Secretary of State Michael G. Adams
Frankfort, KY (February 12, 2020) – Consistent with his promise to bring reform to the Secretary of State’s Office, today Secretary of State Michael G. Adams went to Franklin Circuit Court to dismiss claims asserted by the Office under his predecessor that were aimed at impeding an investigation of the Office.
“I ran on two promises: cleaning up our elections, and cleaning up this Office,” Secretary Adams said. “On my third day as Secretary of State, I presented a plan to require Photo ID to vote in Kentucky’s elections. Today, I’m taking action to eliminate an impediment to a lawful investigation, and to enable the justice system to function as it should.”
Adams withdrew two claims against Attorney General Daniel Cameron and Independent Counsel Mark Metcalf – who was appointed by then-Attorney General Andy Beshear in 2018 – that were filed on December 20, 17 days before Adams took office. The first claim requested an injunction ordering that the Attorney General’s Office and Independent Counsel Metcalf may not seize property of the Office – state property – without a search warrant. The first claim also requested that Metcalf be ordered to return all files seized when Kentucky State Police took a computer from the Secretary of State’s Office on September 17.
The second claim requested an injunction precluding the Attorney General’s Office and Metcalf from having any contact with Secretary of State’s Office employees unless outside counsel for the Secretary of State’s Office are present.
“With this action, I align the Secretary of State’s Office with the Attorney General’s Office, in pursuit of justice,” Adams said. “I believe in every individual’s right to a vigorous defense, but this Office will not maintain that defense or foot the bill. Simply put, the Secretary of State should not sue the Attorney General to limit him in his duty to investigate possible violations of law, and today I’ve acted to stop that. ”