Josh Stein’s 23 Days of Silence: AG Still Refuses to Turn Over Documents Surrounding Secretive Marc Elias Settlement

AG refuses to comply with mandatory records production surrounding secretive deal to rewrite the rules of his own election

Board of Elections produced thousands of documents while simultaneously administering election, but AG is silent

Raleigh, N.C. — Why is Josh Stein still hiding the truth from the public? After 23 days, North Carolina’s attorney general still refuses to comply with state law and turn over documents surrounding his secretive deal with Democratic Party super-lawyer Marc Elias to rewrite the laws governing his own election.

Last month, Gov. Cooper’s Board of Elections and Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein ambushed their co-defendants, the legislature, by “settling” a lawsuit filed by Gov. Cooper’s former lawyer, Marc Elias, to undo state laws guarding against absentee ballot fraud. Two federal judges rebuked the move.

Following the secretive deal, legislators sent records production requests under G.S. 120–19 to both the N.C. State Board of Elections and Attorney General Josh Stein.

The Board of Elections responded with thousands of documents within days, despite an ongoing election and a fraction of the staff the Dept. of Justice has.

The only response legislators received from Attorney General Stein’s office was an email stating the Dept. of Justice is “unable to determine an expected date” to produce responsive records.

Sen. Warren Daniel (R-Burke), who co-chairs the Senate Elections Committee, said, “It’s a sad day when our state’s top law enforcement officer refuses to comply with the law. Exactly what written communications between Josh Stein and Marc Elias does the Attorney General want to hide from the public? If Attorney General Stein’s attempt to undo state election fraud laws by secretly settling with a Democratic Party power lawyer weren’t bad enough, it now seems like he’s covering it up by refusing to comply with state transparency laws.”