(Source: MIRS.news, Published 08/09/2023) A Court of Claims judge ruled Wednesday that the Attorney General’s office cannot withhold from public release documents and exhibits used in court against those accused of supporting the plot to kidnap the Governor.
Judge James Robert Redford ordered the AG’s office to produce the exhibits “admitted in open court” that freelance videographer Eric Van Dussen requested, rejecting the AG’s argument that releasing the documents would deprive the criminal defendants of a fair trial.
“The exhibits are to be produced in the manner they were admitted in court,” Redford’s 13-page order reads.
Van Dussen called the process “an expensive stalling tactic” by Attorney General Dana Nessel who has participated in several Freedom of Information Act seminars throughout the state and has said she’s a fan of governmental transparency.
“I’m hoping that AG Nessel will instruct her staff to immediately release this newsworthy information and to not pursue any costly and unnecessary appeals,” he said.
Van Dussen submitted a FOIA request in September 2022 seeking the documents shown in the trial of three men convicted in Jackson County of supporting terrorism in connection with the 2020 plot to kidnap and kill Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Van Dussen also requested the documents used at the hearings for the defendants in Antrim County, who are awaiting trial on the same charge.
The AG’s office denied Van Dussen’s request, arguing it would either interfere with law enforcement proceedings, deprive defendants of a fair trial or would be an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.
Redford said the AG’s office relied on the exhibits in court and did not seek to close the court proceedings or ask for a protective order. He rejected the AG’s argument that the records were investigatory because they had been used in open court.
