Gov. Mike Easley's chief legal counsel said in a letter Wednesday that there is "absolutely no evidence" that anyone on the governor's staff instructed public information officers for executive branch agencies to destroy e-mail correspondence with the governor's office.

The letter to Hugh Stevens, an attorney representing The News & Observer, came a day after Debbie Crane, the former public affairs director for the state Department of Health and Human Services, said in an interview that she and other top public information officers were told to delete e-mail after sending it to the governor's office. Crane's comments came after she was fired Tuesday.

"I find no evidence that anyone in the governor's office instructed any state agency, including DHHS, to systematically delete and destroy email messages exchanged with the governor's office," wrote Reuben Young, Easley's legal counsel.

Such a directive would violate the state's public records law, which seeks to assist the public in being informed about how its government operates.

Crane, who had been a spokeswoman for the department for 18 years, stood by her comments Wednesday.

"I didn't make it up, but I'm in a position where I can tell the truth," she said.

The issue surfaced in the fallout from an N&O series into the failures of the state's mental health system.

Six current and former public information officers told The N&O that they were unaware of such a directive.

"They may have said ... if you don't need the e-mails any longer, get rid of them," said Julia Jarema, the public affairs director for the Department of Crime Control and Public Safety.

Two former public information officials declined to comment, while several current public information officers did not return phone calls.

Crane said three top press aides to the governor have told the agency spokespeople to delete the e-mails. She identified them as Cari Boyce, who is now a spokeswoman for Progress Energy; communications director Sherri Johnson and press secretary Renee Hoffman. They could not be reached for interviews. Hoffman responded in e-mail that Young's letter "speaks for itself."

Typically, chief public information officers serve at the pleasure of the governor and can be fired with little notice.

The current and former public information officers who spoke to The N&O said they often called the governor's office to report information requests from reporters and other matters they thought needed the governor's attention, instead of sending e-mail.

"I don't know if there was ever a directive about that, but I know that they generally wanted us to call them," said Lavonda Van Benthuysen, who was public information officer for the Office of State Personnel in 2000-2004.

Jarema said she would sometimes call the governor's office "because it's faster and easier, especially when it's" complicated.