Judge quashes Blunt deposition

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A judge blocked an effort Tuesday to take the sworn testimony of Gov. Matt Blunt in an investigation into whether his office violated open-records laws by deleting government e-mails.

A bipartisan pair of special assistant attorneys general had sought to depose Blunt on Thursday as part of their lawsuit. They are seeking fines against the governor's office on allegations that Blunt "knowingly and purposely" violated Missouri's public-records law.

In a court hearing Tuesday, attorneys for the outgoing Republican governor claimed an executive privilege shielded Blunt from a general deposition notice that didn't limit the questions to specific topics.

"They cannot simply have a wide-open deposition for the purpose of harassing the governor," argued Blunt attorney Jim Meadows.

Cole County Circuit Judge Richard Callahan quashed the notice of deposition, agreeing it was overly broad.

Former Democratic lieutenant governor Joe Maxwell, one of two court-appointed assistant attorneys general, said in a subsequent interview that investigators would narrow the parameters of what they want to ask the governor for a potential second try at the deposition.

The controversy over e-mail deletions in Blunt's office began in September 2007, when the Springfield News-Leader said it had requested e-mail communications between the governor's office and anti-abortion interests but was told the e-mails didn't exist.

As an explanation, a Blunt spokesman said governor's office employees regularly deleted e-mails and denied they needed to be retained as public records -- an assertion from which the office later backed off. Blunt also said he routinely deleted e-mails and the office had no policy governing when to retain e-mails.

"We need to know whether or not the governor was informed his statements were inaccurate as applied to the law, and if so, when did he know that," Maxwell said.

Meadows said Tuesday that the investigation had produced no evidence personally linking Blunt -- as opposed to his staff -- to the alleged misconduct of failing to abide by open-records laws.

E-mails are public records under Missouri law. Depending on the topic, some can be deleted soon after receipt, others must be kept for three years and some must be saved for the state archives.

About the same time the media were questioning Blunt's e-mail policies, records show that Scott Eckersley, then a legal counsel to the governor, was assigned to update the office's Sunshine Law policy. On Sept. 14, 2007, he sent an e-mail to several top Blunt officials recommending they respond to the media by acknowledging that e-mails can be public records that must be retained.

Eckersley was fired two weeks later. He has filed a wrongful termination and defamation lawsuit. Blunt officials say he was fired for justifiable reasons unrelated to e-mails, including for doing private business work with state resources.

On Monday, Eckersley was deposed by Blunt's attorneys as part of the investigation by the special assistant attorneys general. At times, the questioning became heated -- a fact alluded to in court Tuesday.

Besides blocking Blunt's deposition, Callahan also blocked the deposition notice issued by Blunt's attorneys for Scott Holste, a spokesman for Attorney General Jay Nixon. The judge said it also failed to include a subject matter.

Callahan agreed Tuesday to allow Blunt's former chief of staff, Ed Martin, to be added as a defendant to the lawsuit. Martin's attorney had objected, at least partially on grounds that he wouldn't have time to cross-examine the various other past and present Blunt administration officials who already have been deposed in the case.

Callahan also delayed the trial, originally scheduled for next week, until Jan. 5 -- just seven days before Blunt's term as governor is to end. Callahan said he remained committed to wrapping up the case before Blunt leaves office.