Governor's counsel: No comment

Gov. Mike Easley's chief legal counsel today declined to comment on the letter he wrote this week saying that "absolutely no evidence" exists to support a former public affairs director's claim that the governor's communications staff directed public information officials in executive branch agencies to destroy e-mails after sending them to the governor's office.

In a brief interview, Chief Legal Counsel Reuben F. Young declined to say whether the governor's press aides had denied telling the agency spokespeople to kill e-mails, or what he meant by saying there was no evidence it happened, reports Dan Kane.

Young repeatedly referred all questions to the governor's communications staff.

"I understand your question and I'm not giving you a hard time here," Young said. "I just want you to understand my response and that is I will refer you to the press office."

More after the jump.

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Young said in the letter that his investigation of the claims "included discussions with the Governor's staff and specifically the Communications Director, Press Secretary, and Deputy Press Secretary." That would be Sherri Johnson, Renee Hoffman and Seth Effron.

So far, Effron is the only one to talk to reporters, issuing a blanket denial earlier this week. But he was not identified as one of the officials who issued the directive.

Debbie Crane, the former public affairs director for the Department of Health and Human Services, said those people were Johnson, Hoffman and former Communications Director Cari Boyce, who now works for Progress Energy.

Johnson and Boyce have not responded to interview requests; Hoffman declined to be interviewed, saying in an e-mail that Young's letter "speaks for itself."

Several former and current public information officers for state agencies have said they were unaware of such a directive. Several others have either declined to comment or could not be reached.