Judge: Tennessee must release consultant COVID response docs

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee judge has ordered Gov. Bill Lee’s administration to release consultant reports that recommend how to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic — documents the state argued should remain secret under public records law.

Davidson County Chancellor Patricia Head Moskal on Tuesday ruled in favor of FW Publishing and journalist Stephen Elliott, who had requested documents assembled by consulting company McKinsey and Company for the Republican governor's team. FW Publishing is the parent company of the Nashville Scene, Nashville Post and other Tennessee publications. McKinsey charged the state $3.8 million for its work.

The series of records requests, some dating back to 2020, resulted in denials and later releases of certain documents. Ultimately, the state withheld six documents and redacted parts of others, claiming they fell under a "deliberative process" privilege. The lawsuit was filed in January 2022.

The exemption — under which officials deem that certain documents can remain secret if they are part of their decision-making process — isn't in state law or rules. In this week's ruling, the judge wrote that it exists in common law and has been used to prevent public disclosure of protected documents in legal discovery, but said it “has yet to be decided” whether the privilege applies as an exception to the Tennessee Public Records Act.

Lee's office did not immediately return a request for comment regarding the ruling. A spokesperson for the attorney general’s office declined to comment on the decision.

Paul McAdoo, an attorney representing FW Publishing in the case through the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, argued that the deliberative process privilege isn't an exception to Tennessee public records law. McAdoo has represented The Associated Press and other media...