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E-mail lawsuit settled
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By Bob Watson bwatson@newstribune.com Governor admitted no wrongdoing
One legal battle to gain access to governor's office e-mails appears to be settled.
Under a settlement agreement announced during a Tuesday afternoon hearing before Cole County Circuit Judge Richard G. Callahan, Gov. Matt Blunt's office will provide
free copies of e-mails sought by investigators in a lawsuit that accused Blunt and other officials of “knowingly and purposely” violating Missouri's Open Records law, by denying access to the documents.
Former Lt. Gov. Joe Maxwell, now a private-practice lawyer in Mexico, Mo., told reporters after the hearing the settlement “was signed on Dec. 17 and several terms of the agreement already have been complied with.”
Another Mexico attorney, Lou Leonatti, told Callahan the case against Blunt, as an individual, was dismissed with prejudice - meaning he can't be sued later on the same issues.
“Gov. Blunt is giving up any individual rights he may have to ownership, possession or control of the records which are the subject matter of this lawsuit,” Leonatti told Callahan, “and is assigning all his rights in those documents to the Office of Governor.”
James Meadows, a Springfield attorney who represented Blunt along with former state Supreme Court Chief Justice John Holstein, told Callahan: “Frankly, we did not feel that (Blunt) had any personal interest in these records.”
Blunt admitted no wrong-doing in the settlement.
Blunt's office agreed to hand over tens of thousands of pages of e-mails from Aug. 17, 2007, through Oct. 31, 2007, and allowed investigators appointed by Democratic Attorney General Jay Nixon to inspect the office.
The e-mails to be turned over are from the state accounts of Blunt and five current or former administration officials.
The same e-mail records were released last month to news organizations that had sought them under Missouri's open record laws.
Callahan was asked to approve the proposed settlement after a Jan. 5, 2009, hearing “if any one wants to object to the settlement agreement, who is a party in the case,” Leonatti said.
Callahan named Leonatti, a Republican, and former Maxwell, a Democrat, to act as special assistant attorneys general in the case, after determining that Attorney General Jay Nixon had a conflict in pursuing an investigation into allegations that Blunt's office had violated Missouri's Sunshine Law.
Nixon in November 2007 had appointed former Highway Patrol Superintendent Mel Fisher and Rick Wilhoit to lead the investigation.
Leonatti said the settlement agreement allows them to complete their investigation and file a report with Blunt's lawyers by Jan. 26, 2009. Blunt then will have five days to respond to the investigation's findings before both the investigation and any comments Blunt makes are made public.
Blunt spokeswoman Jessica Robinson said the settlement ends a “13 month long legal fiasco” and accused investigators of timing the agreement around the holidays so that it would be unnoticed.
“Finally after making false accusation after false accusation and wasting hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars, the e-mail team brings this political case to a conclusion two days before Christmas,” Robinson said.
Her news release also noted Blunt “was never questioned in the case,” but did not note that Maxwell and Leonatti were trying to get Blunt's deposition until the settlement was reached.
The suit against Blunt's former chief of staff, St. Louis lawyer Ed Martin, was dismissed without prejudice, leaving open a possible future lawsuit involving him.
Martin, had been added as a defendant in the case just this month. He called the probe “politically motivated.”
The settlement announced Tuesday doesn't affect the wrongful termination and defamation lawsuit that former Blunt lawyer Scott Eckersley filed against Blunt and others.
“Any release of public records is a victory for us,” Eckersley told The Associated Press. “I hope the original investigators' report will list the numerous violations that were uncovered.”
Attorney General Jay Nixon
Gov. Matt Blunt
Article
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Under a settlement agreement announced during a Tuesday afternoon hearing before Cole County Circuit Judge Richard G. Callahan, Gov. Matt Blunt's office will provide
free copies of e-mails sought by investigators in a lawsuit that accused Blunt and other officials of “knowingly and purposely” violating Missouri's Open Records law, by denying access to the documents.
Former Lt. Gov. Joe Maxwell, now a private-practice lawyer in Mexico, Mo., told reporters after the hearing the settlement “was signed on Dec. 17 and several terms of the agreement already have been complied with.”
Another Mexico attorney, Lou Leonatti, told Callahan the case against Blunt, as an individual, was dismissed with prejudice - meaning he can't be sued later on the same issues.
“Gov. Blunt is giving up any individual rights he may have to ownership, possession or control of the records which are the subject matter of this lawsuit,” Leonatti told Callahan, “and is assigning all his rights in those documents to the Office of Governor.”
James Meadows, a Springfield attorney who represented Blunt along with former state Supreme Court Chief Justice John Holstein, told Callahan: “Frankly, we did not feel that (Blunt) had any personal interest in these records.”
Blunt admitted no wrong-doing in the settlement.
Blunt's office agreed to hand over tens of thousands of pages of e-mails from Aug. 17, 2007, through Oct. 31, 2007, and allowed investigators appointed by Democratic Attorney General Jay Nixon to inspect the office.
The e-mails to be turned over are from the state accounts of Blunt and five current or former administration officials.
The same e-mail records were released last month to news organizations that had sought them under Missouri's open record laws.
Callahan was asked to approve the proposed settlement after a Jan. 5, 2009, hearing “if any one wants to object to the settlement agreement, who is a party in the case,” Leonatti said.
Callahan named Leonatti, a Republican, and former Maxwell, a Democrat, to act as special assistant attorneys general in the case, after determining that Attorney General Jay Nixon had a conflict in pursuing an investigation into allegations that Blunt's office had violated Missouri's Sunshine Law.
Nixon in November 2007 had appointed former Highway Patrol Superintendent Mel Fisher and Rick Wilhoit to lead the investigation.
Leonatti said the settlement agreement allows them to complete their investigation and file a report with Blunt's lawyers by Jan. 26, 2009. Blunt then will have five days to respond to the investigation's findings before both the investigation and any comments Blunt makes are made public.
Blunt spokeswoman Jessica Robinson said the settlement ends a “13 month long legal fiasco” and accused investigators of timing the agreement around the holidays so that it would be unnoticed.
“Finally after making false accusation after false accusation and wasting hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars, the e-mail team brings this political case to a conclusion two days before Christmas,” Robinson said.
Her news release also noted Blunt “was never questioned in the case,” but did not note that Maxwell and Leonatti were trying to get Blunt's deposition until the settlement was reached.
The suit against Blunt's former chief of staff, St. Louis lawyer Ed Martin, was dismissed without prejudice, leaving open a possible future lawsuit involving him.
Martin, had been added as a defendant in the case just this month. He called the probe “politically motivated.”
The settlement announced Tuesday doesn't affect the wrongful termination and defamation lawsuit that former Blunt lawyer Scott Eckersley filed against Blunt and others.
“Any release of public records is a victory for us,” Eckersley told The Associated Press. “I hope the original investigators' report will list the numerous violations that were uncovered.”
Attorney General Jay Nixon
Gov. Matt Blunt
Article
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