Emails from VP Pence’s time as governor delivered in Indiana

INDIANAPOLIS – Thirteen boxes of emails from Vice-President Mike Pence’s term as Indiana governor have been turned over to state government, about two months after an earlier attempt didn’t work, a spokesman said.

Attorneys for Pence delivered the emails Thursday to be archived for public review as required under Indiana law, the Indianapolis Star reported (http://indy.st/2m4OK6j ).

The emails are from government accounts as well as Pence’s private email account used for government business, spokesman Marc Lotter said. That AOL account was disclosed Thursday.

“It’s been expressed to us that a lot of what’s in those boxes, if not everything, we already have. But we haven’t verified that,” said Stephanie Wilson, a spokeswoman for the new governor, Eric Holcomb.

Lotter said attorneys for Pence tried to deliver boxes of emails on Jan. 9, his last day as governor, but they returned to the law firm with them due to a “lack of clarity (about) what to do” with the emails.

Pence said Friday that he has “fully complied” with Indiana law. Critics, however, say emails from Pence’s private account should have been disclosed earlier.

“We shouldn’t be accidentally discovering that officials from the governor down to school board members are conducting public business on private communication channels,” said Gerry Lanosga, an Indiana University professor and past president of the Indiana Coalition for Open Government.

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Information from: The Indianapolis Star, http://www.indystar.com