Appeals court: Governor must turn over subpoenas
Gov. Rod Blagojevich must comply with a freedom of information request and turn over to the Better Government Association subpoenas sent to his administration by federal corruption investigators, a state appeals court has ruled.
The BGA wanted the subpoenas to see what kind of potentially corrupt activities within the Blagojevich administration the federal government was investigating.
The Freedom of Information Act, which requires officials to make state documents public when requested, was designed to combat corruption by focusing a spotlight on the workings of government and the governor should follow it, the court said.
"Our legislature enacted the FOIA in recognition that blanket government secrecy does not serve the public interest and transparency should be the norm except in rare specified instances," the Illinois Appellate Court in Springfield said in a ruling filed Wednesday.
"We are very happy about this decision," said Jay Stewart, executive director of the Chicago-based BGA, which had sued to get the subpoenas.
Blagojevich communications director Lucio Guerrero said the governor had been "honoring the U.S. attorney's request not to release the documents."
"They have asked us not to release the subpoenas," he said in an e-mail Thursday. "With this decision we will consult with the U.S. attorney on what to do next."
The federal government has investigated corruption in Blagojevich's administration for years, leading to indictments against key members of the governor's inner circle. But Blagojevich himself has been accused of no wrongdoing.
The BGA asked under the Freedom of Information Act for all subpoenas from federal prosecutors the administration received for the first six months of 2006.
Blagojevich refused but a lower court ordered him to turn over the subpoenas. Blagojevich asked for reconsideration, producing a letter from the U.S. attorney's office, saying making the subpoenas public could interfere with the investigation.
The appeals court said it was unimpressed by the letter.
"We are not surprised that governmental entities, including the United States attorney, generally prefer not to reveal their activities to the public," the court said. "If this were not a truism, no FOIA would be needed."
The appeals court described Blagojevich's request for the letter from the U.S. attorney's office as "a frantic attempt to show that the court had erred by denying his motion" to keep the subpoenas secret.
The U.S. attorney's office did say there would be no harm in making public two of the subpoenas it sent to Blagojevich. Those subpoenas are now posted on the BGA Web site.