LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder says his office will release thousands of his staff’s emails dating back to when he took office in 2011 related to Flint’s lead-contaminated water crisis.
The Republican governor, who previously voluntarily released his own Flint emails from over a two-year period, made the announcement Monday in an interview with The Detroit News editorial board.
Snyder says the email release will come “relatively soon” once lawyers remove documents that would be exempt.
Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act does not apply to the governor’s office, though some communications to and from his office have been released because state agencies are subject to public records requests.
Democrats have pressured Snyder to release emails from before 2014 because state-appointed emergency managers were involved in Flint’s switch from Detroit’s water system to the Flint River.
