O'Malley's DLLR Deception on Jobs Report

A little over a month ago, the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation posted their July jobs report titled "Maryland's Market Stalls During July."  The report showed Maryland's economy stalling and cast a shadow over the economic progress the O'Malley Administration claimed.  Within hours, the report was taken down and replaced with a rosier upbeat assessment that mirrored Governor O'Malley's comments.  The very next day, Governor O'Malley delivered an address to the Maryland Association of Counties (MACO) that trumpeted "progress." 

In August, DLLR Secretary Alex Sanchez said the report was removed to "errors," but unfortunately, the "Maryland's Market Stalls During July" report proved accurate as 6,000 Marylander lost their jobs in August.  A recent public information act request uncovered a series of e-mails that showed a coordinated effort among senior O'Malley Administration officials to "make it [original jobs report] disappear."  The e-mails further indicate that the orders were "coming straight from the top."

In these delicate economic times it is absolutely horrendous to mislead citizens about jobs.  Government exists to serve the people, not to deceive them for political gain.

We are requesting an immediate investigation into this serious matter by the Attorney General and are also seeking to form a legislative committee to investigate this high level deception before more problems occur. 

Below is one of many e-mails between high ranking state government officials.  This e-mail is from Bernie Kohn, the Director of Communications and Media Relations for the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.

You can find the other damaging e-mails by clicking here.

You can find news coverage of the story by clicking the following news organizations links:
Red Maryland Blog
WBAL TV
TBD
Baltimore Sun
Jay Hancock with the Baltimore Sun
Fox 45
The Washington Post
Gazette
The Capital 

We will be posting more shortly on this matter.