The Washington Post published a new editorial on Sunday calling out Larry Hogan for not complying with Maryland’s Public Information Act, and instead sidestepping the rules preventing Marylanders from knowing the truth. That law, which has been in place for decades, is intended to protect public access to government records.
As the Washington Post first reported last month, Hogan “has long used electronic chat rooms that destroy messages in 24 hours to communicate with state employees, records show, allowing his inner circle to keep communications beyond the reach of the public, state archivists and history.”
Although Hogan’s office has asserted that he is not subject to the law as the “head” of government, we agree with Del. Vaughn M. Stewart (D-Montgomery) that this argument is laughable on its face. We applaud Del. Stewart and Sen. Clarence Lam (D-Howard) for their plan to introduce legislation to expressly prohibit the governor from concealing these records from public scrutiny.
The people of Maryland have a right to know what the Governor is hiding, whether it’s related to the public health crisis, the upcoming trial of his former Chief of Staff, his failure to notify residents of faulty vaccines distributed by the state, or other public issues. Nobody is above the law or public accountability – not even Larry Hogan.
Read the full Washington Post Editorial here.
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