Saturday, February 07, 2009
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AG Madigan blasts Blagojevich 'secrecy'

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[February 07, 2009]  CHICAGO -- Attorney General Lisa Madigan on Thursday blasted former Gov. Rod Blagojevich for imposing a "culture of secrecy" on state agencies under his control and hampering the release of public records.

Madigan told the Illinois Reform Commission the Blagojevich administration repeatedly refused to release information the public and the press were legally entitled to under the state's Freedom of Information Act.

"Former Gov. Blagojevich made secrecy, not sunshine, the default position of state government," Madigan said.

New Gov. Pat Quinn created the commission to come up with ways to clean up Illinois government in the wake of the Blagojevich scandal. Blagojevich was removed from office last week after being impeached following his December arrest on federal corruption charges. He has repeatedly said he did nothing wrong.

Madigan said agencies under Blagojevich "arrogantly" refused to respond to information requests, and she said agency officers told the attorney general's office they were directed "from the top" to deny requests.

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While Madigan had created a position to help the public get access to information, there were limits on how much they could do because of the state's weak Freedom of Information Act law.

A lawyer who worked in Blagojevich's office did not immediately return a telephone call Thursday. Blagojevich's publicist did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment.

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Madigan has given suggestions to Quinn about using an executive order to increase compliance with public records laws. For example, she said Quinn could designate an attorney within his office to serve as a senior public information officer to ensure that state agencies, boards and commissions comply with the law.

The suggestion is being considered but no decision has been made, said Quinn spokesman Bob Reed.

Madigan has suggested that that senior public information officer then review all the FOIA request denials during Blagojevich's six years in office and determine whether that information should be made public.

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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