Capitol View

Pawlenty always in contact with staff but public still doesn't always know whereabouts

Posted at 10:23 AM on June 25, 2009 by Tom Scheck

The recent flap regarding South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford's whereabouts raises plenty of questions about the whereabouts of MN Gov. Tim Pawlenty. The Minnesota governor's official schedule released to the media often says only "no public events listed." In fact for the past four days that's what his schedule has said.

I found Pawlenty yesterday at an event that was not listed on his schedule. I asked him whether Sanford's problem would prompt him to provide more information about his daily schedule. Here's what he said:

"I try to always be in touch so regardless of where I am, I have communications capabilities so my office always knows where I'm going."

But Pawlenty didn't answer my underlying question of whether he would provide more information about his whereabouts on his daily public schedule. It's been a problem for the press corps as you can see by this MPR story on his travel in 2008.

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About Poligraph

The feature examines statements made by Minnesota politicians and checks them for accuracy. Based on data analysis, document reviews and interviews with non-partisan analysts, statements are rated either true, false or inconclusive. PoliGraph is a collaboration between Minnesota Public Radio News and the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. More

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