Baltimore IG Cumming sues Mayor Scott for access to records

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Baltimore Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming on Tuesday sued the city after Mayor Brandon Scott severely restricted her access to city records, making her job of investigating government waste, fraud and abuse more difficult.

The lawsuit, filed in Baltimore City Circuit Court, seeks a declaration affirming the OIG’s subpoena power, its independence and its direct access to all city records.

“My goal in this lawsuit is to merely require the City to do what it has done since I took office — provide the OIG with the information it needs to ensure taxpayer dollars aren’t being wasted by government officials,” Cumming stated in a news release.

The conflict began with an investigation into the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, the hub of Scott’s holistic public-safety plan.

In response to a subpoena, the city Law Department sent Cumming’s office documents with almost everything redacted. The Scott administration then decided to treat her requests for documents — even those backed by a subpoena — as equivalent to civilians’ requests under the Maryland Public Information Act, meaning personnel information and financial data need to be redacted. The redactions made it impossible for Cumming to “follow the money.”

In addition to treating her subpoenas as MPIA requests, Scott’s information technology office interfered with her access to internal city data, which Cumming said means she can’t guarantee confidentiality to whistleblowers within city government.

Cumming, who has served as inspector general since 2018, had never received redacted documents. In December, she published a position paper arguing that her office is a co-custodian of all city records. All protected information is redacted in her public reports. Earlier this month, she said 104 of the 324 investigations she’s conducted — identifying nearly $39 million in wasteful or fraudulent spending — have relied on information that would be redacted under the new rule.

Scott said he took the steps “reluctantly.”

He said he was supported by an advice letter from the Maryland Office of the Attorney General, which argued that the MPIA, as a state law, preempts the OIG’s subpoena power, because it is derived from the Baltimore City Charter.

But Attorney General Anthony Brown sought to distance himself from the issue, stressing the difference between an advice letter and a formal opinion. In an interview with Baltimore Brew, he said the letter “could have been written by a second-year law student.”

A spokesperson for the mayor said Scott is “committed to transparency.”

“As we have noted from the beginning, the Mayor remains committed to transparency and to an OIG that is both effective and complies with the law,” the spokesperson stated in an email. “As this matter is now subject to litigation, we will reserve further comment for the appropriate judicial forum.”

“Separate from the litigation, we remain eager for the Law Department to work with the OIG to outline renewed protocols that ensure the Inspector General’s work proceeds uninterrupted, while complying with state law.”

Maryland’s four local inspectors general — the other three are in Montgomery, Howard and Baltimore counties — called for a change to the MPIA seeking a clear exception allowing them direct access to records.

Cumming sued alongside Gayle Guilford and James Godey, the chair and secretary of the OIG Advisory Board.

The lawsuit seeks a declaratory judgment, temporary and permanent injunctions, and a writ of mandamus ordering the city to comply with the subpoena.

They are represented pro bono by H. Mark Stichel of RKW Law and Anthony May of Nusinov Smith. (Stichel is a member of The Daily Record’s Editorial Advisory Board, which is separate from the newsroom.)

“The City’s unprecedented attack on the OIG’s independence should concern every person living here,” May stated in the news release.

Cumming said the OIG is “the office of the people,” and noted it was made independent through city referendums in 2018 and 2022.

This story has been updated with a statement from the mayor’s office.