To New York State voters:

Supreme Court Justice Brandeis wisely opined that “Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants” to public corruption.

If you haven’t noticed it’s been getting darker in New York.

New York’s Freedom of Information Law (FOIL), the bulwark of our state’s sunlight laws, is under attack today by no less than the State’s chief law enforcement officer, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.  

Schneiderman, in an effort to avoid the disclosure of emails between his office and his political consultant, has set a precedent which threatens to permanently undermine the effectiveness of the Freedom of Information Law.

The AG is withholding from public disclosure emails between his official state office and that of his political campaign consultant.

The AG claims that his political consultant is actually an unpaid consultant, or a contractor, to the Office of the Attorney General his government office.

As a state contractor, even an unpaid one, his political consultant is the legal equivalent of an employee, whose advice (he claims) is exempt from disclosure.

Imagine the precedent!

Any governmental body can now avoid meeting the requirements of FOIL simply by ordaining an entity an unpaid consultant.

This is a bold, unvarnished attack on FOIL.

Schneiderman’s decision has been criticized roundly, including by New York’s foremost expert on FOIL Bob Freeman Director of the state’s Committee on Open Government.

To understand just how pernicious this attack is it’s important to understand the grey legal world occupied by political consultants.

These consultants provide “communications and strategic advice” to both corporate and political clients but are not required under New York Law to register their services as lobbying.

In an era where issues are just as likely to be fought in the court of public opinion, in your news outlets, than the halls of the Capitol, these consultants use their access and influence to create movements, kill issues, initiate lawsuits, pump stocks and generate clients.

A word of criticism uttered by a high ranking official to the right outlet or a seemingly innocuous press release can create a new client or help an existing client of one of these unpaid consultants.

It’s not illegal, but shielding their communications from disclosure makes a grey area, dark.

And this further erodes New Yorkers trust in their government.

FOIL is about upholding the integrity of our public offices.

Eric Schneiderman is a career politician who will do anything to advance his ambition, including gutting FOIL.

I was proud, having worked with Governor Pataki, to have had a hand in the last major expansions of FOIL in New York.

Allowing FOILs to be submitted by email and putting in place stricter time frames for response improve the public’s access to their government.

These reforms, now, are meaningless; FOIL is powerless if those in power—especially the state’s top law enforcer—don’t respect the law.

John P. Cahill

Republican Candidate for

NYS Attorney General