The Public Records Officer Podcast

Jamie Nixon
  • 5.0 (3)
  • Politics

The Public Records Officer Podcast Fighting for the People’s Right to Know.From public records battles to quiet cover-ups, from deleted chats to documents they hoped you’d never see... The Public Records Officer Podcast (PROP) exposes the ways power hides from the people it serves.Hosted by open government advocate, a former elected official, state government public information officer and communications director Jamie Nixon, this show pulls back the curtain on the tactics used by public agencies to avoid transparency, and highlights the citizens, journalists, and legal warriors fighting back.Season One investigates the ontologically shocking story of how Washington State agencies used Microsoft Teams to automatically delete public records after just seven days, raising questions of legality, accountability, and who gets to decide what the public has a right to see.Each episode blends documents, depositions, interviews, and digital trails with sharp commentary and a sense of civic urgency. Whether it’s a modified invoice, redacted emails, or a policy crafted to vanish before a subpoena hits... The PROP is here to shine a light where the law demands it.Featuring interviews with journalists, attorneys, and the officials who tried to sound the alarm before it was too late. The truth doesn’t expire in seven days.

  1. 1d ago

    Ep. 25 Are Kruse's Texts With Lawmakers Public Records?

    In this episode of The Public Records Officer Podcast, Jamie Nixon digs into an unusual transparency fight involving Brandi Kruse, Washington lawmakers, and a federal discovery dispute over her private communications with legislators and legislative staff. Kruse may have a legitimate argument for protecting some of those messages from compelled disclosure under Washington’s reporter shield law. But that raises a different question: what happens when the same communications are sitting on a lawmaker’s phone, email account, or other government-accessible device and are requested under the Public Records Act? The episode examines a newly filed federal privilege log showing numerous Kruse text exchanges with legislators and legislative staff, her earlier public criticism of lawmakers deleting records, and her 2025 X post acknowledging that she talks to Republican lawmakers “A LOT” about policy. Jamie also explains why reporter privilege and public-records law are not the same thing — and why the government-side copy of a message may present a very different legal question. At the center of it all is a simple tension: Kruse has argued that lawmakers “shouldn’t be able to delete shit.” So if those same lawmakers possess her communications about public business, should the public be able to see them? 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, ...

    Ep. 25 Are Kruse's Texts With Lawmakers Public Records?

  2. Sep 17

    Ep. 24 Ferguson's Failure

    Governor Bob Ferguson has spent years talking about transparency. This episode asks a harder question: What has he actually done when government secrecy, disappearing records, and failures of accountability landed directly in front of him? Jamie traces a pattern from Ferguson’s years as Washington attorney general into his administration as governor: discovery sanctions and missing evidence, the state’s seven-day deletion of Microsoft Teams chats, the Attorney General’s own disappearing Jabber messages, deleted redistricting texts, allegations of public-record destruction raised by a whistleblower, misconduct findings involving the Fish and Wildlife Commission, and a governor’s-office communications system that has frustrated reporters trying to get basic information from state agencies. At the center of the episode is Ferguson’s still-unfinished review of Washington’s Teams retention policy. What was announced as a six-month evaluation has stretched to roughly 19 months. Ferguson apparently rejected a return to automatic deletion — but the administration never publicly announced that decision, the permanent replacement policy remains unfinished, and records explaining the process may still be withheld. The question running through all of it is simple: When transparency conflicts with institutional protection and message control, which one wins? 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, ...

    Ep. 24 Ferguson's Failure

  3. Aug 26

    Ep. 23 WEST v. WA GOP

    Arthur West and Washington Republicans wanted basically the same thing: get the state’s new Public Investment Impact Disclosure off Initiative 645. So naturally, the Washington State Republican Party responded by portraying West as a vulnerable “non-lawyer” who got tricked into screwing up everybody else’s case. There’s just one problem: the hearing was televised. In Episode 23, Jamie checks the tape, digs into Arthur West’s absurdly deep history of pro se appellate litigation, follows a defamation fight that somehow drags in Tim Eyman and Afroman, and watches WSRP attorney Joel Ard escalate from statutory correspondence to “No, please sue me.” Arthur obliged. And when his new defamation case was assigned to a Thurston County judge? Christopher Lanese. Yes. That Christopher Lanese. This is a story about political friendly fire, the difference between rhetorical hyperbole and factual claims, and perhaps the worst possible person in Washington to dismiss as some clueless “non-lawyer.” Check the receipts. Roll the tape. And don’t put words in Arthur West’s mouth. 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, ...

    Ep. 23 WEST v. WA GOP

  4. Aug 13

    Ep. 22 Wait Until You Hear This One

    What happens when you walk into court for your own Public Records Act case and accidentally stumble into an election scandal? In this episode of the Public Records Officer Podcast, Jamie Nixon tells the bizarre story of how a forgotten coat and tie left him sitting in a Thurston County courtroom for Elduen v. Grays Harbor County — where Judge Christine Schaller said a Grays Harbor election was not properly conducted, described conduct as apparently intentional and willful, found bad faith and agency dishonesty, and called it “interference with the election process.” At the center of the case: a candidate lot-draw record that disappeared, a ballot order that was changed, text messages that were never preserved, and an elections administrator who testified that he had gone through four or five phones “almost like we change our shirts.” It’s a story about elections, disappearing evidence, judicial deterrence, and the uncomfortable question of what happens when public accountability depends on luck. 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, ...

    Ep. 22 Wait Until You Hear This One

  5. Jul 27

    Ep. 21 'People Like Jamie Nixon' - The Requesters Are Not the Problem

    After Jamie Nixon’s Seattle Times op-ed on disappearing government communications, the comment section delivered a familiar response: the real problem is not failed preservation, broken technology or leadership neglect. It is the people asking for the records. In this episode, Jamie takes on claims that Washington’s Public Records Act is too expensive, too burdensome and too easily exploited by “people like Jamie Nixon.” He examines why critics begin with the requester instead of the officials who chose disposable communication systems, underfunded records offices and failed to build modern transparency infrastructure. Along the way, he discusses auto-deleting Teams and Jabber messages, the Department of Licensing chats that survived only through lucky timing, and the myth of the lucrative public-records “cottage industry.” Government has modernized its ability to communicate and exercise power. It must now modernize the public’s ability to examine that power. The requesters are not the problem. Washington’s leaders are.  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, ...

    Ep. 21 'People Like Jamie Nixon' - The Requesters Are Not the Problem

  6. Jul 6

    Ep. 20 DOL 2: Delete Another Day

    Episode 20 continues our two-part look at the Washington Department of Licensing’s Administrative Law Office. In Part One, we covered the February 12, 2025 Teams chat where DOL hearing examiners discussed petitioners, attorneys, hearing tactics, order language, and a joke about hitting an attorney with a car hard enough to hospitalize him. Five days later, Governor Bob Ferguson suspended Washington’s automatic deletion of Teams chats. Now, in “Delete Another Day,” we look at what happened after those records survived. The records show DOL’s Administrative Law Office reacting not with humility, accountability, or a renewed commitment to transparency, but with suspicion toward its own public records staff, talk of “double deleting,” “Delete Soon” folders, “do not release” folder labels, video meetings to avoid creating records, and a search for more “transitory” communication tools. At the center is a June 17, 2025 email from DOL supervisor Audrey Ross that captures a deeper cultural problem: public records treated as a threat, requesters treated as adversaries, and records staff treated as traitors for doing their jobs. This episode is about more than one ugly Teams chat. It is about what Washington’s auto-deletion culture taught public officials to believe: that the public’s business is safer when the public cannot see it. Full transcript and source documents available at ThePublicRecordsOfficer.com. Some voices in this episode are AI-generated to read from public records. The words are real. 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, ...

    Ep. 20 DOL 2: Delete Another Day

  7. Jul 3

    Ep. 19 DOL 1: Seven Days To Die

    Five days before Governor Bob Ferguson ordered a halt to Washington’s automatic deletion of Teams chats, a group of Department of Licensing hearing examiners were talking in Teams as if the walls had no memory. They discussed petitioners, attorneys, hearing strategy, objections, order language, and one hearing examiner even suggested that another could “help us all out” by hitting an attorney with her car. Under the state’s seven-day deletion policy, that chat may have been headed for the digital shredder. Then Ferguson stopped the clock. In this first part of a two-episode story, Jamie walks through the February 12, 2025 DOL Teams chat, the agency’s prior history with one-day deletion, and why this record matters far beyond one ugly workplace conversation. This is a story about quasi-judicial conduct, public records, disappearing government communications, and what happens when public officials think no one will ever read what they typed. And this is only the beginning. Because once DOL realized the chats had not disappeared, the story got darker. Next up: DOL II: Delete Another Day. Some readings in this episode are AI-generated from public records. The words are real. The records are public. Full transcript and source documents available at:  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, ...

    Ep. 19 DOL 1: Seven Days To Die

  8. Jun 22

    Ep. 18 The Watchdog's Blind Eye 2: Even Blinder

    In this sequel to “The Watchdog’s Blind Eye,” Jamie Nixon examines how the Washington State Auditor’s Office tells citizens it lacks authority to audit public-records handling at other agencies — even though SAO has already performed public-records-related performance audits in 2008 and 2016. This episode walks through SAO’s Citizen Hotline Audit Request denials, the selective carve-out in the Bainbridge Island hotline matter, the removal of “Records” from the hotline’s public-facing category, and PRR 7750 — a records request that showed the change, but not the written reasoning behind it. It also looks at how Jamie’s own WaTech hotline request appears to have been routed outside the ordinary intake lane, how SAO ignored PROP’s press inquiry, and how another outlet, The Center Square, was also asking uncomfortable questions about SAO and whistleblower warnings. The question is simple: If the Auditor’s Office says its mission is accountability and transparency, why does it keep refusing to explain itself? Full transcript and source documents are available at thepublicrecordsofficer.com. Some voices used to read public records are AI-generated. The words are real. 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, ...

    Ep. 18 The Watchdog's Blind Eye 2: Even Blinder
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5
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3 Ratings

About

The Public Records Officer Podcast Fighting for the People’s Right to Know.From public records battles to quiet cover-ups, from deleted chats to documents they hoped you’d never see... The Public Records Officer Podcast (PROP) exposes the ways power hides from the people it serves.Hosted by open government advocate, a former elected official, state government public information officer and communications director Jamie Nixon, this show pulls back the curtain on the tactics used by public agencies to avoid transparency, and highlights the citizens, journalists, and legal warriors fighting back.Season One investigates the ontologically shocking story of how Washington State agencies used Microsoft Teams to automatically delete public records after just seven days, raising questions of legality, accountability, and who gets to decide what the public has a right to see.Each episode blends documents, depositions, interviews, and digital trails with sharp commentary and a sense of civic urgency. Whether it’s a modified invoice, redacted emails, or a policy crafted to vanish before a subpoena hits... The PROP is here to shine a light where the law demands it.Featuring interviews with journalists, attorneys, and the officials who tried to sound the alarm before it was too late. The truth doesn’t expire in seven days.

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