The “timing and circumstances” of McKenna’s travel plans with Juliand and MacDonald,” Swartwood wrote, give credence to the perception that “administrative law judge McKenna was biased,” and allowed Juliand and MacDonald to extract an excessive settlement from Mr. Yucabian.

The narrative then reaches a five-line mysterious redaction, leading to Swartwood writing: “I find this email to be credible evidence that money was NOAA’s motivating objective in this case.”

Locke’s spokeswoman Monica Allen said “attorney-client privilege” was the legal theory behind the redaction, which leaves a gaping hole in the understanding of the chain of command that Swartwood concluded had authorized gouging under the guise of the Magnuson-Stevens Act’s mandate to protect the natural resource.

Locke clearly found the government’s behavior here to be among the most offensive documented by Swartwood.

Read the complete story from The Gloucester Times.