Kentucky assistant attorney general retires after reprimand for talking to reporter

Lexington Herald-Leader ^ | 9/1/2016 | JOHN CHEVES

[Republican Wildcat]

A longtime champion of Kentucky’s government transparency laws retired Wednesday from Attorney General Andy Beshear’s office after she was reprimanded for speaking with a journalist.

“I came to this decision under considerable duress,” Assistant Attorney General Amye L. Bensenhaver, 58, wrote last month to Beshear. “It is clear to me I cannot survive, much less thrive, in the current office climate, and I have similar concerns about the open records/meetings laws.”

Bensenhaver was rebuked in a formal letter July 11 for giving an interview to retired editor John Nelson for a story he wrote in June on the 40th anniversary of the state’s Open Records Act and Open Meetings Act. Nelson’s story, commissioned by the Kentucky Press Association, ran in the Herald-Leader and other newspapers around the state. Bensenhaver had spent 25 years writing open records and open meetings decisions on behalf of the attorney general, whose word carries the weight of law on those subjects.

“You were quoted and cited as a representative of the Office of the Attorney General to the media, activity that falls outside the scope of your job duties, and without permission to do so,” La Tasha Buckner, executive director of the attorney general’s Office of Civil and Environmental Law, wrote to Bensenhaver. “Your actions in regards to Mr. Nelson’s article on the Open Records/Open Meetings Act have severely damaged your credibility and the trust that this office must have in you as an attorney.”

...

Bensenhaver’s departure is the latest controversy for Beshear, who has been attorney general for less than a year. His top deputy, Tim Longmeyer, resigned and pleaded guilty in April to soliciting more than $200,000 in bribes during an earlier stint as state personnel secretary. Then, in May, Don Pasley resigned as head of Beshear’s Office of Initiatives after a...

[Republican Wildcat]

Unreal. This is even worse than when Stumbo was the attorney general...actually much worse.

[fieldmarshaldj]

We know who needs to resign.

[Republican Wildcat]

http://www.kentucky.com/opinion/op-ed/article84517672.html

Here’s the article in question. As you can see, she did nothing the reprimand stated that she did. She was just asked general questions about how the law has been applied over the years in her capacity - never is she cited as speaking on behalf of the AG or the office. It all looks like a sham because it seems quite apparent they don’t want any attention brought to these laws.

[DoughtyOne]

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[kiryandil]

Wonder how much a pay-per-view Bumfight of some bum beating the teeth out of Andy Beshear’s lie-hole would haul in?

Wonder how much a pay-per-view Bumfight of some female bum cleaning La Tasha Buckner’s clock would haul in?

[kiryandil]

Additionally - would it qualify as a bumfight if Beshear soiled himself before the bum even laid hands on him?

[FreedomPoster]

Ping

[kaintucky]

Bershear represents the worst in Kentucky politics. The Attorney General is an elected position in Ky. and the AG is Andy Bershear who is the son of the previous governor. Matt Bevin our present governor and is working hard to fix the 3rd worst funded public retirement system in the country the board of which is illegally dominated by democrat appointed members. Matt Bevin is doing an outstanding job. Bevin is one of those republicans who represent change and is not afraid of the establishment. Bevin primaried McConnell in the last senate race here. Gov. Bevin is prior military, a successful business owner and great family man. I hope he succeeds in fixing our finances. The democrats are trying through the legal process to accomplish what they could not do at the ballot box. They will lose and in the process the Kentucky House of Representatives which is the last democrat dominated state house in the south will flip. AG Bershear represents what is wrong with our political system. Bevin is change.

[MeganC]

I live in Wyoming and supported Matt Bevin both in his US Senate run and in his run as Governor. I’m really impressed with him and hope in 2024 he runs to replace President Trump!