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COM
August 4, 2014

Via Fax Transmission to (404) 656-5948
& First Class Mail

William Ryan Teague, Esq.
Executive Counsel
Office of the Governor
201 State Capitol
Atlanta, Georgia 30335

RE: Request for records under Georgia Open Records Act

Dear Mr. Teague:

The Open Records Act, O.C.G.A. 50-18-70 et seq., requires that all
documents, papers, letters, maps, books, tapes, photographs, or similar material
that is maintained, prepared, or received by the Office of Governor in the course
of its operation be open for inspection by any citizen at a reasonable time and
place. In accordance with the Open Records Act, I am requesting an opportunity
to review and copy the following materials:

All documents or other material, including electronically stored
information, related in any way to work done by you, William Ryan
Teague, related to any proceeding before the Georgia Government
Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission, commonly called the
Ethics Commission, related to Nathan Deals 2010 campaign for Governor.
Electronically stored information is writings, drawings, graphs, charts,
photographs, sound recordings, images, and other data or data
compilations that is stored in any medium from which information can be
obtained either directly or, if necessary, after translation by the Office of
Governor into a reasonably usable form. Electronically stored information
includes but is not limited to e-mails (and all attachments to e-mails), text
messages, and instant messages (such as messages sent though Apples
iMessage service).

This request should be read as broadly as possible to include every
possible document, including electronically stored information, related to work
done by you related to any proceeding before the Ethics Commission related to
Nathan Deals 2010 campaign for Governor, including but not limited to
memoranda and hand-written notes. It should also be read to include all written
communication (including electronically stored information) between you and
Randy Evans.

All of the requested material should be produced in its entirety, without
abbreviation or expurgation, and without redacting any portions of it. Further, if
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you withhold any of the requested items under a claim of privilege, describe the
nature of the item not providedand do so in a manner that will enable others to
assess your claim. Information that will assist others in assessing the claim
include but are not limited to the basis for claiming privilege; the identity of each
person (other than stenographic or clerical assistants) that participated in
preparing the item being withheld; the identity of each person to whom the
contents of a document or record being withheld have been communicated in any
way; a description of any document or other material that may have been
transmitted with an item being withheld and whether any non-privileged matter
is contained or discussed in the document or other material was transmitted with
an item being withheld.

You have been described by Randy EvansGovernor Deals private,
personal attorneyas part of the legal team representing Governor Deal before
the Ethics Commission.
1
Governor Deal himself told WAGA-TV reporter Dale
Russell, in an interview that was broadcast on TV, that you were part of the team
representing him before the Ethics Commission. Your letter to me in response to
my last request under the Open Records Act suggests that you believe that you,
the Governors Executive Counsel, can represent Nathan Deal before the Ethics
Commission regarding alleged personal misconduct by him. You stated that it is
well settled that you can do that, and you cited a footnote of an Attorney
General Opinion that you assert settled this issue. Ive read the Attorney General
Opinion and the footnote on which you rely. It does not say what you claim. If
anything, it stands in opposition to what you claim; it simply acknowledges that
O.C.G.A. 45-12-55 authorizes the Governor to appoint executive counsel to
advise him in the exercise of the official powers of the Office of the Governor.

As the Governors Executive Counsel, a position in state government
created by statute, you are a government lawyer. Government lawyers stand in a
far different position from private lawyers representing private clients.
2
As
Executive Counsel, your duty is not to defend Nathan Deal against ethical or
criminal charges, and it is not to protect his personal ethical lapses from public
exposure.
3
Randy Evans can do that work, you cannot. The Governors joband,
by extension, yoursis to take care that the laws are faithfully executed.
4
You, the
Governors Executive Counsel, because you are a government lawyer, cannot

1
Ethics chief claims Deal aides pressured her, threatened agency, The
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, http://tinyurl.com/mc7fgao (last visited Aug. 2,
2014).
2
See In re Lindsey, 158 F.3d 1263, 1272 (D.C. Cir. 1998) (discussing how
White House Counsel represent the Office of the President not the president
in his personal capacity, and discussing why White House Counsel cannot
claim attorney-client privilege as it relates to the Presidents personal
conduct).
3
Id.
4
Ga. Const. Art. 5, 2, II.
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represent the Governor in his personal capacity when he is accused of
wrongdoing before the Ethics Commission, particularly so when the alleged
misconduct occurred before the Governor was elected and, thus, does not include
allegations concerning the alleged misuse of the official powers of the Office of
the Governor.

In your letter to me, you said it is illogical to think that you could not
represent Nathan Deal when he is accused of personal misconduct and have your
work protected by the attorney-client and attorney-work-product privileges. It is
not illogical; it is the law. Even in the throes of the Monica Lewinsky scandal,
when President Clinton took some bold legal positions, the President and his
administration conceded that personal legal advice that White House lawyers
may have given the President was not protected by the attorney-client privilege
because, as government employees, they had no authority to provide such
advice.
5


When Deputy White House Counsel Bruce Lindsey sought to invoke the
attorney-client privilege to avoid providing testimony against President Clinton,
Independent Counsel Ken Star litigated the issue, and the courts held that it
would be contrary to tradition, common understanding, and our governmental
system for the attorney-client privilege to attach to White House Counsel in the
same manner as private counsel.
6
The same principles apply to your work for
Nathan Deal as the Governors Executive Counsel. As the court noted when
rejecting Bruce Lindseys claim of attorney-client privilege, during the Nixon
administration, Solicitor General Robert H. Bork told an administration official
who invited him to join the Presidents legal defense team: A government
attorney is sworn to uphold the Constitution. If I come across evidence that is bad
for the President, I'll have to turn it over. I wont be able to sit on it like a private
defense attorney.

The Governor is entitled in his personal capacity to the same privileges as
any person, and thus he receives the full protection of the attorney-client and
work-product privileges in his dealings with personal counsel. You are not
Governor Deals personal counsel; you are his Executive Counsel, a government
lawyer. Thus, you cannot claim the attorney-client privilege or the work-product
privilege exempts the material I requested from disclosure under the Open
Records Act.

The Open Records Act guarantees the right of citizens to reproduce
records, subject to a payment of costs based upon the most economical means
available for providing copies of records. If the cost for obtaining copies of the
requested records does not exceed $500, please copy the records and mail them
to me with an invoice and I will promptly send payment for the costs. Otherwise,
please advise me of any costs that you plan to assess to respond to my request

5
In re Lindsey, 158 F.3d at 1283 (Tatel, J., dissenting).
6
In re Lindsey, 158 F.3d at 1278.
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and state the basis for computing the charges utilizing the method specified in
O.C.G.A. 50-18-71 and wait for my approval before incurring any costs.

I eagerly anticipate receiving these records within three business days in
accordance with O.C.G.A. 50-18-71(b). Thank you.

Sincerely,

Bryan Long

Executive Director
Better Georgia