That telling entry in the notes of an Easley administration PR flack points to the importance of preserving — and disseminating to the public — the content of policy-related electronic records used by government decision makers.
There is now no doubt that officials in the governor’s office moved to destroy emails rather than leave a trail of “sensitive” information available to — whom?
Bloggers.
Says so clear as day in press officer Julia Jarema’s notes of a May 29 staff meeting. Take a look:
Public records request — increasing careful w/ email
- delete emails to / from the gov. office — everyday
- blog fodder — if sensitive type, print and delete
Very interesting. Blog fodder — if sensitive, type, print and delete. Damn skippy. If you have something to hide.
And what was blog fodder in May 2007? The sentencing of Jim Black and Kevin Geddings, for one. The investigation into state Rep. Thomas Wright saw subpoenas issued as the SBI kicked off a criminal investigation of the Wilmington Democrat. A couple weeks before that, it was Don Carrington reporting funky coastal land deals by Easley and friends. All coincidence? I think not.
Recall that shortly before the staff meeting on destroying emails, Easley tried to go on something of an ethics offensive with regard to Wright, pointing to a paper trail that either had to match up or not.
Some where there is a hard drive with bits on it that does not match up with what the public has been told. Let’s go find it.
