Ex-MNsure Director Wanted Money To Answer Auditor's Questions

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - We're getting a look Wednesday at some new documents from the investigation into Minnesota's once-troubled health exchange.

MNsure's former executive director, April Todd-Malmlov, resigned under pressure -- not just because the website melted down, but because, for part of it, she was on a week-long vacation in the Caribbean.

James Nobles, the state's legislative auditor, spent a year figuring out what went wrong, and he says Todd-Malmlov refused to cooperate.

"She would participate and respond if we paid her," Nobles said.

Audit documents obtained by WCCO-TV show the auditor tried for months to interview Todd-Malmlov, finally issuing a subpoena to testify on Oct. 4.

But, through an attorney, she declined. First she told the auditor she was no longer a state employee and not legally compelled to appear.

Todd-Malmlov was directly responsible for MNsure operations for more than a year, before she resigned in 2013.

But documents show her lawyer told investigators that testifying would require considerable time and work, and she wanted "reasonable expenses in doing so, including legal fees."

"I felt that a protracted legal battle to try to bring her back under a court order was not something I was interested in doing," Nobles said.

Marshall Tanick, Todd-Malmlov's attorney, told WCCO-TV on Wednesday that she is "more than happy to cooperate, willing to cooperate."

But Tanick said  the law in Minnesota very clearly requires the state to reimburse ex-employees for the time, expenses and legal fees they incur in investigations like this. And that auditor Nobles was not willing to do that.

Todd-Malmlov works in Washington, DC, for a health consulting firm, and people close to her say she wants to get on with her life.

But she also believes she's getting blamed unfairly for all the MNsure problems, so it's possible one day we'll hear her side of the story.