Sniff sniff. What's that smell?. Smells like possible corruption.

Baltimore Prosecutor (of Freddie Gray and Baltimore Riots fame) Goes to Great Lengths to Keep Public Records Private

https://foxbaltimore.com/features/operation-crime-justice/baltimore-prosecutor-goes-to-great-lengths-to-keep-public-records-private

BALTIMORE (WBFF) - In Baltimore City, it’s the City State’s Attorney people trust to seek justice on their behalf and hold people accountable.

But what happens when the tables are turned? And, it’s the top prosecutor suddenly being questioned.

An Operation: Crime & Justice investigation finds how far City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby is willing to go to keep public records private.

Marilyn Mosby has been Baltimore’s top prosecutor for nearly five years.

A tenure that financial disclosure forms, we obtained, casts in a different light.

Since taking office Marilyn Mosby has received more than two hundred gifts and nearly $60,000.00 in free travel for her and her family.

Perks that the City State’s Attorney has refused to publicly discuss and fought hard to keep quiet by attaching exorbitant fees to public records that could add insight into the sort of relationship Mosby has with those giving her gifts.

Former federal prosecutor Andrea Smith says, "If we don't have transparency in all of our government agencies, then we have no trust."

Prior to becoming a federal prosecutor, Smith worked in the City State’s Attorney’s Office.

Smith says:

You have to wonder, why? What is in there that they think you're going to go away by charging $156,150.00

When we requested copies of Marilyn Mosby’s electronic calendars, instead of records we got a bill for more than $156,000.00.

Records we’ve requested from other elected officials in the past, like mayors and former governors, and they’ve not charged us a penny.

In Marilyn Mosby’s case, she estimates it will take an attorney and clerical worker about 3,470 hours to go through her electronic calendars and redact them.

To put that into perspective, it’s estimated most people work about 260 days out of the year. When you multiply that by an 8-hour day, you come up with 2080 hours. Factor that into Mosby’s 3,470 hours of research to redact her calendars and it would take those two workers more than a year and a half of doing nothing for 8 hours but redacting Mosby’s calendar.

More than a year and a half of worth of work at a cost of more than $156,000.00

The cost alone came as a shock to Lucy Dalglish the dean of Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland.

Dalglish says, "When I see a number like that, the only reason I've ever seen numbers like this is to make it a disincentive for you to ask."

And, the City State’s Attorney has not stopped there.

Within days of writing this letter that required we pay more than $156,000.00 for Mosby's calendars, we found this post that indicated Mosby is looking to hire a Maryland Public Information Act Attorney.

The position pays between $70,000.00 and $112,000 annually.