Pence Pushes for Email Privacy
Oh the irony.
Vice President-elect Mike Pence is seeking to keep secret the contents of an email relating to Indiana’s participation, at his behest, in a lawsuit to block President Barack Obama’s executive actions on immigration, an Indianapolis Star article revealed Monday.
Pence’s administration brought in an outside law firm to join the litigation, which was spearheaded by Texas Gov. Greg Abbot. The move prompted one Indianapolis lawyer to request documents related to the decision to bring in outside counsel.
Per the article: “Pence produced the documents in the request ‘but those documents included substantial redaction,’ according to court documents. The 57-page response also included an email that Daniel Hodge, Abbott’s chief of staff, sent to 30 recipients in various states asking them to join the lawsuit against Obama. The message included an attached white paper, but the governor failed to produce the document, according to court records. After a yearlong [legal process], the Superior Court held that the issue was not a matter for the courts to decide, citing a Indiana Supreme Court case decided just days before.”
Pence’s efforts, so far upheld by state courts, were highlighted in an Indianapolis Star article Monday.