Firm to take over Pence email requests

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana is paying a law firm $100,000 to help deal with a backlog of public records requests, most of which seek emails from Vice President Mike Pence’s tenure as governor, including correspondence routed through a private AOL.com account he used to conduct state business.

Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb’s administration entered a one-year contract last month with Shelbyville firm McNeely Stephenson to handle the “unusually high” number of requests, records show.

More than 50 such requests are pending before Holcomb, who was Pence’s hand-picked replacement on the ballot after Donald Trump selected Pence to be his running mate last July.

The vast majority seek correspondence Pence had with staff members and political groups, including emails that were routed through his private AOL.com account, according to documents previously obtained by The Associated Press.

The requests are from private citizens, law firms, political parties and news organizations, including The Associated Press.

One factor that has exacerbated the delay is a lack of digital access to Pence’s emails.