Cover email 2 from Will Baker
Nov 5, 2026, 4:20 PM EST · RE: Public records request — Commissioner Shouldice's commentary of October 25–27, 2026
Nov 5, 2026, 4:20 PM EST · RE: Public records request — Commissioner Shouldice's commentary of October 25–27, 2026
From: "Baker, Will" <Will.Baker@vermont.gov> To: "mrkiouak@gmail.com" <mrkiouak@gmail.com> Date: Thu, 05 Nov 2026 21:20:57 +0000 Subject: RE: Public records request — Commissioner Shouldice's commentary of October 25–27, 2026 Mr. Rkiouak: Attached are all the files I intended to send to you the earlier this week. I count 54 attachments. It’s possible some were missed previously. If the flow of the text messages screen shots doesn’t make sense, let me know. My apologies – I meant to cite Title 1 not Title 3. One record was withheld. It is an attorney-client communication and is confidential and exempt from disclosure under 1 V.S.A. § 317(c)(3),(4). It is an email between a Department of Taxes employee and me containing attorney-client communications. Deputy Commissioner Rebecca Sameroff and I are responsible for the withholding of the record. As far as your requests in number 4 and 5, below, I will send you another email with the Teams approval document you requested so as not to confuse my document count above. I have asked each of those individuals to search text messages on work and personal cellphones and confirm. I don’t understand what you are asking for in the rest of your request #5. There are five documents under privilege review. Will Baker Will S. Baker | Assistant Attorney General Director, Legal Unit Vermont Department of Taxes 133 State Street | Montpelier, VT 05633-1401 p: (802) 522-3360 | www.tax.vermont.gov CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email may contain confidential tax information. The information is intended only for use by the individual or entity addressee. If you are not the intended recipient, you are prohibited from any disclosure, copying, distribution or the taking of any action in reliance on the contents of this information, and any such action would subject you to civil and/or criminal prosecution under state and Federal confidentiality laws. If you received this email in error, immediately delete this email and contact us at (802) 522-3360 or will.baker@vermont.gov<mailto:will.baker@vermont.gov> for further instructions. From: Matthew Rkiouak <mrkiouak@gmail.com> Sent: November 03, 2026 9:16 PM To: Baker, Will <Will.Baker@vermont.gov> Subject: Public records request — Commissioner Shouldice's commentary of October 25–27, 2026 EXTERNAL SENDER: Do not open attachments or click on links unless you recognize and trust the sender. Hi Mr. Baker, Thank you for the production of November 3. I received two emails from you at 8:24 PM, the reply on this thread with 22 attachments and a second email titled "Email 2" with 27 attachments, 49 attachments in all. Your note says 54 items. Before I treat this tranche as complete I would like to reconcile the count and ask about the text messages. 1. The count. I count 49 attachments: in the first email, 6 iPhone screenshots, 12 Teams screenshots, one Word file that contains 29 pasted Teams screenshots and no text, one spreadsheet and two forwarded emails; in the second, 10 Word drafts, one spreadsheet, two Teams screenshots and 14 forwarded emails. Seven more Word files arrive as attachments to the forwarded emails, and several files are byte-identical copies under different names (the October 26 op-ed file appears six times). Does "54 items" count attachments to forwarded emails, duplicate copies or the embedded screenshots, or is a further email with the remaining five items still to come? 2. A transmittal list. Please send a list of the 54 items by item number, file name, the custodian whose account or device it came from, and the request item or items (1–9) it responds to. That is the simplest way for both of us to confirm what has been produced, what is pending and what is withheld. 3. The withheld record. Your note cites "3 V.S.A. 317(c)". The Public Records Act exemptions are in 1 V.S.A. § 317(c). Please identify the subdivision relied on and, as 1 V.S.A. § 318(b)(2) requires, identify the record (date, sender, recipients, subject) and the names and titles of the persons responsible for withholding it. 4. The text messages. The six iPhone screenshots are one exchange between Ms. Mearhoff and Ms. Sameroff, captured on Ms. Mearhoff's phone at 3:20 and beginning at "Thursday 10:05 AM", which I read as October 29. The capture is incomplete in three places: it ends mid-conversation with Ms. Mearhoff's message "But indeed no interview with Bill (despite his eagerness...)" and shows no reply; two of the screenshots do not overlap, so messages may be missing between "...objective fact-checking in this conversation!" and "Hey so this Calvin message..."; and nothing before October 29 is produced although the request period began October 1. Please produce the complete exchange from October 1 through the date of your search, including messages after the last one captured, in the format in which it is maintained (1 V.S.A. § 316(h)–(i)), which for a phone is a message export rather than screenshots; if screenshots are the only option, please have them overlap and state the date of capture. Please also confirm whether Ms. Sameroff's copy of the same thread was searched, and whether text messages of the other custodians the production identifies (Commissioner Shouldice, Mr. Feldman, Ms. Connizzo, Ms. Magnus, Ms. Weinstein and Ms. Shepard) were searched. My request asked each custodian to confirm in writing that personal accounts and devices were searched (Toensing v. Attorney General, 2017 VT 99); no confirmation accompanied the production. 5. Two items the production refers to but does not include. The Teams Approvals card for "Bill op-ed" (requested by Ms. Weinstein and approved by Ms. Sameroff on October 28) attaches a graphic, "Fall 2026 Op-Ed-1-V1.png", on SharePoint; please produce it under item 5. The forwarded emails quote some 45 earlier messages in their bodies, including messages from Amanda Wheeler and Sarah Clark on October 20; where those earlier messages exist as separate items in a custodian's mailbox, please produce them as such, with headers. 6. The pending review. You expect to finish the privilege review by November 13. Please say how many records are in that review, so that the final count can be reconciled against the transmittal list. Thank you for the prompt response. Matt Rkiouak Middlesex, Vermont mrkiouak@gmail.com<mailto:mrkiouak@gmail.com>
Part of the Gazette's published records for A week before the election, the tax commissioner cherry-picked his numbers. All 107 files →