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This article is issued with Texan Editorial Board and Texas Tribune As part of the initiative, report on how the authorities owns Texas.
Texas government. Greg Abbot don’t want disclose the months of communication since Elon Musk Either Tech Mogul representatives, partly claiming that they are private, not public interest and potentially awkward.
Musk conducted a rich legislative session in Texas This year. In addition to their lobbyists who successfully compete for a few new laws, Abbot referred to Tesla and Space The CEO, as an inspiration for a state that creates its own efficiency office and praised it for moving the headquarters for many of its enterprises to the state in recent years.
As part of an effort to Keep track of the billionaire In April, the Texas Capitol requested Ebot and emails of its staff from Moscow last fall and other people who have an email address related to some of its companies.
Initially, the governor’s office stated that it would take more than 13 hours to review the records. He provided an estimate of $ 244.64 per work and demanded a full payment. The Texas edition agreed and reduced the check.
After the check was recorded, the governor’s office reported in Texas Newsroom, which believed that all the records were confidential, and asked Texas Prosecutor General Ken Pokstan, whose office arbitrators challenged public records to allow private documents.
Matthew Taylor, Public Information Coordinator Ebot, led several reasons The records should not be published. He claimed that they included private exchanges with lawyers, details of decision -making on politics and information that would discover how state -owned companies invest in investment. Releasing them for the public, he wrote: “I would have a cooling effect on the sincere and open discussion required for the decision -making process.”
Taylor also claimed that communications are confidential according to the laws of public records known as “generally accepted privacy” because they consist of “information that is intimate and embarrassing, rather than the legal concern of the public, including financial decisions that are not related to the transactions between the individual.”
He did not submit additional details about the exact content of the records.
The language used in the Abbott office seems to be a pretty boiler. In the office of Podsna, in an explanation The exception of general legislation On its site it is mentioned that “personal financial information”, which is not engaged in state operations, “usually very intimate or embarrassed and should be contained.”
But Bill Aleshire, a Texas prosecutor, who specializes in the law on state records, was horrified that the governor claims that months of letters between his office and one of the richest people in the world are private.
“Now they seem to have charged you $ 244 for the records that they do not intend to give you,” Aleshir said. “It’s shockingly.”
Aleshire said that for state institutions it was not an unusual pressure on general legislation, trying to abandon the records of the public. But he used to cited him in cases in which children, medical data or other very personal information are involved – not for letters between the elected official and businessman.
“You’re boxing in the dark,” Aleshir said. “You can’t even see what the goal is or what is behind their claim.”
Aleshire added that with -wit recent The Supreme Court ruling in TexasThere is no effective way to comply with the laws on state reports against the Ebot and other top state officials. He called the decision “Tuza Map” for these politicians.
The case was considered asking the Ebot and Potian connection after the on January 6 attack on the US Capitol and 2022 Shooting at school in the Waldde. The Supreme Court has ruled that it is the only body that could reconsider whether these officials comply with state reports.
Kevin Boglin, a lawyer representing a Musk missile company SPACEX, also wrote a letter In the office of Potian, which claims that emails should be kept secret. He cited one main reason: they contain “commercial information, the disclosure of which will lead to SPACEX significant competitive damage.”
Most of the remaining part of the bog, which further explained the SpaceX argument, was edited.
Musk and his companies did not respond to requests for this story.
The Ebot’s press -secretary did not answer specific questions about the records, including whether it would be returned to Texas.
In his statement, he said, “the Governor’s Office strictly complies the law on public information in Texas and releases any responsive information that is not confidential and is not excluded from the disclosure of information.”
The Attorney General’s office has 45 business days to determine whether to release the evil.
Lauren McGohai is a journalist Texan Editorial BoardCooperation between NPR and public radio stations in Texas. She is in the corner in Austin. Get to her in (e -mail is protected). Sign up for An angle -bueline.
