Missouri officials first planned to thank Post-Dispatch for data discovery, emails show

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education had planned to thank the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for discovering a data vulnerability, emails obtained through a Sunshine Law request show.

Mallory McGowin, spokesperson for DESE, in an October email sent proposed statements to Gov. Mike Parson's office saying "we are grateful" for the newspaper uncovering the vulnerability.

Instead, Parson's administration accused the Post-Dispatch journalist of being a "hacker" and announced a criminal investigation.

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