FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
News from Progress Michigan
March 16, 2015
Contact: Sam Inglot, 616-916-0574, sam@progressmichigan.org
Sunshine Week: Governor Rick Snyder Lobbied by Governor Jeb Bush Using Personal Email
Documents obtained via FOIA request include personal emails regarding state business between Governor Rick Snyder and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush
LANSING — Today, Progress Michigan highlighted a private email exchange between Governor Rick Snyder and former Florida governor, Jeb Bush discussing possible education policies for Michigan.
The email was subsequently forwarded from Snyder’s personal email account to state officials with the expectation that the officials would act. The email was included in a FOIA request seeking conversations between Gov. Rick Snyder, his Chief of Staff Dennis Muchmore and State Superintendent Mike Flanagan.
“This email exchange raises questions about what other state business the Governor conducts via his personal email,” said Lonnie Scott, executive director of Progress Michigan. “Gov. Snyder should release any and all personal emails in which he has conducted state business.”
Progress Michigan is also calling on former Florida Governor Jeb Bush to release all emails from his personal account, jeb@jeb.org, that were sent to elected officials since leaving office. It has recently been disclosed that Bush used his personal email address to discuss sensitive national security issues while serving as Florida Governor.
“Jeb Bush owes the American people a full accounting of his interactions with elected officials since leaving office in early 2007,” Scott continued. “They call Florida the Sunshine State, but it’s clear that it has everything to do with the climate and nothing to do with Governor Bush’s commitment to transparency.”
A copy of the email between Gov. Snyder and Bush is attached.
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