A.J. Balukoff, Democratic candidate for governor, is calling on GOP Gov. Butch Otter to immediately release all public records and communications related to the Corrections Corp. of America, after today’s Idaho Statesman reported that Otter’s top staffers were involved in negotiating a $1 million settlement with the firm, a major donor to Otter’s campaigns and the former private operator of Idaho’s largest state prison. “This news story shows that Gov. Otter’s claim that he had no involvement in the CCA settlement was a bald-faced lie,” Balukoff said in a news release; you can read his full release here.

“Gov. Otter has bungled this debacle badly, and now there’s very good reason to suspect criminal wrongdoing at some level in state government,” Balukoff said. “If Gov. Otter wants voters to believe that he deserves a third term in office, he has a responsibility to show voters just exactly what has been going on in this affair.”