This "backstory" is a part of a collection of articles that describes some of the obstacles that Seven Days reporters faced while pursuing Vermont news, events and people in 2024. The videos that showed a Bennington lawmaker surreptitiously soaking a colleague's canvas bag in the Statehouse didn't just emerge in June. There was some arm-twisting involved in their disclosure that underscores the role of the media in holding elected officials accountable. I had to persuade Rep. Jim Carroll (D-Bennington) to share the spy camera videos he shot of Rep. Mary Morrissey (R-Bennington) getting a little tipsy with her water cup. I asked nicely, at first. After hearing from a Statehouse source that the videos existed, I emailed Carroll to inquire about them. Since I wasn't certain what they depicted, I cast a wide net, asking him for videos of "unusual conduct by a fellow lawmaker." [content-1] "Since these videos were taken in a public place documenting behavior by a public official and that behavior is of public interest, I'd like to request copies of these videos under the state Public Records Act," my email read. I asked to interview him once he sent them over so that Seven Days could "properly contextualize the circumstances" before we printed anything. Seemed fair to me. But not to the legislature's top lawyer, Mike O'Grady, who denied my request. O'Grady argued that the documents were exempt from disclosure because, among other things, they were "personal documents relating to an individual," a category that included medical and financial records. If I wanted to appeal his decision, O'Grady said I would need to file my appeal to Carroll directly. This was because, as an "independent constitutional officer," Carroll was the "head of the agency" in possession of the documents in question. In essence, O'Grady was saying the videos were Carroll's, so if I wanted them, I'd need to convince him to turn them over. Challenge accepted! My appeal letter to Carroll started out straightforward, but my annoyance grew as I wrote what amounted to a mini legal brief to convince a lawmaker and his attorney to turn over public documents. I told him I didn't think the videos could "meet the high bar set for exemption from public disclosure" in the Public Records Act, including the instruction that the act "shall be liberally construed," and that the burden of proof was on Carroll. After a…