This is shocking.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's (R) aides may have had a bigger role in a failed attempt to gut the state's government transparency laws than his office previously admitted, The Wisconsin State Journal reported on Thursday.
Emails surfaced by the Journal suggested the governor's office was behind provisions of the proposal that would have shielded “deliberative process" documents from open records requests. Walker is currently facing lawsuits from various publications and transparency organizations over his refusal to turn over documents related to the so-called "deliberative process," such as emails and drafting materials concerning how legislation evolves.
Wisconsin's GOP lawmakers originally tried to slide that open records shield into a budget package but were forced to
abandon the effort as soon as it came to light. After taking some heat on the matter, Walker's folks finally said they had "provided input" on the provision. Maybe by "providing input" they meant, "it was really all our idea to begin with." Hard to know. Also hard to believe they haven't been more forthcoming about their attempt to gut government transparency.