Transparency News 11/16/17

Thursday, November 16, 2017


State and Local Stories

Former Petersburg City Attorney Brian K. Telfair pleaded guilty Wednesday to lying to police last year about a racial threat to city leaders he falsely claimed he received from an unknown “redneck” caller when in fact Telfair orchestrated the call. The plea comes weeks after Telfair appealed his Sept. 1 conviction for the same offense in lower court.
Richmond Times-Dispatch

A state review of the police response to the chaotic white nationalist protest in Charlottesville this summer describes a confused command structure, a breakdown in communication, and uncertainty among officers about the “rules of engagement” with protesters. But the review, presented Wednesday to a panel of public safety officials convened by Gov. Terry McAuliffe, does not directly address what those rules of engagement were or why police initially seemed to stand by as street fighting escalated. Charlottesville officials initially declined to make their records and employees available to the state for its review. State Secretary of Public Safety Brian J. Moran said that disagreement has been resolved.
Richmond Times-Dispatch



National Stories
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The Interior Department employee who publicly resigned after the agency reassigned him — and 30-to-50 of his other senior executive colleagues — to a new position is now suing his former employer. Joel Clement filed a lawsuit with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia over Interior’s failure to comply with more than 30 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. He requested documents related to the agency’s decision to reassign members of Interior’s Senior Executive Service cohort, in addition to more specific records about his individual case. The Interior FOIA office assigned docket numbers to Clement’s requests but hasn’t produced any documents, his lawsuit said.
Federal News Radio

A 2016 Arizona law that expanded the ability of some groups to spend unlimited amounts of money on elections without disclosing their donors was challenged in court Wednesday by a group of Democratic lawmakers, a union and a voter advocacy group. The lawsuit filed in Maricopa County Superior Court seeks to overturn parts of the law allowing corporations and some non-profit groups to avoid disclosure.
McClatchy



Editorials/Columns


The post-election email from the Democratic National Committee said, "Thank you for believing in our candidates, our values, and our party." Betsy Boardwine wondered, "how did they know the way I voted?" And, "how did they get my email?"
Don Casey, The Roanoke Times

Don’t write off the Justice Department’s settlement with tea party groups as a partisan product of the Trump administration. Fairness, justice and equal treatment should be non-partisan. Unfortunately, under the Obama administration, they weren’t, as the IRS harassed conservative groups. The agency’s biased treatment is well-documented, and even was acknowledged by the IRS itself. Not only did the IRS delay approvals and require extra documentation, it even asked improper questions as part of that documentation — such as demanding to know the religious backgrounds of the applicants, according to the government’s own investigation. Such an abuse of power is, and always was, unjustified and indefensible. It’s only now approaching an equitable conclusion.  
Daily Progress

Every week, government officials across Texas and private companies receiving taxpayer dollars get increasingly creative in hiding public records. Their new tool is the Boeing ruling, a decision from the Texas Supreme Court that lowered the threshold for arguing competitive bidding as an exemption from disclosure under the Texas Public Information Act. It gives governments an easier path to claim that competitive bidding concerns should allow them to keep records secret. And, businesses can now make the claim, too. Those attempting to censor records under Boeing have sought approximately 1,500 rulings from the Attorney General’s Office since the 2015 court decision, and the number keeps growing. The court decision originated over releasing information in a property lease between Boeing and the Port of San Antonio.
Kelley Shannon, Corpus Christi Caller-Times