Jason Clayworth

jclayworth@dmreg.com

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad was aware of a warning to his administration about the possible existence of state documents showing a payment to a former worker in exchange for silence, before he made public statements in April denying any payment was made, he acknowledged today.

Branstad said he initially insisted that no payments for silence had ever been made because that's what he was told by his staff.

But today, the governor acknowledged he was aware of a warning made by Thomas "Ryan" Lamb, a former attorney at the Iowa Department of Administrative Services, before making his statement.

Lamb told Branstad's chief of staff, Matt Hinch, that some email records might exist that show the administration paid an employee to keep quiet about a settlement.

Branstad received that information before former DAS Director Mike Carroll testified to lawmakers April 3. On April 7, the governor made public comments denying that Iowa used taxpayer money to keep a former employee silent about a settlement.

"Mike Carroll was the director and he assured us that there were no payments in return for confidentiality," Branstad told reporters this morning. "We relied on that until it became evident that there was an email to the contrary, and I immediately directed my chief of staff, Matt Hinch, to notify Mike Carroll that he was terminated."

Branstad contended that he didn't have access to the state emails showing the payment that were ultimately published by The Des Moines Register and led to him fire Carroll on April 8.

"We don't have time to review every single record that there might be," Branstad said in response to a question about why he or his staff had failed to obtain the emails before the Register published them.

The issue became public after a Des Moines Register investigation published in March that showed the state was engaging in settlement agreements that required employees to remain silent about the deals they cut with the state.

Two employees quoted by the Register additionally said they were offered or accepted thousands of dollars in exchange for the secrecy clauses. The secret settlements – 24 of them in total -- cost taxpayers more than $500,000 since Branstad resumed office in 2011, records show.

Branstad administration officials said they didn't know about the issue despite multiple attempts by the Register to question the staff before its March 16 investigative report. Before publication, Jimmy Centers, the governor's spokesman, declined to answer specific questions about the issue, noting the governor doesn't micromanage his departments.

But after publication, the governor summoned a group of his top staffers, who met privately to investigate the issue. That group did not find the emails of Lamb, the former DAS attorney, showing the state made a $6,500 payment to former employee Carol Frank in exchange for her silence.

But the group did dig up more than 300 settlements made by the state with employees, which Branstad made public by publishing them online. The governor also signed an executive order to halt the use of confidentiality clauses in settlements with state employees.

Lamb was subpoenaed and testified before the Senate Government Oversight Committee last week. Lamb said he called and warned Hinch and Carroll about the possible existence of the emails before Carroll's April 3 testimony, where Carroll flatly denied to lawmakers that his department had paid money for silence.

Lamb additionally testified last week that Brenna Findley, the governor's staff attorney, had instructed the Branstad administration to refrain from communicating about controversial issues via email. Findley today told reporters that she has instructed staffers to be careful about what they put in emails, particularly confidential information.

Findley did not answer questions about whether that advice was given to specifically avoid the state's open-records law.

"I provided advice to help protect confidential information that we are required to keep confidential under Iowa law," Findley said.

Branstad on multiple occasions today blamed Democrats for the ongoing controversy and said the inquiries from lawmakers about the settlements had so far provided few results.

An exemption in the state's open-records law keeps secret most government employee personnel information. Branstad has asked lawmakers to change that, particularly after a state employee has been fired.

A bill that would have changed the law died in the Senate this year after Democrats said they were concerned that some due process rights of state employees could get trampled with the changes. Some Democrats have said they plan to revisit that issue next year when they have more time to consider the language of the proposal and iron out any unintended consequences.

"Again, let me point out, if we just open the personnel information … we wouldn't have this problem. It is Senate Democrats that refuse to do that," Branstad said.