Iowa governor sues the Des Moines Register to stop request of emails she claims are protected

Iowa’s governor is suing the Des Moines Register over the newspaper’s open records request

DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa’s governor on Friday sued the Des Moines Register over the newspaper’s open records request, asking the court to validate her office’s withholding of certain emails she claims are protected.

A Register reporter submitted a records request in February to Gov. Kim Reynolds’ office, according to the complaint. In response, the Republican governor’s office provided 825 pages of relevant documents and withheld four emails, asserting they were protected because they were “intended to be confidential, and disclosure would inhibit the governor’s ability to receive candid, fulsome, and robust information in the future,” according to the office’s response included in filings.

An attorney followed up on the Register’s behalf last week, according to court filings, arguing that so-called executive privilege is not an exemption in Iowa’s open records law and, even if it was, there was no indication the governor sent or received the emails. The attorney, Susan P. Elgin, called the withholding “legally indefensible” and asked the records be produced in a week’s time.

Instead, Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird sued Friday to ask the court to intervene, as Iowa law allows, and force the Register to halt its pursuit of the records. The Associated Press emailed Elgin Friday requesting comment. The Register’s parent company, Gannett Co., said in an email it does not comment on pending litigation.

In a statement, the governor’s office said it was unfortunate that public resources would be used to defend the governor’s withholding of the records.

“It is in the public’s interest that governors can receive candid advice from their closest advisors,” said spokesperson Mason Mauro.

In 2023, the Iowa Supreme Court rejected Reynolds’ request that the court throw out a records-related lawsuit filed against her by the liberal-leaning Bleeding Heartland blog, Iowa Capital Dispatch and Iowa Freedom of Information Council, a nonprofit that focuses on open government issues. The organizations and some of their reporters sued accusing Reynolds of violating the state’s open records law by ignoring records requests and not producing records in a timely manner.

The Register, along with the newspaper’s parent company and their former pollster, also is named in a suit filed by President Donald Trump, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and former Iowa state Sen. Brad Zaun.