Public Disclosure Commission expands redaction order to include newly found Sam Crystal records

Jay Leach, chair of the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission, authorized an amendment to a prior redaction order in the matter of Sam Crystal at the commission's Nov. 13, 2025 adjudicative session. The chair said he would include newly discovered records under the same provisions previously applied to other records.

Jennifer Hansen, presenting on behalf of commission staff, told the panel staff found "another location where the applicant's name and address was appearing" after a prior order (issued Oct. 30, 2025). Hansen said the recipient of the contribution is "the Washington Education Association PACO," and that the applicant is no longer a member of the union, so staff requested a one-time redaction to address that additional disclosure. Chair Leach said, "I'm going to authorize the amendment of my previous order to include the newly discovered records with the same provisions that I had for the other records applicable to these records." Hansen confirmed there were no further needs to proceed on that item.

The action extends the scope of the Oct. 30 redaction order to cover the newly identified document location; Hansen characterized the change as a one-time remedy tied to safety concerns and with permission from the contribution recipient. The hearing record identifies the recipient organization as the Washington Education Association PACO. No vote tally or roll-call vote was recorded in the transcript; the chair's authorization was recorded on the record.