Following a seven month delay by the Governor’s Office, today the Republican Party of Pennsylvania hand delivered a letter to the Governor’s Office calling on Governor Wolf to release Katie McGinty’s emails by 5:00 p.m. on Monday, March 21, six days from the delivery of the letter.
The letter comes after a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article detailed the numerous attempts by the Governor’s Office to block access to the former Chief of Staff’s emails, which were first requested by PA GOP Deputy Communications Director Paul Engelkemier in July of 2015.
“Katie McGinty’s track record of ethics issues and financially benefiting from trips through the revolving door between the public and private sectors should be a cause of deep concern for Pennsylvanians,” PA GOP Deputy Communications Director Paul Engelkemier said. “Over the past seven months, Governor Tom Wolf’s office has repeatedly blocked the release of Katie McGinty’s government emails to the public. After an untold amount of wasted taxpayer dollars, it’s time for Tom Wolf to stop playing political games and finally release Katie McGinty’s emails.”
The letter, which can be can found here, is also published in its entirety below:
March 16, 2016
Via Hand-Delivery
Honorable Tom Wolf
Governor of Pennsylvania
225 Main Capitol Building
Harrisburg, PA 17120
Dear Governor Wolf:
I am writing to express my deep concern regarding the Office of the Governor’s seven month delay in responding to my Right-to-Know Law (RTKL) request seeking the work emails of Katie McGinty. The request was submitted to the Office of the Governor on July 7, 2015. Since that date, your Office has wasted taxpayer dollars – in the midst of an ongoing budget crisis – to prevent the disclosure of records that belong to the public.
In fact, your Office’s continued obstruction of my RTKL request was the subject of a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article last week, entitled: “GOP battles to gain access to McGinty emails,” (enclosed for your review).
When questioned about your Office’s continued RTKL stall tactic, a spokeswoman for Ms. McGinty responded: “Katie believes in full transparency.” Moreover, even the former Executive Director of the Office of Open Records (OOR) characterized your position on the RTKL as: “If it is a close call, release the record.”
As a candidate for governor, you espoused believing in “openness and transparency.” I call on you to direct your staff to cease these taxpayer-funded political games and release all of Ms. McGinty’s emails immediately. It is time for you to match your rhetoric with action.
I respectfully request that you please remit the records responsive to my request by 5:00 PM on Monday, March 21. This date gives you six days to comply and marks 259 days from the date of my original request.
Sincerely,
Paul Engelkemier
cc: Ms. Kathleen A. McGinty
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