House floor Tuesday and his outspoken support for Missouri’s Sunshine Law.
“They obviously don’t want me to be attorney general,” Harris said. “I wear that as a badge of honor.”
In his speech, Harris noted the lawsuit filed Monday against the governor that outlined steps the governor’s staff took after learning that the Office of Administration maintained backup computer tapes of all e-mails to and from the governor’s office, even if the messages had been deleted from office computers.
The lawsuit, filed by independent investigators appointed by Attorney General Jay Nixon, said Blunt’s staff ordered two supervisors in the computer services division to have the backup tapes overwritten with other data, even though they were subject to a request under the Sunshine Law. The supervisors refused.
During debate on the Office of Administration’s budget, Harris brought up the lawsuit.
“This budget reminds us of the good work done by many state workers, including those supervisors who refused to delete e-mails that should be saved,” Harris said. “I want to commend them for their work.”
Off the floor, Harris said that if he were elected attorney general, he would continue to pursue Blunt’s refusal to turn over records, even if Blunt has left office.
“If it’s still unresolved at that time, I’d say we need to get to the bottom of it,” Harris said.
Blunt’s chief of staff, Trish Vincent, responded with a letter on Wednesday.
“In your campaign for attorney general,” the letter began, “you have announced your ardent support for Missouri’s Sunshine Act. I wanted to provide you with the opportunity to demonstrate that commitment by fulfilling the below open records request.”
The letter asked for copies of every e-mail sent to or from Harris’ office since January 2003; backup tapes for those same e-mails; every document created by him or his staff on state-owned computers; and every letter, message or other document received by him or his staff in the same time period.
Jessica Robinson, the governor’s spokeswoman, acknowledged that Vincent was not seeking any particular information about the way Harris has run his office.
“We’re interested in knowing whether Representative Harris has destroyed public records,” Robinson said. “This has everything to do with Harris purporting to be a champion of the Sunshine Law.”
Harris said he did not know whether the House computer staff maintained backup tapes of e-mail messages, but he planned to find out. He said the request was simply an attempt by Blunt to distract the media and the public from the actions of his staff and investigators’ lawsuit.
“I don’t think they are looking for anything,” Harris said of the governor’s letter. “I think they are just trying to burden me and make me spend time and taxpayers’ money to fulfill this request.”
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