GOP Hypocrisy Revealed: Jeb Bush Releases Less Than 10% of Private Email
SHOT:
RNC Spokesman Sean Spicer says Jeb Bush has released all of his private emails. [CNN, 3/4/15]CHASER:
Jeb Bush Said He Got 2.5 Million E-Mails On His Public Account And 550,000 On His Private Account During His Eight Years As Governor. According to the Naples Daily News, “Jeb Bush learned plenty during his eight years as Florida governor, he told a crowd at a United Christian Giving fundraiser in Fort Myers on Thursday. The president’s little brother and former president’s son took few partisan shots, mostly entertaining the crowd with stories from ‘Mount Tallahassee.’ […] Bush said he got 550,000 e-mails on his private account and another 2.5 million on his public account during his eight years as governor. That helped him stay in touch with the people of the state even though the capital is far removed geographically from most of the population.” [Naples Daily News, 7/12/07] Jeb Bush Said He Would Launch A Website On Which He Will Make Available About 250,000 E-Mails From His Time As Governor. According to the New York Times, “Jeb Bush said he would launch a website on Tuesday on which he will make available about 250,000 emails from his time as governor of Florida, as well as the first chapter of an e-book about his administration. The emails, which were obtained by a number of news media organizations through a public records request in December, show Mr. Bush’s style in communicating with both his staff and his constituents.” [New York Times, 2/9/15]MEMO: Jeb Bush Hypocrisy on Email Disclosure
Earlier this week, Jeb Bush attempted to capitalize on the recent email controversy by tweeting “Transparency matters. Unclassified @HillaryClinton emails should be released. You can see mine, here jebbushemails.com.” Bush’s attempt to score quick political points exposes him to a powerful hypocrisy attack. As governor, Bush used private emails; thus far he has not disclosed them all. There is even early media speculation that Bush’s actions may have skirted Florida law. Key Points:
- Bush used a personal email address as governor, and there are messages missing. As the Washington Post reporters, “Bush used his personal email address, [email protected], to conduct official, political, and personal business…” but Bush’s email disclosure website (which was already public and available at the Florida state archives) lacks many key messages, including any messages between Jeb Bush and his brother, then-President George W. Bush.
- Media accounts establish that Bush, not the State of Florida, decided which private emails to disclose – apparently nothing would have stopped the Bush team from selectively leaving out politically problematic emails. As the Tampa Bay Times reported, “The Bush files, though enormous, are not complete” because they lacked “emails the governor deemed not relevant to the public record.” In other words, Bush selected what was “relevant” or not for the public record, not civil servants.
American Bridge Submits Open Records Request For Unreleased Bush Emails
Today, in accordance with the Florida Open Records Law, American Bridge is requesting unreleased emails sent from Jeb Bush's private email account during his time as governor. Recently, Bush was quick to brag about releasing 250,000 emails in his ostensible devotion to transparency -- but Bush said he received 550,000 emails on his private account and 2.5 million emails on his public account during his gubernatorial tenure. A full copy of the open records request can be found here, and is copied after the jump.
Tom Corbett Continues Attacks On Transparency
It recently came to light that Pennsylvania's wildly unpopular Governor, Tom Corbett, has gone to remarkable lengths in order to…
Where does the time go? Maybe it's stuck in that traffic in Fort Lee…
Friends, it was just one year ago this week when some mysterious traffic problems popped up in Fort Lee, New Jersey. Was it a "traffic study?" (Hint: no) Was it a pathetic attempt by the administration of a vindictive governor to exact revenge on his political enemies? (Hint: ding ding ding!) Since the story first broke, Christie's approval ratings have plummeted, he's lost voters' trust (in New Jersey and beyond), and the integrity of his conduct in office has fallen into question. Through thick and thin, American Bridge has been by his side, issuing open records requests to get to the heart of the real story, highlighting the ethical shortcomings of Christie's administration, and having a bit of fun along the way. So here's to the good times over the past year since Christie took out his political anguish on his own constituents, and so many more to come. Join us on a trip down memory lane, before Governor Christie closes it out of political retribution:
BridgegateTapes.com
VIDEO: A Media Firestorm For The Very Appreciative Rick Scott
Local news. National news. Everywhere you turn, someone is either fuming or just plain reduced to laughter over Rick Scott's refusal to answer questions. The governor is entangled in scandal after scandal, and keeping voters in the dark on where he stands on key issues, but nobody can get an answer from him on any of it.
Please Rick Scott, Tell Us More About "Transparency" (VIDEO)
Rick Scott's hypocrisy gets more comical by the day. Yesterday, he released a new ad targeting Charlie Crist's wife, calling on her to release her taxes because he, quote, "believes transparency matters." In fact, transparency matters so much to Rick Scott that when a whistleblower, who had worked at the Department of Economic Opportunity for 30 years, tried to expose systemic fraud that improperly inflicted economic hardship on 19,000 Floridians, this is how Scott's administration responded: They fired her. She filed a lawsuit and won her case as the jury ruled that the Governor's administration had fired her in retaliation for trying to uncover the DEO's wrongdoing.
What Does Rick Scott Have To Hide?
This week, PolitiFact confirmed that when deposed in lawsuits involving his company in 2000, Rick Scott invoked the Fifth Amendment 75 times. That’s the one that protects you against self-incrimination. Scott was deposed in a civil case against his former company, Columbia/HCA, who later plead guilty to at least 14 corporate felonies including Medicare and Medicaid fraud, and paid a whopping $1.7 billion in criminal fines. Scott was under advisement from his attorney to invoke the Fifth Amendment in his deposition due to those ongoing criminal investigations. Whether Rick Scott is under oath or he’s on the campaign trail, he just won’t answer questions. When it comes to tackling problems, the voters of Florida don’t need a Governor who pleads the Fifth. They need real answers.
Bridge President Brad Woodhouse on Koch Brothers: Dark Money Fueling a Dark Agenda
Nearly half of Americans are now familiar with the infamous conservative donors the Koch brothers. Their trail of dark money funds a broad and complex political network that has one goal in mind: driving a conservative agenda that enriches the wealthiest Americans at the expense of the middle and working class. This agenda is nothing new. Charles and David Koch's political activism and their attacks on programs that support and bolster the middle class date back to a failed 1980 vice presidential run by David Koch on the Libertarian ticket, running to the right of conservatives' now revered icon Ronald Reagan. The brothers' policy agenda -- attacking Social Security, Medicare and the minimum wage, and protecting corporate tax breaks -- has barely changed since. Its newest addition: efforts to take America back to the days of insurance companies making decisions about patient care. Americans for Prosperity, the centerpiece of the Koch machine, spent $122 million in 2012, as detailed in Bridge Project's recent report on "Conservative Transparency," including a whopping $33.5 million on their failed effort to defeat President Obama. This cycle, AFP has already spent more than $30 million in states with competitive Senate races. As the Kochs work to advance their self-serving agenda, voters should keep a keen eye on the true motives behind their attacks.
What You Need to Know Before Chris Christie "Clears" Himself
To: Interested Parties From: Brad Woodhouse, President of American Bridge Subject: What You Need to Know Before Chris Christie "Clears" Himself Date: Thursday, March 27, 2014 Governor Chris Christie's taxpayer-funded attorneys today will release a report that supposedly "clears" Christie of any wrongdoing in the scandal known as Bridgegate. This report, which was conducted by a firm with close ties to Christie, involved analysis of documents the Christie administration failed to provide to the state legislative committee investigating the scandal. In other words, Christie's defense team gave themselves a first look at everything - and now, they are continuing to keep those documents shielded from public view. The firm that conducted the investigation has close ties to Christie. One of their attorneys even received a lucrative contract from Christie’s office as U.S. Attorney as part of a deferred prosecution agreement. Christie’s use of deferred prosecution agreements has come under fire in the past as a tool he used to reward allies. What's more, this self-investigation failed to interview key players whom we know to be involved the scandal – Bridget Anne Kelly, Bill Stepien, and David Wildstein. Without those interviews, any exoneration is suspect. But the most egregious piece of Christie's bogus self-exoneration is that it has come at a cost of $1 million of taxpayer money. The Star Ledger has called on Christie to return the taxpayer funds that were used for this farce, and I think most New Jerseyans would agree that their hard earned money could be put to much better use than "clearing" Christie in a scandal created by his own administration.