Coming from the east coast I have no idea what goes on in New Mexico. Land of Enchantment is all I know.
Coming from the east coast I have no idea what goes on in New Mexico. Land of Enchantment is all I know.
Searchlight New Mexico, an independent investigative non-profit organization, broke the news last week that Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s office supported using the encrypted messaging app Signal to conceal communications among staff.
The potential violation of the New Mexico Public Records Act came to light after the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department, which is overseen by the governor, fired two senior employees who raised concerns over the app’s use.
“Department leadership then set many of those communications to automatically delete, rendering them forever inaccessible to attorneys, members of the public and journalists,” the non-profit outlet reported. “Searchlight also found that the Office of the Governor and the state’s Department of Information Technology supported the systemic deletion of messages, according to emails and policy guidance obtained through an Inspection of Public Records (IPRA) request.”
The governor’s office itself, Searchlight wrote, instructed staff to regularly delete their messages to circumvent oversight.
“Every single text message that you send or receive likely qualifies as a ‘transitory record,'” reads the official guidance. “We recommend that your delete all text messages which are ‘transitory records’ every ten days. You may delete them more often if you wish.”
Considering the plague of scandals to swarm the governor, many likely have.
State Republicans demanded answers on just the latest controversy to rock the governor’s office in late April when Searchlight first reported the encrypted messaging app was used in the Children, Youth and Families Department.
Searchlight New Mexico, an independent investigative non-profit organization, broke the news last week that Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s office supported using the encrypted messaging app Signal to conceal communications among staff.
The potential violation of the New Mexico Public Records Act came to light after the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department, which is overseen by the governor, fired two senior employees who raised concerns over the app’s use.
“Department leadership then set many of those communications to automatically delete, rendering them forever inaccessible to attorneys, members of the public and journalists,” the non-profit outlet reported. “Searchlight also found that the Office of the Governor and the state’s Department of Information Technology supported the systemic deletion of messages, according to emails and policy guidance obtained through an Inspection of Public Records (IPRA) request.”
The governor’s office itself, Searchlight wrote, instructed staff to regularly delete their messages to circumvent oversight.
“Every single text message that you send or receive likely qualifies as a ‘transitory record,'” reads the official guidance. “We recommend that your delete all text messages which are ‘transitory records’ every ten days. You may delete them more often if you wish.”
Considering the plague of scandals to swarm the governor, many likely have.
State Republicans demanded answers on just the latest controversy to rock the governor’s office in late April when Searchlight first reported the encrypted messaging app was used in the Children, Youth and Families Department.
(post is archived)