Lieberman Needles Dean on Sealed Records

By: Will Lester, Associated Press Writer (AP) Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Lieberman criticized rival Howard Dean for sealing dozens of boxes of records from his years as Vermont governor -- a practice common for those who held the state job.

Dean, in an interview Monday on ABC's "Good Morning America" program, said sealing the gubernatorial records is routine, but Lieberman said that stance does not fit with Dean's efforts to present himself as a straight talker.

"That's not the way to build public trust -- especially after three years of secret-keeping and information-blocking by George W. Bush," Lieberman said in a statement.

Later, during a campaign appearance in New Hampshire, Lieberman continued to press Dean on the issue, saying, "I think Howard's got an obligation now to do it or explain why not."

Another Dean rival John Kerry said: "As president, openness will be the hallmark of my administration, not some talking point."

Rival campaigns and the media have been combing through records of Dean's 11-year stint as governor that ended earlier this year. But they were unable to see about a third of his official papers kept in crates at a state warehouse in Middlesex, Vt.

State officials agreed with Dean to keep those records, believed to include many letters and memos to individuals, private for 10 years after the governor left office. Two of Dean's predecessors made similar arrangements, although the records were cracked open after just six years.

Dean told the ABC program: "You don't actually get to seal the majority of records, just those sensitive parts that apply to other people. President Bush sort of takes the cake for his sealing. He actually had his sent, as I understand it, to his father's presidential library, where there's a 50-year seal."

Dean said: "I'll unseal mine if he'll unseal his."

Bush's gubernatorial documents are in the custody of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission and most of them are open under Texas public record laws. After Bush's term as governor ended, the documents were sent to his father's presidential library at Texas A&M University. The documents were moved back to archive them.

Matthew Gardner, spokesman for the Dean campaign, said "the vast majority of Governor Dean's records are public. Under Vermont law, a portion of the governor's records were sealed to protect individuals' privacy. President Bush still has some of his Texas records sealed for the same reason."