Inslee’s administration defined by secret schemes, lack of transparency

Given all the news about email leaks this week at the Democrat National Committee (DNC), imagine if WikiLeaks obtained Jay Inslee’s emails with liberal California billionaire Tom Steyer or far-Left Pacific Coast Collaborative (PCC) organizer Jay Manning.

I suspect we would learn quite a lot about Inslee’s extreme agenda for our state – given the lengths he has gone to keep his schemes under wraps.

You see, Hillary Clinton and the DNC do not have a monopoly on sketchy schemes or disrespect for transparency. In fact, shady characteristics appear to be a common trait among Democrats, and Jay Inslee is no exception.

Thankfully, these national sketchy schemes have been uncovered by breakthroughs for transparency. And, once again, Inslee is no exception — thanks to our efforts here at Shift Washington.

With the upcoming election, it’s important to remember that, throughout 2013 and early 2014, Inslee and his staff denied the existence of any plan to bypass the Legislature and jam through a gas-price-raising “fuel mandate” by executive order. At a January 2014 forum hosted by the Associated Press, Inslee claimed not to have made a decision concerning a fuel mandate.

And, in a letter attacking State Senate Republicans for questioning his plans to impose a fuel mandate, Inslee wrote, “That you say I have to “come clean” implies I have in some way been hiding my intentions. This is offensive and untrue.”

Inslee’s staff also engaged in the fierce denial. Then spokesman and now Chief of Staff David Postman said in January 2014, “No decision has been made about fuel standards, and much work and analysis has to happen before any decision is made about which policies should be pursued to reduce carbon pollution.”

However, in spring of 2014, a Shift investigation uncovered the truth about Inslee’s plans to implement a fuel mandate by executive order—proving that Inslee and his staff deliberately misled the media and the public regarding their plan.

It took reading through some 2,000 pages of emails and work plans acquired from the Governor’s office via a public records request, but the truth came out in the end.

Shift’s investigation forced Inslee to abandon his attempts of denial. Instead, he reverted to avoiding the issue and attacking Republicans—a strategy he has employed ever since and which he is now relying on in his re-election campaign.

Inslee has done more than just mislead the public in his effort to cover-up his schemes and avoid transparency. He has gone out of his way to hide his plans. In fact, Inslee’s administration outsourced much of the staff work on his “Pacific Climate Agreement” to consultants who are paid by extreme environmental groups, and who aren’t subject to public disclosure laws.

So, in attempt to cover-up his extreme “green” agenda for our state, Inslee hired consultants who answered to private foundations — foundations that, in turn, have agendas equally as hidden as their donors (including Steyer).

The truth is that secrecy has been one of the hallmarks of the Inslee administration — it’s a lesson he’s learned from his party.