Transparency News, 9/2/2022

Friday
September 2, 2022

There was no newsletter yesterday, Sept. 1.
And, while we're at it, we'll be taking Labor Day off, too. Be safe, everyone!

state & local news stories

ICYMI, VCOG's monthly update is out and posted to our website, where you'll find stories about unusual FOIA interpretations, statements contradicted by public records, board strife and a save-the-date reminder for VCOG's annual conference. Plus, I wax philosophic about records and history.

Virginia Democrats said Thursday that they are filing two FOIA requests with the governor’s office and Virginia State Police, seeking details about Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s out-of-state traveland any potential cost to Virginia taxpayers. The Times-Dispatch also has submitted Freedom of Information Act requests to state agencies about the governor’s out-of-state travel. Youngkin is not the first Virginia governor whose private, out-of-state travel has raised questions about transparency.
Richmond Times-Dispatch

A federal appeals court tossed out ex-Norfolk Treasurer and Councilman Anthony Burfoot’s second appeal of a corruption conviction that sent him to prison in 2017. His only remaining avenue to overturn the conviction now is the U.S. Supreme Court. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit dismissed Burfoot’s second appeal July 7. And as of Aug. 29, the court’s decision is final because Burfoot did not file a motion for a reconsideration of the ruling within the given timeframe.
The Virginian-Pilot

When Amazon announced its plans to build a second headquarters somewhere in North America, cities and states around the continent stopped at nothing to woo the tech giant. They made promises of billion-dollar tax breaks and massive financial incentives — in a few cases, bigger than some countries’ economies — to get picked as the company’s new home. Nearly four years after winning that sweepstakes, Arlington County has yet to pay Amazon a single penny. And that’s by design.
The Washington Post
 

stories of national interest

A sheriff in Barry County, Michigan, already under state investigation for alleged involvement in an illegal breach of a vote-counting machine, sought warrants in July to seize other machines in an effort to prove former President Donald Trump’s claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election, documents reviewed by Reuters showed. The proposed warrants sought authorization to seize vote tabulators and various election records from the offices of the Barry County and Woodland Township clerks, the documents showed. The two jurisdictions have not been previously identified as targets in the sheriff’s investigation into suspicions that machines in the county were rigged to siphon votes from Trump. The warrants were submitted in July to the office of Barry County Prosecuting Attorney Julie Nakfoor Pratt, a Republican, who told Reuters she declined to endorse them because she felt the sheriff lacked sufficient evidence to support his suspicions that the machines were rigged. Reuters obtained copies of the documents under a Freedom of Information request filed with the prosecutor’s office.
Reuters