Ep. 12 Suing WaTech and Gov; AG's Model Rules; Harrell's Failures
On this important episode, Jamie Nixon breaks down the absurdity of the state’s response to the 2020 1.5 terabyte Teams chat deletion. After four months and multiple delays, the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) has delivered almost nothing, and the Governor’s Office claimed to find zero responsive records, even though records from another agency prove the Governor's own Public Records Officer and Deputy Counsel received emails on the matter.
This episode features the news of two major lawsuits filed this week: one against the Governor’s Office for a patently inadequate search, and one against WaTech for their third, failed attempt to produce critical live chat records from agency meetings.
In Focus: The AG’s Model Rules and a Culture of Secrecy
Attorney General Nick Brown proposed sensible changes to the Model Rules, but they strategically omit the most critical issues facing the state:
- Why the AG must stop defending agencies that knowingly destroy records.
- The immediate need to end the Teams auto-deletion experiment.
- The necessity of mandating electronic payment for public records fees.
Plus, Jamie details the latest example of systemic failure in the Mayor of Seattle's office, where vital records related to a Chief of Staff investigation were reportedly deleted or withheld, reinforcing the absolute need to end the "honor system" of record keeping. Finally, get a chilling preview of next week's exposé on a State PRO who wrote to the Attorney General, pleading for help against their own agency's internal corruption.
Transcript + Source Docs:
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About WashCOG:
The Washington Coalition for Open Government (WashCOG) fights for transparency and accountability in Washington State. Learn more:
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