SN&R’s legal battle with Mayor Kevin Johnson was delayed, but earlier this week Ballard Spahr, the legal team that represents Mayor Kevin Johnson, released a batch of emails and documents they’d previously tried to claim were privileged.

The release came after the judge ordered both sides in the case to “meet and confer” over the remaining contested emails (read more on that here). 

This resulted in Johnson’s lawyers revising its privilege log to mark 13 contested emails sent to and from Johnson’s OMKJ Gmail account (OMKJ) as exempt from client-attorney privilege.

Now those messages and documents can be read in full here:

There’s not much there of interest—if anything it’s curious that Johnson and company ever tried to protect them all. The bulk of the documents contain meeting minutes and documentation in the 2013 lawsuit that Kevin Johnson and the Special Task Force of the Board of Directors of the National Conference of Black Mayors  filed against National Conference of Black Mayors executive director Vanessa Williams and Mayor Bob Bowser.

That said, there are a few bits of internal wrangling over Johnson’s role with the NCBM hat are interesting in that they seem to chronicle the breakdown in the relationship between Johnson and the NCBM.

Take this exchange, for example (found on page 45). It documents an exchange between Wlliams, Bowser and mayors  Gary Richardson (Midfield, Alabama), Antonio Blue (Dobbins Heights, North Carolina), and John Overton (Marinquin, La),

Mayor Richardson: I have a concern regarding the lawsuit that has been filed against Mayor Bowser and Vanessa by Mayor Johnson and the task force. It was the board that instructed Vanessa to not provide that list of items to Mayor Johnson and we also supported Attorney Winchesters findings that cause Mayor Bowser to agree to stand in as President until we have a proper election. Is there anything we can do to assist them while they are fighting this lawsuit

Mayor Blue: I can’t believe this thing has got this far out of hand. I asked Kevin to call a board meeting so we could discuss this and he said No. This just doesn’t look good for any of us.

Mayor Overton: How did Mayor Johnson become First Vice President in the first place without being on the board long?

Mayor Bowser: I appointed him. And for the record, I tried to call Kevin and speak with him several times and he would not return my call. His staff kept calling me back. I finally got so frustrated about it I told them don’t call me again. Vanessa flew to Sacramento to meet with him three weeks before the convention and he did not mention any of these concerns or make these request of her then. I feel real bad about this.

Ms. Williams: The staff and I met with Mayor Johnson’s staff every week since February briefing them for his role as President. Even I didn’t see this coming.

Mayor Blunt: Bowser you don’t have to carry that by yourself. This is not your fault. You have come to this organizations rescue time and time again when we needed you. We all missed it on this one. I did not see this one coming either.

 

Oh, and if you want to check out the previously released emails, go here.

Meanwhile, the hearing—originally scheduled to take place today–has been pushed back to July 8 and Ballard Spahr has been ordered to produce the documents so that the judge may review them in private.