Updated October 22, 2020 1:43 p.m. EDT
By Travis Fain, WRAL statehouse reporter
Raleigh, N.C. — In late April, WRAL News filed an public records request with the state unemployment office, seeking a trove of emails to and from Lockhart Taylor, who was then head of the Division of Employment Security.
The idea was to gauge what sort of heads-up Taylor got before Gov. Roy Cooper ordered businesses closed due to the coronavirus pandemic and to read conversations top officials had as new unemployment claims spiked and overwhelmed the state's system.
The Cooper administration has not provided any of those records, despite repeated reminders over six months.