Guv's office told to reveal why it hired private lawyers

Gov. Josh Shapiro has entered the national conversation as a potential vice presidential pick for likely Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.

Spotlight PA's government team has compiled this comprehensive biography featuring his accomplishments, controversies, and more. You can find all of our Shapiro coverage here.

Also this week, state lawmakers did not include additional funding for the Whole-Home Repairs Program in this year's budget despite high demand. They did, however, pass several energy bills that make clear that fossil fuels are here to stay.

Finally, Shapiro has signed a bill that greatly expands protections against lawsuits meant to silence public expression.

Following the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump in Butler, Spotlight PA is trying to better understand security protocols at past campaign events in Pennsylvania. To do so, we need your help

Did you or someone you know attend a public campaign event for either former President Donald Trump or current President Joe Biden? If you did, and you want to assist us in our reporting, please contact reporter Danielle Ohl at dohl@spotlightpa.org or (717) 433-3071.

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Judge sides with Spotlight PA in fight to unredact governor’s legal bills

For nearly two years, Spotlight PA along with partner newsroom LNP | LancasterOnline has been trying to find out why the governor’s office has spent tens of thousands in public dollars to hire private law firms.

At nearly every turn, the administration — first that of former Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, and more recently, that of Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro — has actively blocked the effort, arguing the information is privileged and thus not subject to disclosure under Pennsylvania's public records law.

This week, a panel of Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court judges disagreed.

In a ruling released Tuesday and authored by President Judge Emerita Bonnie Brigance Leadbetter, the court ordered the governor’s office to remove redactions it made to certain legal records it turned over to Spotlight PA and LNP in response to a public records request. The redactions blacked out the reason the office had hired private lawyers in the first place. 

Leadbetter’s decision revealed that the administration shielded that it had hired lawyers to represent unnamed witnesses in law enforcement investigations, including one involving a federal grand jury. The ruling does not provide any detail about those probes.

In her ruling, Leadbetter left the door open to forcing the governor’s office to disclose even more information about what cases or issues it paid private lawyers to handle.

Paula Knudsen Burke, a lawyer with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press who represented the news organizations, said she was pleased with the ruling.

“Our state's public records law exists to promote access to exactly this kind of information, which helps the public more fully understand how its government is operating,” she said.

Neither Shapiro’s spokesperson nor a lawyer for his office responded to an email requesting comment, including on whether the administration intends to appeal the ruling to Pennsylvania's Supreme Court.

The case has a long and complicated history.

Spotlight PA and LNP first submitted a request for legal records in January 2022, when Wolf was governor. The request was filed with the Office of General Counsel, which often handles matters specific to the governor’s office. The news organizations asked for invoices and other financial documents for spending on outside law firms from 2019 through 2021. 

In response, the general counsel’s office provided copies of 45 invoices submitted by six outside firms that totaled $367,538. 

In every invoice, officials redacted the subject line, making it impossible to understand why the governor’s office was spending taxpayer money. They also blacked out portions of the invoices describing the work conducted by the private lawyers. 

The general counsel’s office argued the information was exempt from disclosure due to, among other things, attorney-client privilege. During oral argument before Commonwealth Court last September, the office also asserted that two of the legal invoices sought by the news organizations included details that would “reveal the institution, progress, or result of investigations.”  

One of its lawyers also suggested the two invoices were “protected by an order of the court,” according to the court ruling, and urged Commonwealth Court to review them privately.

In the ruling, Leadbetter said the court had done so, and concluded the redacted information did not meet the threshold of revealing the progress or result of an investigation. She also noted that there was no evidence of a court order prohibiting its release.

Leadbetter directed that the subject lines contained in those invoices be unredacted. She also directed a private review of all remaining subject lines that the administration redacted to determine whether those too have to be disclosed. —Angela Couloumbis, Spotlight PA

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