Rob Sand: The Iowa auditor's office follows the law, not political expediency

• Rob Sand is Iowa's auditor of state.

Twice in the past four years, the Democratic National Committee has asked my office to turn over allegations of wrongdoing by Iowa’s Republican governor, Kim Reynolds. Guess what: We didn’t give them a dang thing.

Why? Because Iowa law requires the Auditor’s Office to “keep confidential” allegations of misconduct and information received in the course of an audit. That information is protected, regardless of whether the person requesting it wants to attack the alleged wrongdoer or the tipster letting us know where to point our flashlights.

The people who passed this law thought confidentiality was so important there’s a section in the Iowa Code that says people working in the Auditor’s Office can be fired for breaching it. Those tipsters, some of them scared to speak out against powerful interests, need to know we will protect their identity so they can offer information without fear of retribution.

So, you might understand the frustration I felt when the Auditor’s Office was sued for trying to follow our obligation not to turn over confidential records, which might make future whistleblowers think we’d sell them out. The lawsuit stemmed from an open records request, made by the same conservative who claimed when I ran in 2018 that, if elected, I must legally be impeached, period. We responded the same way we do for everyone asking for open records: We turned over what we could, and withheld records protected by the law.

The first judge to hear the case ruled we followed the law. On appeal, the Iowa Supreme Court ordered a “re-do,” ruling it didn’t have enough evidence to make a decision, sending the case back to the lower court for more proceedings. What the Supreme Court did NOT do, was find that we broke the law. But that’s exactly what the GOP put into a news release, which they waved in front of the media while screaming. The media fell for it. We appreciate the corrections issued by two Iowa media entities, but in this day and age, complete lies can travel around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes.

There’s one other aspect to the suit — whether or not we should have turned over an email sent from a private account, about entirely public information, that was already public and already in the hands of the person who filed the lawsuit. You might think that’s a silly reason to file a lawsuit — to get a copy of something already in your possession — but some lawsuits are all about politics.

So, we’ll make our case soon in another courtroom as to why we were legally required to withhold those records, both the emails from our office and the allegations about the governor. I’ll also keep fighting to protect whistleblowers. And, because truth doesn’t mind being questioned, I’ll be at a town hall in your community in the coming months. The dates, times, and locations of all 100 are already posted on our website. Come on out to compliment me, criticize me, or provide a confidential tip. If you’ve read this far, you know you can trust us to keep it confidential.

Rob Sand is Iowa's auditor of state.