 |
 |
 |
|
|
Judicial Watch Fights to Open Dean Records Former Vermont Governor Falsely Claims to be Cooperating With the Court On January 22, Judicial Watch asked a Vermont state court to order the immediate release of Howard Dean's gubernatorial records. In its latest court filing, Judicial Watch alleges Dean abused his office by striking an illicit deal with Vermont state officials to seal his records for ten years. "Judicial Watch takes no positions on candidates or campaigns," said JW President Tom Fitton. "But Howard Dean has a responsibility to come clean to the American people about his record. His backroom deal to keep his gubernatorial documents sealed will not stand up in court." At issue are 146 boxes of documents relating to Dean's record as Governor of Vermont. Judicial Watch uncovered evidence through a public records request that Dean's presidential aspirations are the reason he is attempting to keep his records hidden from public scrutiny. In a memorandum from Vermont State Archivist Gregory Sanford obtained by JW, dated September 4, 2000, Sanford writes, "While [Dean lawyer] David Rosen and I agreed earlier that 'embarrassment'…was not grounds for exemption, we are really talking about 'ambition.'…Without conceding that a governor's post-administration ambitions are a legitimate basis for closure, can we offer, in the interest of moving forward, eight years?" Dean later told Vermont Public Radio, when asked about sealing his records, "There are future political considerations. We didn't want anything embarrassing appearing in the papers at a critical time in any future endeavor." In order to seal the documents, Dean entered into a Memorandum of Understanding Between the Governor and the Secretary of State Regarding Archival Storage of Gubernatorial Papers, which Dean says permits and protects his blanket claim of executive privilege. Judicial Watch disagrees. "Not only is the 'Memorandum of Understanding' a stunning piece of fiction masquerading as law, but, even more troubling, it represents a dangerous violation of the separation of powers upon which our governmental system is founded," JW argued in its brief. Dean's official explanation for sealing the records is that he seeks to protect the privacy of his correspondents, many of whom allegedly wrote about personal issues. However, according to ABC News, four documents from Dean's open files "detailed personal medical information about Vermont citizens," precisely the type of information Dean said he has been trying to protect. While being publicly disingenuous with respect to his reason for sealing the documents, Dean has also mislead the public regarding his willingness to "fully cooperate" with the court. During a January 4, 2004 Democratic debate in Iowa, Dean made the following statement: "What we have done is we have stepped aside. We have turned everything over to the attorney general of the State of Vermont. And the attorney general of the state of Vermont will go to court, and a judge will look over every document in our records. And they are free to release whatever they like, and that's fine with me." There are three main factual problems with this assertion. First, Howard Dean has not "stepped aside" in the lawsuit. He continues to be a party to the case and is represented "in his capacity as former Governor of Vermont" by taxpayer-financed lawyers in the State of Vermont's Attorney General's office. Secondly, Howard Dean, not the State of Vermont, is asserting blanket executive privilege, which is preventing the documents at issue from being released. Finally, Howard Dean's taxpayer-funded lawyers are not asking a judge to review and release the records. Howard Dean, through his lawyers, is asking the court in Vermont to not release any records, as he asserts that the agreement placing them under seal for 10 years is valid. Furthermore, Howard Dean is asking that the case be thrown out of court, which would prevent any records from being reviewed or released. "Dean is being two-faced with the American people," continued Fitton. "He has done nothing but subvert Judicial Watch's attempts to get to the truth, no matter what he claims on the campaign trail." SIDEBARS: The New York Post is reporting that Howard Dean, while serving as Governor of Vermont, sold $15,000 in stock in five Vermont banks in 1991 after receiving inside information. Vermont banking regulator, Elizabeth Costler, told the Associated Press that "it was to his economic advantage to sell." Though Dean claims to keep his records secret to protect the privacy of his constituents, according to ABC News, one of the letters in files open to the public was from a Vermont woman whose daughter had died of AIDS. Another was a note from a woman who confided in Dean about her family's troubles after her husband, who has cancer, was suspended from his job.
info@judicialwatch.org • 1-888-JW-ETHIC
Site hosting and technology by Cory Consulting, Inc. © 1997-2004, Judicial Watch, Inc., All rights reserved. |
