Legislative legal opinion confirms that Dunleavy can talk about Clarkson

A legislative attorney confirms that Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s claim that he can’t speak about former Attorney General Kevin Clarkson is not a legal argument, but a political one.

The attorney general is “exempt from the confidentiality provisions of the state personnel act,” wrote Emily Nauman, deputy director of Legislative Legal Services in Juneau, responding to questions from Anchorage Rep. Zack Fields.

One of the things Fields asked was whether Dunleavy of Chief of Staff Ben Stevens could disclose when they learned that Clarkson himself had denied a public records request by the Anchorage Daily News for the 558 text messages he sent to a low-ranking female state employee half his age.

Even before the June 5 letter requesting text message details from the state, the governor and Stevens must have been clued into the controversy. Clarkson, one of the most powerful officials in the state, was hitting on an employee half his age.

When Clarkson denied that he had such text messages, the department told the Daily News that it did not have the records.

Clarkson should have recused himself from the issue, but it appears he did not. Dunleavy has pretended, without legal basis, that state law prevents him from saying anything about the matter.

Nauman said the governor can reveal to the public when he learned about Clarkson’s text messages and pursuit of the young state employee. He can also reveal when he learned about Clarkson’s claim that he didn’t have the text messages.

Dunleavy secretly placed Clarkson on unpaid leave in August and expected him back at work Sept. 1. The publication of the Daily News/ProPublica investigation led to Clarkson’s resignation.

Nauman said there is a strong argument that the Legislature should have access to information related to the reason for the attorney general’s suspension because he is the head of a major department and subject to legislative confirmation.

There is a similar argument that legislators should have been told that Clarkson was not on the job, especially because of the allegations of misconduct.

She said it is likely a court would require Dunleavy to tell legislators about the circumstances of Clarkson’s suspension and resignation.

Alaskans have the right to know what Dunleavy did about Clarkson and why he didn’t fire him.

They also need to hear from Dunleavy about why his office released a statement the day Clarkson resigned in which Dunleavy acted as if he knew nothing about the allegations before the read the Daily News and Clarkson’s resignation letter.

“This morning he took responsibility for the unintentional consequences of his actions and tendered his resignation to me,” Dunleavy said on Aug. 25.

Dunleavy knew about the matter months earlier, which is why Clarkson was suspended.

Dunleavy and his PR man, Jeff Turner, objected to reporters asking any questions about Clarkson at a Sept. 2 press conference, claiming that COVID-19 was the only topic allowed. The state went so far as to ban ADN reporter Kyle Hopkins from participating because he refused to inform the governor’s office about what he wanted to ask.

Despite excluding Hopkins, an Anchorage broadcast reporter, Daniella Rivera, asked the question that Turner and Dunleavy didn’t want to hear: “Governor, Alaskans are concerned about how you handled the attorney general’s inappropriate text messages. They want to know what you knew, when you knew it and what exactly you did to address the AG’s behavior?”

After some hesitating, Dunleavy claimed he had to keep quiet because of the law, which is not true.

“That issue was dealt with according to law. And there are statutes that allow and prohibit certain comments on that,” he said.

Dunleavy has not made himself available for questions since then, afraid that reporters will ask the questions they will keep asking about Clarkson and other newsworthy matters, such as his support of the Pebble mine.

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