“Privileged” Records from the Pascalis Project

by Don Moniak
September 13, 2025

For more than two years, City of Aiken officials and their legal counsel stubbornly refused to disclose a trove of documents that were deemed as confidential and privileged information. After the Court in the Blake et al vs City of Aiken et al lawsuit issued two orders to produce records, much of this information appears to be forthcoming. (More background information information regarding the City of Aiken’s unyielding position in regard to public disclosure is summarized or referenced in The $45,000 FOIA Fee.)

In the meanwhile, a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, 166-2025, has finally yielded approximately 120 emails previously deemed as exempt from FOIA requirements due to the assertion of attorney-client privilege.

Below are three of the more important records obtained.

Figure 1: A June 29, 2022 email from former Aiken Municipal Development Commission Chairman Keith Wood to AMDC attorney Gary Pope, Jr., and two members of city staff, and blind copied to other AMDC members. In the email, Wood cites a “knowing” violation of state Community Development Law. As described in Rebranding Project Pascalis, where the turmoil in late June of 2022 was first described, this particular email was withheld when the City of Aiken asserted a privilege exemption from FOIA. (click to enlarge)

Figure 1.

Figure 2: Email from AMDC Attorney Gary Pope in response to Keith Wood email. (click to enlarge).

Figure 2



Figures 3a to 3c: Memorandum from Keith Wood to AMDC members and AMDC attorney David Morrison with a detailed timeline of key Project Pascalis events. The highlighted portions are original and indicate events where what happened was “potentially unethical and in violation of state law.” (click to enlarge)

Figure 3a.
Figure 3b.
Figure 3c.


(This active page will be populated by the most pertinent of the emails over time. )