Journalists in Illinois have come up short trying to get information about Governor Bruce Rauner's state email. Wednedsay, the governor gave his explanation for why.
State transparency laws mean requests for emails in which Rauner had done state business should have yielded something.
Unless, of course -- even in this age of digital everything -- there aren't any.
"I have no email. None whatsoever," Rauner says.
Gov. Rauner says an email-free existence has improved his quality of life, and increased his productivity.
"Email causes all kinds of trouble, as you've seen," he says. "And people ... send out spams, send emails, copy, forward - nothing good comes from that."
(The scores of emails released in recent months by the U.S. State Department to and from Hillary Clinton come to mind).
Rauner says he now communicates entirely over the phone or in person -- methods where his words aren't traceable. "I want to look someone in the eye," he says.
In that regard, Rauner shares something in common with his political nemesis -- House Speaker Michael Madigan, who also operates email-free.
The Rauner administration's since abandoned refusal to release his calendar has been the subject of reporting, including by BruceRushtonof theIllinois Times, John O'Connorof the Associated Press, and Mick Dumke, formerly of The Chicago Reader and now with the Chicago Sun-Times.
