A public records request by Citizens Action Coalition regarding the former Pence administration and Carrier resulted in the release of more than 1,000 pages worth of e-mails but the bundle seemed to have more to do with people looking for jobs with the incoming Trump administration than anything else and there was even Cheat Sheet mention.

Citizens Action Coalition requested the e-mails to get more details on the Carrier negotiations.  And a Marion County Judge ruled last month that the Governor’s Office was in violation of the state’s Access to Public Records Act and order the administration to release the e-mails.

Indy Politics spent the past couple of days reviewing the e-mails and came across the following…

  • Several current and former Pence administration officials looking for positions either on the transition team or in the Trump administration, including former DWD Commissioner Steve Braun inquiring about the Secretary of Labor cabinet post, Mitch Daniels DWD Director Mark Everson, BMV Commissioner Kent Abernathy, and INDOT Commissioner Brandye Hendrickson.
  • A request by former Senate President Pro Tempore David Long to then Chief of Staff Jim Atterholt to pass along the resume of the friend of a major corporate executive in Long’s District to the Trump-Pence transition team.
  • Numerous requests by media outlets (both state and national) for interviews.
  • Summaries of various daily press clippings regarding the administration’s policies
  • A letter from former State Senator Mike Delph concerning illegal immigration and a link to a 775-page report his committee compiled on the topic.
  • FOIA requests from the Democratic National Committee and a Democratic-leaning Super PAC.
  • A request to paint Governor Mike Pence’s official portrait.
  • A 169-page report of Pence administrative accomplishments from 2013-2016.
  • An e-mail from former Chief of Staff Jim Atterholt to key staff that the July 3, 2016, Cheat Sheet summary of how Donald Trump chose Mike Pence as his Vice-President was spot on.

To the best of our count,  out of the 1,066 e-mails less than a dozen involved Carrier and those were media inquiries.  There were about a dozen or so redacted e-mails, one batch, however, seemed more linked to a media request regarding the Pence’s administration’s work in the areas of education, vouchers and charter schools.

Citizens Action Coalition Director Kerwin Olson told Indiana Public Broadcasting that they were still reviewing the documents.  And with respect to the redacted copies, we were told, “We’re puzzled by some of the redactions. We’re not clear on what those redactions are or why that information was redacted, but we intend to follow up with the governor’s office.”

You can view the e-mails here.