FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 13, 2009
Contact: John Tramontana
517-371-5410
Mike Cox: Pay Me $143,000 For Public Records On Lawsuit Settlements
Cox: Government Transparency For Everyone But Me
LANSING – Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer today blasted Attorney General Mike Cox for charging over $143,000 to search for public records on lawsuit settlements sought in a FOIA request by Brewer.
“For a man who has been claiming for years that he supports open government, it is pure hypocrisy for Mike Cox to hide behind these obscene fees,” Brewer said. “What is he hiding? Michigan taxpayers have a right to know how their money is being spent.”
Brewer hand delivered the original request on April 8, 2009. The Attorney General then gave himself an extension before submitting a response on April 30, 2009.
“Cox’s office has already located and reviewed the public records containing much of the requested information to create the self-promoting settlement ‘summaries’ and press releases on his website,” observed Brewer. “The only reason to charge such an outrageous fee is to prevent the public from discovering the real facts for themselves by seeing those public records.”
Brewer today hand delivered a letter to Cox’s office seeking to have these charges reversed.
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Paid for by the Michigan Democratic State Central Committee
606 Townsend St., Lansing, 48933.
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