Wed, Oct 15 2008
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Published May 07, 2008 08:29 pm - The Sunshine Law is supposed to be a tool Missourians can use to inspect the work of their public officials. Gov. Matt Blunt’s office appears to be using the Sunshine Law as a weapon for badgering political opponents. In our view: Moves mock Sunshine Law The Sunshine Law is supposed to be a tool Missourians can use to inspect the work of their public officials. Gov. Matt Blunt’s office appears to be using the Sunshine Law as a weapon for badgering political opponents.
This week, Trish Vincent, Blunt’s chief of staff, announced that an open-records request was filed asking for a copy of every e-mail backup tape retained by Attorney General Jay Nixon’s office. The request was made, Vincent said, in response to Nixon’s “grandstanding.” “Given (Nixon’s) grandstanding and legal antics on the issue of e-mail, we would assume he has retained all of his e-mail backup tapes,” Vincent said in a press release. “So now we are asking him to produce every e-mail backup tape he and his office has retained.” The next day, Vincent issued a similar request to Rep. Jeff Harris, a Democratic candidate for attorney general, only for much more. The request to Harris’ office demands: Every e-mail sent to and from Harris’ state e-mail account since January 2003 as well as backup tapes from his e-mail account. Every document created on a state-owned computer in Harris’ office since January 2003. Every document regarding official duties received by Harris or his staff since January 2003. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, on its Political Fix blog, called the request made of Nixon a “not-so-subtle attempt to broaden the controversy over state e-mails.” If that’s true, and we believe it is, then the request of Harris is an attempt to make a mockery of Missouri’s Sunshine Law. Blunt is in trouble over this issue. An investigative team appointed by Nixon filed a lawsuit this week alleging that Blunt or his top staff members ordered backup tapes to be destroyed in order to avoid complying with an open-records request. The controversy surrounding former Blunt staffer Scott Eckersley and the retention of e-mails was started when the Springfield News-Leader investigated a single issue: the use of state e-mails for personal political business. In contrast, Blunt’s requests of Nixon and Harris appear to be part of an attempt to trivialize retention of state records. Taxpayer money should not be spent in this manner. 
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