Turn off the shredders

On November 12, 2008, Primera Hora reported that Kenneth McClintock, chair of governor-elect Luis Fortuño’s Transition Committee, asked public employees to report any “strange move” that could affect the transfer of government, after alleging that documents continued to be destroyed in agencies.

McClintock showed photos of bags that appeared to hold shredded paper remnants in a hallway of the Department of State and said the committee was receiving information that in several agencies employees had been pulled to move government property and shred documents. He repeated the call to “unplug, disable and store” shredders and to stop disposing of documents for the rest of the transition. He offered hotlinecomitetransicion2008@gmail.com for submissions with description and cell-phone photos.

He was accompanied by Juan Carlos Blanco, designated Secretary of the Governorship, who warned that they would not hesitate to bring charges against those who took part in document destruction. Both clarified that at that moment they were not accusing anyone of acting illegally, but insisted on stopping the practice. The complaints, they said, touched Education, Transportation and Public Works, Hacienda, the State Insurance Fund, ASUME, Government Ethics, Public Buildings and Tourism, among others; Blanco questioned that such work had been done on the prior holiday.

Allegation of shredding and threat of charges ≠ judicial proof or conviction. Primary: Primera Hora 2008-11-12 (archive).

Source: Primera Hora. https://www.primerahora.com/noticias/puerto-rico/notas/apaguen-las-trituradoras/