Transparency News 5/5/15
Tuesday, May 5, 2015
State and Local Stories
BVU Authority’s board of directors selected the Penn Stuart law firm as its new general counsel on Monday. BVU chose to retain counsel rather than hire a replacement for Walt Bressler, who retired in late March after serving as in-house counsel since 2007. The authority board voted 7-0, with two members absent, to choose Penn Stuart, which has offices in Abingdon and Richmond, Virginia, Bristol, Tennessee and Prestonsburg, Kentucky.
That vote followed a 40-minute closed session that included firm principal Cameron Bell. As part of receiving the contract, Penn Stuart officials agreed to “build a wall” around partner Mark Esposito, who is the husband of current authority board member Faith Esposito. Faith Esposito didn’t participate in the selection process, receive copies of proposals from the eight firms or attend meetings where the general counsel issue was discussed.
Herald Courier
National Stories
U.S. Capitol Police said an independent body is investigating the source of a leak to the Roll Call newspaper that cited three separate instances this year when security detail allegedly left loaded guns unattended on the Capitol complex. “Recent media reports regarding three cases of U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) officers improperly handling their Department issued weapons in the Capitol Complex, should not have been released to the public, as these are law enforcement sensitive, internal personnel matters currently under investigation,” USCP spokesperson Lt. Kimberly A. Schneider said in a statement, Roll Call reported.
Washington Times
Conservative advocacy group Judicial Watch announced Monday it has brought another lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service, attempting to obtain release of documents about the criteria the agency used to scrutinize churches for tax-exempt status. Judicial Watch filed a suit under the Freedom of Information Act, trying to force the IRS to turn over documents pertaining to a settlement it made with an atheist group called Freedom from Religion Foundation. That group had sued the IRS, alleging the agency failed to police prohibited political activity by churches. As part of the settlement with the atheist group, which fights for separation of church and state, that group said the IRS had promised to look at specific churches and to reevaluate criteria used by the IRS to determine when evaluations should be executed. Judicial Watch petitioned the IRS for documents about the settlement, and in the lawsuit announced Monday said it is doing so on behalf of the Alliance Defending Freedom, a group that describes itself as a defender of religious rights.
McClatchy
Arkansas Treasurer Dennis Milligan has responded to recent news reports on events during his campaign for office by claiming that the emails that are the basis of the reports cannot be verified because his campaign deleted all its emails after the election. Milligan’s office also instituted a policy last month of requiring employees to delete all emails after 30 days. Officials say the same policy is in place at the secretary of state’s office and the attorney general’s office, and it does not violate any state laws — though critics question whether it is necessary and whether it is consistent with the spirit of open government. Jim Harris, Milligan’s chief of staff, told the Arkansas News Bureau the treasurer’s office adopted the policy because “after a while your email gets to where it’s a humongous amount of information.” Laura Labay, spokeswoman for Secretary of State Mark Martin, said Martin’s office has the same policy because without regular deletion of emails, “our in-boxes just fill up and we don’t have enough room.” She also said the policy predates Martin’s term in office.
Times Record
Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton agreed Monday to testify on Capitol Hill later this month about using personal email for government business and about the attacks in Benghazi, Libya. Her lawyer, David Kendall, wrote to the House committee investigating the 2012 attacks to inform lawmakers that the candidate for president would testify once, not twice as she was asked. A committee spokesman, Jamal Ware, said the committee will take her response into consideration and issue a statement. “The committee has consistently shown it is interested in getting the facts and doing so in a deliberate and diligent manner,” Ware said. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, the committee’s top Democrat, urged the chairman to “finally” schedule a hearing.
McClatchy
Editorials/Columns
Images captured by high-speed license plate reader cameras can help police catch wanted suspects. They can help locate missing persons and stolen cars. They can be useful in criminal investigations. However, a database made by compiling those images is ripe for abuse. It is tracking information that allows officers to place a vehicle in a particular place at a specific time. It amounts to warrantless surveillance and an intrusion of privacy. Virginia lawmakers overwhelmingly supported placing reasonable limits on the collection, retention and use of this information, only to have Gov. Terry McAuliffe veto the legislation on Friday. It was a disappointing decision, and the governor's explanation leaves much to be desired.
Daily Press
State and Local Stories
BVU Authority’s board of directors selected the Penn Stuart law firm as its new general counsel on Monday. BVU chose to retain counsel rather than hire a replacement for Walt Bressler, who retired in late March after serving as in-house counsel since 2007. The authority board voted 7-0, with two members absent, to choose Penn Stuart, which has offices in Abingdon and Richmond, Virginia, Bristol, Tennessee and Prestonsburg, Kentucky.
That vote followed a 40-minute closed session that included firm principal Cameron Bell. As part of receiving the contract, Penn Stuart officials agreed to “build a wall” around partner Mark Esposito, who is the husband of current authority board member Faith Esposito. Faith Esposito didn’t participate in the selection process, receive copies of proposals from the eight firms or attend meetings where the general counsel issue was discussed.
Herald Courier
National Stories
U.S. Capitol Police said an independent body is investigating the source of a leak to the Roll Call newspaper that cited three separate instances this year when security detail allegedly left loaded guns unattended on the Capitol complex. “Recent media reports regarding three cases of U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) officers improperly handling their Department issued weapons in the Capitol Complex, should not have been released to the public, as these are law enforcement sensitive, internal personnel matters currently under investigation,” USCP spokesperson Lt. Kimberly A. Schneider said in a statement, Roll Call reported.
Washington Times
Conservative advocacy group Judicial Watch announced Monday it has brought another lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service, attempting to obtain release of documents about the criteria the agency used to scrutinize churches for tax-exempt status. Judicial Watch filed a suit under the Freedom of Information Act, trying to force the IRS to turn over documents pertaining to a settlement it made with an atheist group called Freedom from Religion Foundation. That group had sued the IRS, alleging the agency failed to police prohibited political activity by churches. As part of the settlement with the atheist group, which fights for separation of church and state, that group said the IRS had promised to look at specific churches and to reevaluate criteria used by the IRS to determine when evaluations should be executed. Judicial Watch petitioned the IRS for documents about the settlement, and in the lawsuit announced Monday said it is doing so on behalf of the Alliance Defending Freedom, a group that describes itself as a defender of religious rights.
McClatchy
Arkansas Treasurer Dennis Milligan has responded to recent news reports on events during his campaign for office by claiming that the emails that are the basis of the reports cannot be verified because his campaign deleted all its emails after the election. Milligan’s office also instituted a policy last month of requiring employees to delete all emails after 30 days. Officials say the same policy is in place at the secretary of state’s office and the attorney general’s office, and it does not violate any state laws — though critics question whether it is necessary and whether it is consistent with the spirit of open government. Jim Harris, Milligan’s chief of staff, told the Arkansas News Bureau the treasurer’s office adopted the policy because “after a while your email gets to where it’s a humongous amount of information.” Laura Labay, spokeswoman for Secretary of State Mark Martin, said Martin’s office has the same policy because without regular deletion of emails, “our in-boxes just fill up and we don’t have enough room.” She also said the policy predates Martin’s term in office.
Times Record
Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton agreed Monday to testify on Capitol Hill later this month about using personal email for government business and about the attacks in Benghazi, Libya. Her lawyer, David Kendall, wrote to the House committee investigating the 2012 attacks to inform lawmakers that the candidate for president would testify once, not twice as she was asked. A committee spokesman, Jamal Ware, said the committee will take her response into consideration and issue a statement. “The committee has consistently shown it is interested in getting the facts and doing so in a deliberate and diligent manner,” Ware said. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, the committee’s top Democrat, urged the chairman to “finally” schedule a hearing.
McClatchy
Editorials/Columns
Images captured by high-speed license plate reader cameras can help police catch wanted suspects. They can help locate missing persons and stolen cars. They can be useful in criminal investigations. However, a database made by compiling those images is ripe for abuse. It is tracking information that allows officers to place a vehicle in a particular place at a specific time. It amounts to warrantless surveillance and an intrusion of privacy. Virginia lawmakers overwhelmingly supported placing reasonable limits on the collection, retention and use of this information, only to have Gov. Terry McAuliffe veto the legislation on Friday. It was a disappointing decision, and the governor's explanation leaves much to be desired.
Daily Press
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