RALEIGH—Yesterday, after addressing the Council of State, Governor Easley denied that meeting notes taken by two public information officers in a May 29 meeting with the Governor’s press secretary indicated that the Governor’s press office had directed employees to delete email messages everyday.

The notes from one public information officer read, “Public records request -- increasing -- careful of email -- delete emails to/from gov. office everyday.”

Another public information officer wrote, ‘emails -- more and more public records requests (blogs?) be careful w/emails; delete emails to & from gov office every day.”

(“Easley: Meaning of email notes unclear” The News & Observer, April 2, 2008 http://www.newsobserver.com/news/sunshine/story/1021834.html)

Governor Easley maintained that these notes were “unclear.”

Meanwhile, Democrat candidates for Governor, Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue and State Treasurer Richard Moore both sit on the Council of State and have failed to challenge the Governor on the destruction of public records.

Democratic gubernatorial candidates Bev Perdue and Richard Moore did not say whether an investigation is needed. A spokeswoman for Moore said he did not know enough about the controversy to comment. Perdue said in a statement: "That's a question for the SBI, but clearly nobody in state government should attempt, or direct employees, to circumvent our state's public record laws."

(“Pressure on for e-mail probe” The News & Observer, April 1, 2008 http://www.newsobserver.com/news/sunshine/story/1020465.html)

Chairman Linda Daves, North Carolina Republican Party, made the following statement:

“At this point, the situation is becoming ridiculous.  Even when confronted with the smoking gun evidence, Governor Easley finds a way to spin the truth.  If the Governor is not hiding something, he is doing everything possible to cast himself in a suspicious light.  I want to commend our Republican candidates for Governor for standing up against secrecy in government and pledging to bring more openness and transparency to Raleigh.  Where are Beverly Perdue and Richard Moore on this issue?  They claim to support open government but they are no where to be found.  The Democrat candidates for Governor must use their power on the Council of State to pressure Gov. Easley to take this e-mail probe seriously.  If Perdue and Moore claim to be leaders, then they must confront Governor Easley for his failure of leadership on open government issues.  The Democrat candidates say they want change in Raleigh, but their silence indicates they want more of the same.”

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