Court issues subpoena for Attorney General’s Office’s report on Greitens’ Confide use
The Attorney General’s Office is ordered to turn over every document related to their report on the governor’s use of a secretive texting app called Confide.
The subpoena demands for “all documents, digital files, e-mails,” etc. related to Attorney General Josh Hawley’s report to be turned over to the circuit court.
The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) issued a report that found no evidence of wrongdoing by the governor nor his staff in March. However, Hawley later said his office would reopen their investigation if granted the power to issue subpoenas.
The subpoena issued Friday also asks Hawley’s office to turn over any documentation relating to any policy regarding the use of Confide by “employees of the Attorney General’s Office.”
Lastly, it asks for any information on the “formation of legal opinion” regarding the schedule of documents as it relates to records retention laws. In their report, the Attorney General’s Office found no wrongdoing by the governor in part due to the nature of the information being exchanged on Confide.
The messages sent on Confide, according to staff members that were interviewed by the AGO, qualified as “transitory” records, which do not need to be retained under state law. The subpoena asks the AGO to turn over all documentation from the last five years where “the Attorney General’s Office attempted to define the term ‘transitory.'”
“The AGO has received the subpoena and is reviewing it,” AGO Press Secretary Mary Compton said Monday.
Greitens’ legal team filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, which was filed against the governor by a representative of the Sunshine Project. Circuit Court Judge Jon Beetem denied that motion in May.
Attorney General Josh Hawley launched an investigation into Gov. Eric Greitens use of the app among members of his staff earlier this year to find out if Greitens had violated government transparency or records retention laws.
