In our last episode, we exposed the alleged destruction and withholding of public records inside OMWBE. This case was documented through emails, chats, and timelines of their Public Records Officer.

This week, we widen the lens.

The allegations didn’t disappear.

In this sequel episode, we break down the Attorney General’s stunning non-response to a credible felony report, the structural conflicts that leave public records officers defenseless, and the systemic incentives that now reward secrecy over compliance. We examine how the very institutions meant to enforce Washington’s transparency laws have quietly positioned themselves as defense counsel for the agencies accused of wrongdoing.

If you care about public records, government accountability, whistleblower protections, or simply want to understand why Washington’s transparency system keeps failing, this episode walks you through the uncomfortable truth: there is no functioning enforcement mechanism for records-destruction felonies in this state.

And the people who report them often pay the price.

Full transcript and all cited documents: thepublicrecordsofficer.com.

Support the show

Transcript + Source Docs:
Get the full hyperlinked transcript and all documents referenced in this episode:
thepublicrecordsofficer.com

Sign up for updates:
Join our mailing list for future episodes and investigations
thepublicrecordsofficer.com

Support the show:
We’re powered by public records and public support. Buy us a coffee https://coff.ee/thepublicrecordsofficer

About WashCOG:
The Washington Coalition for Open Government (WashCOG) fights for transparency and accountability in Washington State. Learn more:
washcog.org

Tip of the hat to the musicians who created the music used on the show: Alex Grohl, Ian Post, Jakub Pietras, lumine wave, Roberto Pravo, Solis, ...

What starts as a routine public records request at a small Washington agency detonates into one of the clearest documented cases of alleged records destruction in recent memory. In this episode, Jamie Nixon walks through the stunning internal messages, emails, and timelines surrounding the Office of Minority & Women’s Business Enterprises (OMWBE), where leadership allegedly ordered staff to delete Microsoft Teams posts specifically because of an active request — and then retaliated when their public records officer refused to play along.

This is the story of Julie Bracken, a PRO who followed the law, preserved the evidence, and tried to warn her agency before the consequences spiraled. Instead, she found herself sidelined, overruled, isolated, and ultimately disciplined by the very people implicated in the misconduct.

With primary documents, internal chat logs, and verbatim excerpts from Bracken’s notes, this episode dissects how a single deletion order grew into a full-blown culture of obstruction — and what it reveals about Washington’s fragile transparency infrastructure. Transcript with links to source materials found here.

If you care about accountability, ethics, or how easily public records can be erased in the shadows of bureaucracy, this is an episode you won’t forget.

Support the show

Transcript + Source Docs:
Get the full hyperlinked transcript and all documents referenced in this episode:
thepublicrecordsofficer.com

Sign up for updates:
Join our mailing list for future episodes and investigations
thepublicrecordsofficer.com

Support the show:
We’re powered by public records and public support. Buy us a coffee https://coff.ee/thepublicrecordsofficer

About WashCOG:
The Washington Coalition for Open Government (WashCOG) fights for transparency and accountability in Washington State. Learn more:
washcog.org

Tip of the hat to the musicians who created the music used on the show: Alex Grohl, Ian Post, Jakub Pietras, lumine wave, Roberto Pravo, Solis, ...

On this important episode, Jamie Nixon breaks down the absurdity of the state’s response to the 2020 1.5 terabyte Teams chat deletion. After four months and multiple delays, the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) has delivered almost nothing, and the Governor’s Office claimed to find zero responsive records, even though records from another agency prove the Governor's own Public Records Officer and Deputy Counsel received emails on the matter.

This episode features the news of two major lawsuits filed this week: one against the Governor’s Office for a patently inadequate search, and one against WaTech for their third, failed attempt to produce critical live chat records from agency meetings.

In Focus: The AG’s Model Rules and a Culture of Secrecy

Attorney General Nick Brown proposed sensible changes to the Model Rules, but they strategically omit the most critical issues facing the state:

• Why the AG must stop defending agencies that knowingly destroy records.
• The immediate need to end the Teams auto-deletion experiment.
• The necessity of mandating electronic payment for public records fees.

Plus, Jamie details the latest example of systemic failure in the Mayor of Seattle's office, where vital records related to a Chief of Staff investigation were reportedly deleted or withheld, reinforcing the absolute need to end the "honor system" of record keeping. Finally, get a chilling preview of next week's exposé on a State PRO who wrote to the Attorney General, pleading for help against their own agency's internal corruption.

Support the show

Transcript + Source Docs:
Get the full hyperlinked transcript and all documents referenced in this episode:
thepublicrecordsofficer.com

Sign up for updates:
Join our mailing list for future episodes and investigations
thepublicrecordsofficer.com

Support the show:
We’re powered by public records and public support. Buy us a coffee https://coff.ee/thepublicrecordsofficer

About WashCOG:
The Washington Coalition for Open Government (WashCOG) fights for transparency and accountability in Washington State. Learn more:
washcog.org

Tip of the hat to the musicians who created the music used on the show: Alex Grohl, Ian Post, Jakub Pietras, lumine wave, Roberto Pravo, Solis, ...