He Said - He Said

Eric Black and MinnPost have been the source of most of the coverage into the various scandals in the MN Attorney General's office. Black's coverage has been quite fair, factual and devoid of any personal preference toward either side in the story. In todays story, Black can't help letting a little snark in - and honestly I don't blame him.

As a matter of written policy, Mr. Hatch doesn't speak to me and he extended the same courtesy to my esteemed MinnPost colleague G.R. Anderson who covered the Monday meeting at which Legislative Auditor James Nobles presented the results of his recent review of the attorney general's office and some of the alleged improprieties.

As you may recall, former AG Hatch does not deign to talk to mere bloggers - even those with a career as storied as Mr. Black. After all, we all know bloggers have an agenda....unlike former AG Hatch.....

But Mr. Hatch's media relations policies do allow him to publicly impugn the motives of those who question his conduct and possibly to do so without necessarily limiting himself to the facts of the matter.

To be precise: Rep. Simon did ask some questions of Nobles at the Monday meeting about whether everything under Mr. Hatch was always done strictly according to Hoyle.

And Mr. Hatch, in explaining things to MPR's excellent Tim Pugmire, did say that Rep. Simon was motivated by revenge because he "lost his job in the attorney general's office."

I may not agree with Rep. Simon's stands on most issues however I have it on very good authority (from someone who works with him) that this is not Rep. Simon's MO. If anything, he is in a better position as a legislator than a mere assistant AG. That is not to say that this kind of "hit" isn't former AG Hatch's MO. As my dear friend Gary pointed out earlier today, not only is former AG Hatch very adept at playing political hardball - he thrives on it. This was a pre-emptive strike on a legislator who is just trying to do his job....looking out for the citizens of Minnesota. It is something that maybe the current and former AG's should have kept in mind in their day to day office dealings.

It's just a thought.