EPA chief Pruitt’s ex-office given more time on emails
OKLAHOMA CITY — The chief justice of Oklahoma’s Supreme Court on Tuesday gave the state’s new attorney general more time to produce thousands of documents related to the relationship that new Environmental Protection Agency leader Scott Pruitt had with energy companies.
Chief Justice Douglas Combs granted Attorney General Mike Hunter’s request for an emergency stay after attorneys for Hunter’s office argued a lower court’s Friday deadline was not enough time to produce all the documents.
“Not only was this a patently unreasonable directive, but the AG’s office was not given the opportunity to respond to the petition,” Hunter spokesman Lincoln Ferguson said in a statement. “Our office is appreciative and encouraged by the court’s decision and welcomes the opportunity to present its case so that these records can be reviewed and provided in an orderly fashion.”
More than 7,500 pages were released under court order last week after an Oklahoma judge ruled that Pruitt had been illegally withholding his correspondence, which is public record under state law, for the last two years. Oklahoma’s Open Records Act requires state agencies to provide “prompt and reasonable access” to public records.