Easley seeks probe of e-mail directive

RALEIGH -- Gov. Mike Easley said today he was bothered by recently released notes suggesting that public information officers were told to delete daily e-mail exchanges with the governor's office.

Easley said he was not convinced the notes are clear evidence that the governor's office instructed others to destroy public records. But he said he was "bothered" by that interpretation by others in what has become a debate over his administration's handling of e-mail messages.

Easley said in an interview that he would have a problem with anyone on his staff telling others to delete public records. Easley said he has asked members of his staff to look further into what public information officers were told to do by his press office.

"That bothered me, and that's why I wanted more investigation," Easley said. "If there's evidence of criminal violations, I'd turn it over to the SBI in a heartbeat."

Easley's comments came in response to notes taken by state public information officers in a meeting with the governor's press office. One public information officer at that meeting noted, "Public records request -- increasing -- careful of email -- delete emails to/from gov. office everyday."

Another wrote, "emails -- more and more public records requests (blogs?) be careful w/emails; delete emails to & from gov office every day."

Easley said the notes, which were released to The News & Observer in response to a request under the state's public records law, were not clear.

"When you get cryptic notes, sometimes you don't get all the information and that's why it's important to get in there and talk to these people," Easley said.

Easley's staff has told the public information officers not to discuss the issue because of the possibility that The N&O could file a lawsuit.

Regardless of what they were told, Easley said, he was more concerned with what those public information officers actually did. Under state law, it is a misdemeanor to destroy a public record without consent of the state Department of Cultural Resources. Easley's office over the weekend made available thousands of e-mail messages that they said were not deleted by those public information officers.

So, Easley said, there are two possibilities: Either the instructions to delete messages were not followed, or the notes can be interpreted another way.

For example, Easley said, the notes could mean that the public information officers were told to print and save e-mails that are public records before deleting them from their computer.

Easley has convened a committee to study the executive branch's policies toward e-mail and other forms of electronic communication. One goal of that committee is to give public employees clearer guidance on how to handle e-mail.

"People look at e-mails differently than they do paper, and they cannot do that," Easley said. "They want to do their jobs, and they want to follow the public records laws at the same time, and I want to make sure they understand they're both important."