In responding to a Public Records Act lawsuit filed by a former board member over violations of transparency statutes, CalPERS is attempting a new variant of the classic legal strategies in litigation: “If you have the facts on your side, pound the facts; if you have the law on your side, pound the law; if you have neither the facts nor the law, pound the table.” As we’ll explain, CalPERS is pounding the table in the guise of pounding on facts. And the reason for trying to fight a Public Records Act suit on facts, when they are nearly always argued on legal issues, is to force a trial. Going to trial is the course of maximum delay, which not only defers embarrassment but is very likely to push a court decision out beyond the early fall board elections. And it also forces Jelincic to lay out more dough in pursuing this case. Even though successful plaintiffs in Public Records Act cases are entitled to the award of legal fees (and this includes if the other side coughs up the records before a court rules), they still have to feed their counsel during the process.