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Kelly Ayotte: The Legally Deleting Craig Benson Protege

by: Dean Barker

Fri May 14, 2010 at 06:11:15 AM EDT
An eagle-eyed reader wondered why I hadn't highlighted this graf from DiStaso yet.  And he's right to wonder - it's incredible:
PAPER COUNTERPARTS. Delaney also clarified another key aspect of the right-to-know law, which says government records in electronic form must be retained or archived for the same amount of time as "their paper counterparts."

He said the passage means that if his office receives an e-mail "as the only form of communications we received it in, we must treat it the same as we would if we received it on paper."

If that's the level of understanding of the right-to-know law from the current Attorney General, then what on earth was former Attorney General Kelly Ayotte doing declaring some of those records "legally deleted" when she wrote that totally not politically motivated permission slip for herself right before she quit and ran for office?  How is this not illegal per se?

(And isn't it reminiscent of Teh Decider's lawyers doing the same for him so he could get away with torture?)

Of course, with Ayotte being a Craig Benson protege, we shouldn't be surprised at this attitude towards government transparency.

On the other hand, with Ayotte being a Craig Benson protege, has anyone yet filed a right-to-know for her years working with him when she was not AG?  Or are those "legally deleted" too?
Dean Barker :: Kelly Ayotte: The Legally Deleting Craig Benson Protege
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Kelly Ayotte: The Legally Deleting Craig Benson Protege | 3 comments
Secrecy is the last refuge of the public official who's been (0.00 / 0)
stripped of "sovereign immunity" as a consequence of the Federal Tort Claims Act and state variants.  Taking advantage of the secrecy enjoyed by private corporations under the provisions of patent rights and "proprietary information" was one of the prime goals of the privatizers.  Their objective was to retain control of the public purse at the same time they farmed out public responsibilities to "private" contractors.  
The Federal Tort Claims Act of 1947 was a first pass at making public officials accountable to the public in the performance of their duties.  Prior to that, if a public official did not derive a clearly identifiable personal benefit from an action or decision, s/he was considered to be immune to challenge.
Immunity persists in various forms.  The Indian Nations enjoy sovereign immunity, to a certain extent.  It's what makes them and their "reservations" attractive to mining interests and gamers who want to exploit them.
Prosecutors and judges, it turns out, enjoy "absolute immunity" by tradition, in consideration of the fact that they are merely processors of fact and don't initiate any action.
Local law enforcement agents have "qualified immunity" which is premised, again, on the assumption that they serve a public, rather than a self-interest.  When they do the latter, it's considered a crime and referred to as "deprivation under color of law," i.e. illegitimate.  
What Bush/Cheney tried to assert was that a version of "sovereign immunity" could be reclaimed under "color of war" -- i.e. a war-waging President would be immune from challenge because of his engagement in warfare.  It was being argued that "national security" overrides the Constitutional limitations on the executive.  Under Obama/Biden it is being argued that "public safety" provides relief from the obligations to respect individual rights established by the Constitution.  
Individual liberty and equal protection are the nemesis of authoritarians, regardless of whether they call themselves Republicans or Democrats.  Popular government isn't nearly as attractive as authoritarian rule.

Is Obama a populist, a proponent of popular government?  It's too early to tell.

Flipped (4.00 / 2)
The Ayotte policy flips the intent of the NH Constitutional protections for access to government records on its head. Government is supposed to be open and accessible to the people, and consequently, the Attorney General's job is to make the definition of public records as expansive as posssible, not to limit the rights of the public to government records.  But I do have a clear memory of Kelly Ayotte sitting in the courtroom for the hearing when the NHDP asked for disclosure of records pertaining to the Benson administration, disclosure the Attorney General's office objected to.  



"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."  Franklin D. Roosevelt    
legally deleted (0.00 / 0)
as opposed to what, illegally held safe for public record?

Not in the shot
Kelly Ayotte: The Legally Deleting Craig Benson Protege | 3 comments

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