Baltimore’s Democratic mayor has sparked fresh controversy after joking that he keeps his government email account empty to prevent anyone from accessing his messages.
Mayor Brandon Scott, 42, is already embroiled in a bitter legal battle over public records so eyebrows were raised when he appeared to suggest the best way to protect official communications from scrutiny was simply not to send any emails in the first place.
His remark came during an October 21 meeting of Baltimore’s Board of Estimates, where officials were discussing the security of government computer systems and who should have access to sensitive information.
But the joke quickly took on a more serious significance given Scott’s ongoing courtroom confrontation with the city’s independent watchdog, whose investigators have been fighting to access government records.
‘You can have my email because there are no emails there,’ Scott told City Council President Zeke Cohen during the public meeting.
‘The only way to protect your email is to not email.’
The comments prompted questions about whether the mayor was deliberately avoiding creating an electronic record of official business.
Scott, however, insisted on Thursday that he had simply been joking with colleagues and that he does use his government email account.
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott has come under fresh scrutiny after making a controversial joke during a meeting about government IT security
Scott insists he prefers speaking directly with city employees and residents rather than relying on emails, while denying that he uses his personal account for official business
‘What you saw at the BOE [meeting] is me saying something in jest to the council president,’ Scott explained during a news conference.
‘As you know, there’s a lot of banter between myself and [Comptroller Bill Henry]. But more importantly, this is the reality of it: Yes, when appropriate, I use email.’
The controversy erupted after local news outlet The Baltimore Brew highlighted the exchange, raising questions about the mayor’s communication practices amid his administration’s increasingly contentious relationship with Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming.
Scott dismissed the scrutiny as overblown.
‘This is just ridiculous,’ he declared. ‘Because clearly, if you guys constantly get my emails I use email.’
His office regularly distributes messages announcing public appearances and providing updates on city business, although those communications do not necessarily establish how frequently the mayor personally sends emails.
Scott insisted that he prefers speaking directly with city employees and residents rather than relying heavily on written correspondence.
‘I like to communicate with people directly, be that my agencies, be that the folks that work in our departments, be that our residents,’ he explained.
The Democratic mayor has brushed off the backlash as ‘ridiculous,’ insisting his remarks were made in jest and defending his use of official email
‘But we’re talking about using the appropriate communication at the appropriate time.’
He also suggested that delegating responsibility for official inboxes was hardly unusual among senior politicians.
‘Every mayor, at least since 1996 when they had the internet, has had other folks manning their e-mail account because too many emails come in for one person to manage.’
Scott denied using his personal email address to conduct city business, although he acknowledged updating his private calendar so his wife, Hana Scott, can follow his schedule.
The mayor’s comments has attracted particular attention because his administration has spent months battling Cumming’s Office of Inspector General over access to government computer systems.
The confrontation began after city officials removed the watchdog’s access to municipal records, prompting Cumming’s office to launch legal action seeking to restore it.
Court proceedings subsequently revealed that Scott’s administration had heavily redacted documents requested by investigators and repeatedly sought further judicial clarification or appeals, delaying the release of records.
Scott has defended his administration’s position by arguing that unrestricted access could allow investigators to examine confidential government communications without adequate safeguards.
. Scott’s administration is already embroiled in a bitter legal battle with the city’s inspector general over access to sensitive government records
In September, he accused the inspector general’s office of abusing its powers.
‘The IG was misusing that unfettered access to surveil people’s emails, to secretly look through draft budget documents while advocating for her own budget to be doubled and snooping in on privileged legal advice that the law department was providing to agencies and other members of city government,’ Scott claimed.
Those allegations have been contested in the wider legal battle.
Baltimore Circuit Judge Pamela White subsequently ordered the restoration of the watchdog’s access, which was reinstated at the end of September.
It was against that backdrop that Scott’s email joke emerged during a separate discussion about the city’s Information Technology Department.
Officials were examining whether certain government employees possessed elevated computer privileges that could allow them to access colleagues’ electronic files and communications.
City Chief Information Officer T.J. Mayotte acknowledged that individuals with sufficiently powerful access could potentially examine sensitive information without their activities being detectable, even by IT administrators.
Comptroller Bill Henry then questioned Mayotte about whether anyone outside the IT department, including people working for senior city officials, possessed access to other employees’ records.
Mayotte answered no to those questions.
Although Cumming and her investigators were not directly discussed during the audit, the exchange came just weeks after the court-ordered restoration of their access to city systems.
