NEW YORK Former Associated Press Vermont bureau chief Chris Graff, whose firing for unannounced reasons in March sparked statewide protests from journalists and public officials, was terminated for distributing a column by Sen. Patrick Leahy that promoted open public records, according to his termination letter obtained by E&P today.

The letter, written by AP Northern New England Regional Bureau Chief Larry Laughlin, revealed that Graff, a 27-year veteran of the Vermont bureau, lost his job because he distributed the column, which was eventually pulled from the AP wire.

"This is to inform you that your employment at the Associated Press is terminated," the March 20 letter begins. "The AP has a proud tradition of speed, accuracy and impartiality that has made it the most trusted news gathering organization in the world. Your decision to allow an elected official's editorial comments to run unfettered on the wire March 8 compromised the integrity and impartiality of the AP's news report."

When Graff was fired, widespread speculation surfaced in Vermont that the Leahy column had been the reason. Neither Graff nor AP officials had previously commented on the cause. But Graff, who released the letter today, said the "elected official" cited in it refers to Leahy and his column. Many in Vermont news circles had been puzzled that the Leahy column would prompt a firing since a similar Leahy column on the same topic had been distributed by Graff's bureau a year earlier with no repercussions.

The termination letter, which was released by Graff as part of a severance agreement struck between AP and Graff last week, also notes an alleged misstep in 2003. That year, Graff allowed a staffer, David Gram, to write a chapter for a book on Howard Dean. The book, published by the nearby Times-Argus and Rutland Herald, included submissions from nine different reporters who had covered Dean in the past.

Laughlin's letter referred to that decision as "a failure in judgment," noting that he was "admonished" for allowing it at the time. "Both incidents could have been avoided by consulting with your supervisors, specifically me," Laughlin added. "When viewed either independently or in totality, these grave violations of the AP's policies, procedures and specific directives supply just and sufficient cause for the termination of your employment."

Graff said he could not comment on the letter, the reason for his termination or any other aspect of his severance as part of the agreement. But he said he had asked that he be allowed to release the letter to "answer some of those lingering questions" about his departure.

Laughlin and AP executive editor Kathleen Carroll could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday. Jack Stokes, an AP spokesman at its New York headquarters, declined comment.

Since his firing, Graff, who is married and the father of two grown children, has taken part-time positions with Vermont Public Radio and Vermont Public Television. "I am still talking to folks to sort out what I want to do next," Graff, 52, told E&P. "I have to see if we will stay in Vermont, if that is an option. It is going to be a several-months process."

UPDATE

In response, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) released the following statement this afternoon:

"If anything, this letter makes AP's decision all the more difficult to accept and understand.

"Those of us in public life never agree with all the news coverage we receive. But within the two rough-and-tumble professions of public service and journalism, I have never heard anything but praise about Chris Graff for his professionalism and his evenhandedness, and he has earned that praise.

"The ironies of censoring discussion of the public's right to know -- during Sunshine Week, to boot -- have already been noted by others.

"But it must also be noted that AP itself takes an advocacy position each year during Sunshine Week. AP bureaus across the country distribute and also produce materials in which these issues are examined. At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing that we recently held, a prominent AP witness testified – and forcefully -- in support of the public's right to know and of the bipartisan FOIA reform bills that I have authored and introduced in the Senate with one of the Senate's most conservative Republican members.

"Earlier this year the American Society of Newspaper Editors once again asked for my observations for Sunshine Week, which they distributed to every newspaper in the country. Making the incidental effort to ensure that Vermont's editors were aware of this was, apparently, Chris Graff's ‘mistake,' in the view of his supervisor.

"The letter's explanation is all the more amazing because the piece that I wrote and that Mr. Graff simply called to Vermont's editors' attention is all about the public's right to know, calling on the government to be more open with the press and the public. Since Sunshine Week, and to this day, I still have not seen anyone venture forth with any column arguing otherwise, that the government these days is sharing too much information with the press and the public.'

Joe Strupp (jstrupp@editorandpublisher.com) is a senior editor at E&P.

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