An aide to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo refuses to make public a trove of
records that could shed light on the state’s economic development
contracts, including the Buffalo Billion contracts that have sparked a
federal investigation.
Mongthu Zago, the governor’s Freedom of
Information Law officer, recently denied The Buffalo News’ request for
phone logs, visitor logs, calendar entries and other notes that were
created during the normal course of business – and would have been sent
to federal prosecutors in Manhattan to respond to their subpoena.
Zago
said the records can be withheld under New York’s Open Records Law
because they were compiled for law enforcement purposes and would
somehow interfere with a criminal investigation, specifically the
“publicly disclosed ongoing law enforcement investigation with which we
have offered our cooperation,” she told The News in a denial letter.
While The News intends to appeal, one of the state’s foremost
authorities on New York’s sunshine laws, Robert J. Freeman, finds flaws
in Zago’s reasoning.
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Source: The Buffalo News and the Empire Report New York
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