DA expects to quiz Kan. gov; House speaker upset

TOPEKA, Kan. — A Kansas district attorney said Friday that he's likely to interview Gov. Sam Brownback as a witness during an investigation into the legality of private meetings with legislators at the governor's official residence, but the state's most powerful lawmaker criticized the prosecutor's tactics.

House Speaker Mike O'Neal, a Hutchinson Republican, said he's advising fellow legislators not to respond immediately to a letter from Shawnee County District Attorney Chad Taylor, a Democrat. The letter, delivered to most lawmakers Friday, directed them to maintain records and electronic files that could be potential evidence.

O'Neal, an attorney, said he's hoping legislators will draft a collective response to Taylor's letter. In an interview with The Associated Press, he said didn't think it was professional for the district attorney to send a letter to all 40 senators and 125 House members, even those not involved in the meetings.

Taylor said he's hoping to gather information without having to subpoena witnesses and documents and that he sent the letter to all legislators because he didn't know exactly who was involved in the meetings. There were seven gatherings in January for Republicans on 13 committees at Cedar Crest, the governor's residence.

Brownback said Friday that he's confident the law wasn't violated. He has private gatherings with legislators scheduled Monday and Tuesday, though with bipartisan groups not tied to specific committees.

O'Neal stressed that he's not suggesting that legislators will resist Taylor's attempts to gather information about whether the meetings were legal. Instead, O'Neal said, he expects legislative leaders to consult next week with their top staff attorney on a response.

The House speaker said Taylor should have worked through legislative leaders to get information and talk to individual lawmakers, instead of sending an "unreasonably overbroad" letter to all of them. Each of Taylor's letters asked the lawmaker to respond to his office by email by Tuesday.

"He could follow the chain of command. He doesn't need to be writing members who don't possibly have any connection with this investigation," O'Neal said. "Our advice to our members is to not respond to the district attorney's letters."

Taylor also sent letters to Brownback's office, his secretary of administration, and the information technology director for the executive branch. He spoke to reporters about the investigation before O'Neal made his comments and didn't immediately respond to a later telephone message seeking a response.