The Shapiro administration’s handling of a sexual misconduct complaint against a cabinet member, and one reporter’s request to know more about the investigation behind it, may cost taxpayers a lot of money.

In a court transcript obtained by The Center Square, an attorney representing the Office of the Governor says the state deleted internal emails sent and received over an eight-day period by a deputy aide in its Legislative Affairs Office who reported the inappropriate behavior.

“That, frankly, should not be surprising that an account of a departed employee would be disposed of in accordance with the records retention schedules,” says Thomas Howell, the administration’s attorney, during a Feb. 12 hearing in Commonwealth Court. “Those retention schedules are public, and they establish that, you know, your general emails are deleted as soon as they’re no longer necessary.”

Thomas Breth, an attorney for Broad + Liberty, said during the hearing that emails from former employees are kept between three and eight years. The ones in question date back only two years.