Just days before a key court hearing in Baltimore’s ongoing legal battle over government oversight, Mayor Brandon Scott’s administration logged into the Office of Inspector General’s servers hundreds of times, according to newly filed court documents.
The filings, submitted by the Inspector General’s Office, allege Baltimore’s Office of Information Technology accessed watchdog servers 433 times between April 14 and April 17, the same day a court hearing was held in the dispute over the office’s access to city records.
The revelations come as Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming continues her lawsuit against the city, arguing her office’s independence has been undermined after longstanding access to critical records was cut off and subpoenas have gone unanswered.
In an affidavit filed with the court, Assistant Inspector General for IT Operations Bryan Bartsch said he had maintained city-approved access to several accounts for roughly five years before that access was severed. Since losing that access, Bartsch wrote that he can “no longer attest to the quality and completeness of data provided to the OIG.”
He said the consequences have been significant, adding that tasks that once took hours or days now take months, dramatically slowing investigations.
Bartsch also alleged the outside user account accessing OIG systems had the ability to remove files and folders or modify data without going through normal permission processes.
The filings do not identify who specifically accessed the systems or what information was reviewed. That has become a central question for critics of the city’s actions.
“This is very problematic,” said taxpayer advocate David Williams.
Williams, president of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, said the volume of access attempts raises concerns about whether city officials were attempting to gain insight into the Inspector General’s legal strategy.
“It looks like the city was snooping to try to find out what the IG’s legal strategy was,” Williams said. “This wasn’t an errant search. This was more than 400 times that the files were accessed.”
The lawsuit centers on whether Baltimore’s Inspector General can operate independently from the administration it is tasked with investigating, whether the office should retain access to records it previously had for years, and whether its subpoenas can be enforced.
Williams argued the latest filings underscore why the office’s independence matters.
“This is why the IG needs to be independent and that’s why the city needs to take a backseat and really not get in the way of what the Inspector General is doing, especially during a court case with the city as the defendant,” he said.
FOX45 asked Mayor Brandon Scott’s Office why there were hundreds of login events in the days leading up to the April 17 hearing, what information was accessed, and whether the Inspector General’s access would be restored.
The administration did not directly answer those questions.
Instead, a spokesperson with the Mayro’s Office cited the ongoing litigation, stating: “As this matter is the subject of active litigation, the City will reserve comment for the appropriate judicial forum.”
Williams said the unanswered questions warrant further scrutiny and that those responsible for accessing the systems should be identified.
“The person or persons need to be identified,” he said. “They should be questioned.”
The city is expected to file its next round of court documents in the coming weeks. The next hearing in what could become a landmark case defining the powers and independence of Baltimore’s Inspector General is scheduled for late July.
Follow Political Reporter Mikenzie Frost on X and Facebook. Send tips to mbfrost@sbgtv.com.
Local Story
