D.C. Transparency Watch: Appeal needed for NBC4 to get D.C. emails

Emails went missing the first time D.C. television reporters asked for agency staff communications that could shed light on weak preparations for a sudden snow storm on Jan. 20. And no one is saying why.

As the "News 4 I-Team" reported last week, their first request yielded a total of zero records — none. This of course seemed highly unlikely, as D.C. residents had been howling that night about city streets and roads that were untreated sheets of ice.

On appeal, the central technology office that stores all city emails turned up hundreds of pages of messages involving the mayor's office, Department of Public Works and more. The office blamed the initial zero harvest on unspecified technical problems (but also admitted other requests were similarly mishandled). Continue…

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