Question about Dean's papers

Does anyone know the position Dean has taken on his sealed records as governor?
I had heard he would release them when Bush released his.
Then I heard he would release them after the primaries.
Then I heard a conservative group is going to court to get them released.

Dean is not my first choice, but if he gets the nomination I will definitely vote for him.
I am concerned that if he does get the nomination and then releases the records and there is something in there that will sink him, we will really be stuck - with Bush.

Seeing how the rest of Democrats are willing to shoot him down as it is, I'm sure they've done more than their share to help Bush out in the fall.

The State of Vermont is not releasing them to the court.

release them. Now isn't THAT convenient????

and what shouldn't. So Dean's correspondence and memos get the same treatment as every other gov or congress person?

Clearly proof of wrong doing.

Next you people will be saying he claimed he invented the Internet in order to attack Dean.


Inventing something where there is nothing.


Oh oh oh i went to Kerry event and he wouldn't let me look though his wallet, clearly he is hiding the proof of his beign bribed by W.

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Dean is not fighting the lawsuit to open them, instead is allowing the Attorney general and the judge decide what should be released and what shouldn't. That which is not released are supposed to be records that involve elements that affect other private parties (citizens of Vermont and other states who may have written to Dean regarding the civil unions bill who may not want to be 'outed'.)

I am the most cautious person I know about making definitive statements, but I am 98% confident that nothing regarding blood or human misery will be found in those records. At the worse will be some element that if twenty attorneys pour over them for a few hundred billable hours, they can cook up a Whitewateresque scandal.

LuminousX and Jerseycoa - I think I have a better picture of the situation now.
The media (CNN) is trying to suggest there is a smoking gun in there.

Vermont is a place that does not allow for political secrets. Gephardt couldn't even send a research person up here without it being plastered all over the news. The records are essentially letters that other people wrote to Dean during his time as governor. It's letters requesting his help, offering suggestions, thanking him, bitching at him and giving him information about things. Our political process is public in Vermont and it is followed very closely. There's nothing hiding in those records that hasn't already been hashed, rehashed and hashed again and again on this site. If you can live with what you've read here, you can live with Howard Dean. Oh, and keep in mind that MOST of what you hear on this site from those who oppose Dean isn't accurate information to begin with. He's as squeaky clean as a politician can get, and a damn great leader. Yes, he will occassionally put his foot in his mouth or use the wrong choice of words, but it doesn't hurt him. It's one of the things that makes him more endearing as a politician. He might not always be politically correct, but he's always real. And that's worth it's weight in gold. We Vermonters are very wise about politicians. We wouldn't re-elect Dean 5 times if he weren't a great governor.

Vermont does not allow political secrets??

wow!!

he said he wasn't hiring a lawyer.

But The Atty Gen, Dean's best friend in gov't, is representing the state and Dean.

who support other candidates, of some wrong doing.


Yet... where can I view his correspondence and memos from Edwards?

Didn't realize it was such a hot issue here. And it looks like it will continue to be an issue for media.

Neither Dumbya nor Kerry, Lieberman, Gephardt, Edwards, or Kucinuch have released their congressional memos and personal correspondence.

What they are "demanding" Dean release has not EVER been released by any of them.

Kucinich does get good grades for his Cleveland mayoral records being open, and not participating in the dogpile on this issue. Kucinich, and CMB have not participated in the dogpile on this supposed issue, and Sharpton's participation seems to have only been light-hearted joking.

In a statement released this past week Rev. Al Sharpton stated that, "Howard Dean's opposition to affirmative action, his current support for the death penalty and historic support of the NRA's agenda, amounts to an anti-black agenda," he went on to say, "that will not sell in communities of color."

Al is such a kidder

I was wrong about Sharpton and coming back to edit it.

That said, I'm not sure what personal office memos and correspondence have to do with affirmative action. I don't see the link.

So that still leaves Dumbya, Lieberman, Kerry, Gephardt, Edwards, and Kucinich that have not released their Congressional private memos and correspondence.

First of all, according to Vermont law, Dean wasn't permitted to seal those documents for the reasons he claimed at the time for doing so.

http://www.judicialwatch.org/cases/107/deancomp.htm
<snip>
This action seeks Defendants' compliance with the Vermont Access to Public Records Act, 1 V.S.A. §§ 315 to 320. Defendants have steadfastly refused to disclose hundreds of thousands of pages of public records and papers of former Vermont Governor and current United States presidential candidate, Dr. Howard Dean, based solely on an unsupported, blanket claim of "executive privilege" as memorialized in a "Memorandum of Understanding" that Dr. Dean negotiated with the other Defendants. However, some five months before officially announcing his candidacy for president, Dr. Dean acknowledged (on Vermont Public Radio) that this secrecy is motivated by "future political considerations" and the desire to prevent "anything embarrassing appearing in the papers at a critical time in any future endeavor." This is not a legitimate basis for refusing to release public documents.

...

Vermont's Access to Public Records Act declares: "Officers of government are trustees and servants of the people and it is in the public interest to enable any person to review and criticize their decisions even though such examination may cause inconvenience or embarrassment." 1 V.S.A. § 315. The Act permits "ny person" to "inspect or copy any public record or document...." 1 V.S.A. § 316.

...

There is no Vermont statute or other law that authorizes a governor (or anyone else, for that matter) to enter into a "Memorandum of Understanding" as a means of preventing public review of a governor's official correspondence.
<end ship>

Second, there are already letters and documents that were left unsealed and are available to the public including documents that were marked "not for public disclosure," so the excuse that the sealed records were sealed for the privacy protection of Vermonters doesn't fly:

http://news.bostonherald.com/national/national.bg?articleid=117
<snip>
Also readily available are letters written to and from Dean detailing personal struggles and medical conditions of his constituents.
They include correspondence with a couple about the care of their daughter with Down syndrome and Alzheimer's and a couple who detailed to Dean the medication they take.
more...

...

The documents include five security directives from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in the days after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks - several are direct correspondence from NRC Chairman Richard A. Meserve to Dean. Most of the papers are marked "not for public disclosure" and threaten civil and criminal penalties.
<end snip>

Further, some of the documents that were sealed are already known to be records that are NOT private correspondence and have nothing to do with the privacy of Vermonters:

http://news.bostonherald.com/national/national.bg?articleid=117
<snip>
Dean sealed many of his government files for 10 years - including all his press releases and many speeches, keeping them private until 2013. Previous governors sealed records for six years.
<end snip>

Also, Dean can still open the records himself which refutes the claim that his hands are tied.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A57807-2003Dec11?language=printer
<snip>
Responding to the mounting criticism, Dean said this week that he would leave the matter up to the judge in the Judicial Watch lawsuit. Deputy Secretary of State William A. Dalton, whose staff oversees the archives, said a decision could be months away, but he is preparing his staff for the possibility that the court, or Dean himself, will make some documents available sooner.

Fitton, of Judicial Watch, said that Dean is trying to delay the process. Last year, three Vermont newspapers sued for access to Dean's schedules. It took several months for a judge to rule that some should be made public. "It is clearly a stall tactic to say, 'Let the judge decide,' " Fitton said. "Once people realize that, the pressure to open them up himself will increase."
<end snip>

*Tom Fitton is Judicial Watch President
http://www.judicialwatch.org/3536.shtml

Dean is now proposing to turn over the responsibility of the records opening to William Sorrell who is the present Attorney General of Vermont, appointed to that position by Dean himself, and who was in on the sealing of the records to begin:

http://www.judicialwatch.org/cases/107/deancomp.htm
<snip>
Sanford also asserted that other gubernatorial records of Governor Dean were not available for inspection, but, rather, were protected from public disclosure by a January 2003 Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") entered into and executed by Governor Dean, Defendant Markowitz and Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell ("Sorrell"). According to the MOU, a copy of which was included with Sanford’s August 26, 2003 response, "any portion of correspondence determined by Governor Dean to be encompassed by executive privilege" will be sealed for ten years. (A copy of the MOU is annexed hereto as Exhibit 3.)
<end snip>

When those guys open their Congressional memos and private correspondence to the public, then they can say something.

Dumbya is lacking Governor and President docs.

presidents Bush's papers are completely open to the public, right?

Although I doubt he's that worried...
Why are people so worked up about sealed records? This isn't strange behavior among governors. The way folks are talking you'd think he ran all of Vermont secretly.
While I'm no Dean supporter, I'm certain there are good deeds to his credit in those records, not dark stains. He doesn't sound like he really cares one way or the other about their disclosure. Not a man with something to hide.

We have had several threads in the past few days on this topic. Please continue the discussion here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=31331&mesg_id=31331


Thank you.


DU Moderator