AUSTIN, Texas, July 11 (UPI) -- Texas Prosecutor Ronnie Earle is resisting newspaper efforts to get information on the cost of prosecuting former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.
The Houston Chronicle filed a Freedom of Information Request in March. When state Attorney General Greg Abbott ruled that information on spending public funds must be public, Earle filed suit against Abbott last week to get a second opinion, the Austin American-Statesman reports.
"The first obligation of law enforcement is the protection of the public," the Travis County prosecutor said. "This opinion makes that job harder."
Earle argues that requiring his office to release vouchers and other documents can give information to the defense before it is legally required to have it, and can even endanger the lives of informants. But an expert on First Amendment law, David Donaldson Jr. of Austin, told the American-Statesman that the Texas law takes that into account by allowing the attorney general to rule that some documents should be kept confidential.
DeLay has been charged with violating Texas campaign finance laws.
