Legal Newsline | April 19, 2022

"One of Brenna Bird’s recurring messages in her campaign as a Republican candidate for Attorney General is that incumbent Democrat Tom Miller, after 44 years as the state’s chief prosecutor, is simply going through the motions at the office. 

A review of Miller’s appointment calendar, which Legal Newslineobtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, shows that Bird has a valid point.  

In 2019, 54% of Miller’s work days had no more than two appointments, and 32% of his days had just one appointment. In 2020, 53% of his work days had no more than two appointments, and 31% of his days had just one appointment. In 2021, 46% of his work days had no more than two appointments, and 20% had just one. 

In contrast, the appointment calendar of Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds over the same time, also obtained through a FOIA request, was packed, with nearly every minute – even on weekends – accounted for.

Examples of that contrast can be found here for 2019, 2020and 2021.

'We are actively campaigning in all of Iowa’s 99 counties, raising money, sitting down with voters and local media,' Bird, the Guthrie County Attorney, told Legal Newsline. 'I plan to be in every corner of the state as much as possible. I think my opponent has become too comfortable in the job and is just phoning it in. That changes this November with a new Attorney General.'

Miller apparently wasn’t using his off-time collecting signatures for nominating petitions for the June primary ballot. In a PR nightmare, his campaign narrowly scraped by with enough signatures just to get his name on the ballot. Radio Iowa reported Miller 'had just one signature to spare.'"

Read the full story here. 

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