Utah attorney general's office says panelist who writes for Trib had conflict, fights release of sec

[TexasTowelie]

Utah attorney general’s office says panelist who writes for Trib had conflict, fights release of secret opinion on recent election


Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes’ office is continuing its fight against public disclosure of a legal opinion on this year’s special congressional election — accusing the State Records Committee of an “improper” conflict of interest.

The office, in an appeal to 3rd District Court, asks a judge to overturn a State Records Committee order to turn over the opinion to The Salt Lake Tribune, which has sought the document since June under Utah’s open-records laws.

Reyes’ top lieutenants argue in the appeal filed Tuesday that bias — or at least the appearance of it — tainted the committee’s 6-0 decision. They noted that the order was signed by Holly Richardson, a five-year veteran of the committee, who also writes opinion columns for The Tribune.

“The committee’s decision is improper because its author is an employee of The Salt Lake Tribune who resolved the dispute in favor of her co-employee at The Salt Lake Tribune and their mutual employer,” the attorney general’s office argued. “The decision-maker’s financial relationship with the [newspaper] in whose favor she ruled imbues the decision with the appearance of bias.”

Read more: http://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2017/11/22/utah-attorney-generals-office-says-panelist-who-writes-for-trib-had-conflict-fights-release-of-secret-opinion-on-recent-election/