Raleigh, N.C. — Former Gov. Mike Easley sometimes used a secret e-mail account to conduct state business, according to a longtime staffer who testified as part of a public records lawsuit.
By law, e-mails about public business are supposed to be public record. Several media outlets sued in 2008 over access to e-mails to and from Easley's office after some state workers claimed that staffers were told to routinely delete sensitive e-mail.
In her deposition in the lawsuit, Sherri Johnson, who served as Easley's communications director, told media attorneys that the former governor used a private e-mail account to conduct some state business and that only a few top staffers could access it.
The Carolina Journal supplied WRAL News with a copy of Johnson's deposition. The newspaper, which is one of the media outlets participating in the suit, is part of the conservative John Locke Foundation.
