Carrying on a tradition of secrecy, the state House has
rejected a Freedom Of Information request from The Detroit News to obtain the
entire investigative report on Reps. Todd Courser and Cindy Gamrat.
In a tersely worded letter, the House Business Office blocked
access to the entire report, which is reportedly more than 100 pages in length and concluded the two Republican freshman lawmakers misused state tax
dollars as they attempted to cover up their extra-marital affair.
is exempt from the Freedom Of Information Act. Always has been.
Livengood, who broke the story about the scandal and cover-up on Aug. 7, the House Business Office denied The Detroit
News access to the full report and supporting evidence it turned over to
Speaker Kevin Cotter’s office last week detailing their findings about tea
party Republicans Courser of Lapeer and Gamrat of Plainwell.
Under House policy, documents pertaining to the chamber’s
financial records are open to public inspection. But all other records can be
kept secret because the Legislature exempted itself from the FOIA law that is
nearly 40 years old.
by blasting Cotter for releasing a “sanitized,” 40-page version of the report
that failed to provide sufficient evidence for its assertions or answer
questions about the Speaker’s Office’s potential knowledge of
the scandal as it
unfolded from April through early August.
While Michigan GOP Chair Ronna Romney McDaniel commended
Cotter for his handling of the mess, Dillon, a former House colleague of
Courser and Gamrat, called for an independent investigation by Republican
Attorney General Bill Schuette.
shroud of secrecy and is nothing more than a summary of
assertions designed to shield Speaker Cotter’s office rather
than get to the bottom of a potential criminal cover-up,” Dillon said
in a statement.
“The public wants their leaders to act with
transparency and accountability. That’s why we need an
evidence-based independent investigation that is not controlled by
the speaker, that can truly get to the bottom of what speaker
Cotter knew and why whistleblowing staff were allowed to be terminated by his
office.”
