A judge Tuesday said he will keep sealed a handful of financial and medical records included in the 1993 divorce of Ron Dotzauer, a friend and political adviser to Sen. Maria Cantwell.
Lawyers are due to return to Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Thomas Wynne’s court Nov. 2 to argue what else should remain sealed, and what part of the file will be open to public inspection.
In the meantime, Wynne will comb the 14-volume file containing 3,500 pages to determine what other parts of the file should be made public in light of new court rules setting strict limits on documents that can be kept from public view.
Reporters sought the unsealing of the file in the current campaign climate with the expectation the file might shed light on a loan Cantwell made to Dotzauer in 1999.
Mike McGavick, a Republican, is challenging Democrat Cantwell in the Nov. 7 general election. She has consistently reported the loan, between $15,000 and $50,000, as an asset in federal financial disclosure records.
Wynne made it clear that he intends to unseal portions of the file to comply with new court rules. He said the order sealing the entire file in 1994 was overly broad under today’s rules.
Any decisions made Nov. 2 will have to be reduced to writing and put in the form of a court order. That may not be accomplished until after the general election, Wynne said.
On Tuesday, he rejected an argument that the whole file should remain sealed, but agreed to either seal or partly seal about a dozen documents that contain personal health or financial information.
Under today’s rules approved by the state Supreme Court, certain health care information, personal “identifiers” such as a Social Security numbers, financial account numbers, loan applications and other items are to remain sealed.
Dotzauer’s Seattle lawyer, Camden Hall, said he and his client went through the file and identified documents they think should be sealed under existing rules. Besides financial and medical information, Hall questioned the public release of some documents he said invade the privacy of Dotzauer and his ex-wife.
Wynne said he reviewed some of the material and will look at Hall’s other suggestions before making decisions.
The file was unsealed briefly Sept. 28 by a part-time, fill-in court commissioner at the request of Seattle blogger Stefan Sharkansky.
Sharkansky posted information from the file, but he said he never found the reason for the loan.
Wynne, who returned from vacation, quickly resealed the file, saying all parties deserved a chance to respond to the request under the rules.
The file is just one of about 1,200 Superior Court files now being reviewed by the court to determine what parts should remain secret and what should be open to the public.
Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.
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