Brian Chilson
After months of asking, cajoling and mentioning relevant law,
Little Rock attorney Matt Campbell sued the Arkansas State Police this week over efforts to keep public information under covers.
Campbell, aka the blogger Blue Hog, is seeking to the courts for access to information about Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders‘ ‘ travel expenditures. Arkansas State Police attorneys denied his repeated demands, mentioning safety concerns for the guv and her family.
The case is assigned to Pulaski County Judge Herbert Wright, however no hearing date has actually been set. You can check out Campbell's legal grievance here.
Because June, Campbell has actually submitted a series of Freedom of Information Act demands to find out who's hitched flights on the Arkansas State Police airplane as part of the guv's entourage, and how much her household's security detail is costing taxpayers. Just how much did it cost to send out State Police overseas to safeguard Sanders and company at the Paris Air Show?
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The sort of information Campbell wishes to see isn't discussed as an exemption in the state's Freedom of Information Act, and was always readily available under previous governors-- consisting of Sanders' father, Mike Huckabee. Here's a fun story from 1997 about the first Huckabee's King Air experiences, complete with details on who flew where and how much it cost us.
Arkansas law altered slightly in 2017, exempting security-related records for the Governor's Mansion and estate grounds. However travel records were not excused.
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It's difficult to see how information about past travel may put the governor or her family in mortal threat. Sanders' spokesperson, however, appears aghast that anyone would attempt question the secrecy. With her signature mix of obfuscation and outrage, Alexa Henning skipped best previous concerns about why her boss is hiding the identities of her flying buddies on a state-owned aircraft and went straight to accusing you, me and that pesky radical left of threatening Sanders.
" It's a new low in Arkansas politics for some on the radical left to weaponize FOIA and put the Governor's and her family's lives in danger," she stated.
Campbell, of course, sees it all differently. State Police did turn over the logistics portions of the records he was seeking, he said. That left him questioning how the portions being kept-- generally expenditures and traveler lists-- might put anyone in harm's way. The names of fellow guests, particularly, were blacked out on the files State Police supplied him.
How in the world could knowing who flew with the guv as she ran around the state doing and pressing learns image ops compromise her security if the actual travel info did not? Second, all of these records related to previous flights, and I do not have a working time device. Once again, how would understanding who she flew with in April endanger her safety?"
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It's likewise tough to see how releasing the cost for flights and hotel spaces for the governor's security information overseas could cause any harm now, three months after the truth.
" The really idea that knowing just how much it cost for ASP personnel to take a trip to England and France could jeopardize the guv's safety is ridiculous on its face. We're speaking about expenses of state money, and whether it was as an entourage for the governor is unimportant."
The public and controversial lead-up to this lawsuit, which Campbell was candid about on social media, fuels progressively robust rumors that Sanders will assault Arkansas's Freedom of Information Act in an approaching special session.
Sanders is reported to be angling for a Florida-style rollback that will save her from needing to divulge where she went, why, or with whom. In May, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a new law that blocks access to details on his and other state federal government officials' travels, both past and future. Journalists and taxpayers in Florida can no longer discover if DeSantis took a trip to, state, Iowa, on a state-owned plane, or if he flew on a personal aircraft on the state's penny. Visitor logs to the Florida Governor's Mansion and workplace are no longer public under this new law.
Passed by his Republican fans in the Florida legislature, DeSantis stated this law protecting him from having to reveal details about his guests and journeys is required for his security.
It now appears Sanders is waging a parallel campaign. Capitol insiders say the governor may push for a wholesale gutting of our state's Freedom of Information Act together with another round of tax cuts in an approaching unique session.
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