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Eye On Boise

Labrador helped Luker with anti-child support bill op-ed piece, then Luker deleted emails…

Here’s a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — U.S. Republican Congressman Raul Labrador involved himself in the fallout of failed Idaho legislation that would have brought the state into compliance with federal child support rules and an international treaty. Labrador says he doesn't have a position on the issue. However, the tea party-favorite told The Associated Press that he reviewed an April 12 editorial sent out by a key lawmaker after the vote. State Rep. Lynn Luker of Boise says Labrador offered suggestions and edits to his opinion piece via email. Luker turned over more than 700 pages of emails and other documents to the AP in response to a records request, but the emails between Luker and Labrador were not included. Luker says he had deleted those emails because they were sent from a private account. The editorial defended the decision by Luker and eight other lawmakers to kill the bill, arguing that the federal government was bullying Idaho.

Here’s a link to the full story from AP reporter Kimberlee Kruesi, who writes that Luker says he deleted those emails because they were sent from a private account. "I often delete emails from my private account to keep it organized," Luker said. "I used a private account this time because it was handy." The only record of Labrador's involvement provided to AP was in an email exchange dated to April 11 with Idaho House caucus spokeswoman Cindy Agidius, "Cindy, Raul suggested we keep it simple. ... If people have questions, we can provide more information."



Betsy Z. Russell
Betsy Z. Russell joined The Spokesman-Review in 1991. She currently is a reporter in the Boise Bureau covering Idaho state government and politics, and other news from Idaho's state capital.

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