Connecticut Democratic Party Chairwomen Nancy DiNardo today asked Governor M. Jodi Rell to take time from her vacation in South Carolina to answer some questions about the recent actions of her top staff members concerning a Freedom of Information (FOI) request by the Hartford Courant’s Jon Lender. Lender recently submitted an FOI request to obtain the emails between Rell’s Chief of Staff M. Lisa Moody and her budget czar Robert Genuario. As a result, it became clear that Rell knowingly tried to use her line-item veto power illegally while attempting a budget dog-and-pony show complete with wagging fingers and lectures to Democratic lawmakers. Lender received a collection of emails based on his request, but one email in particular – Moody’s email to Genuario ignoring the administration’s top lawyers and self-righteously declaring that she and Governor Rell disagreed with their decision – was missing. Lender subsequently submitted another FOI request and received the missing email, but Governor Rell has remained quiet about her office’s handling of the entire situation, including the FOI issue.
“Enough is enough,” said DiNardo. “The people of Connecticut didn’t elect Lisa Moody or Rell’s press people to be Governor of this state. They elected Jodi Rell, and if, in a moment of obvious mismanagement and ineptitude within her own administration, she is unable to give her constituents straight answers to pressing questions, she clearly doesn’t deserve to be Governor in the first place. Her silence, as usual, speaks volumes, and once again, we’re left wondering if Governor Rell is actually in charge of her staff and this state or is Lisa Moody running the show.”
DiNardo called on the Governor, herself, to answer the following questions:
· Have you discussed the missing email with Chief of Staff Lisa Moody?
· At what point did the missing email get pulled, and by whom?
· Are you satisfied with how your office responded to Jon Lender’s FOI request?
· Will you discipline Moody or whomever was responsible for apparently violating state FOI laws?
· What assurances can you give to Connecticut residents that your office fully understands FOI laws and they will comply with future requests?
· Will you order a review of what happened and who was responsible for this apparent failure to adequately respond to the FOI request?
