Sacramento’s CBS 13 news crew went to a vacant EdFund building as part of a story on government waste and were met with some puzzling resistence. First, a security guard put his hand over the camera’s lens and asked them to stop filming. Then, Heather Wallace, EdFund’s lawyer — someone ostensibly very familiar with the law! — came out to tell them to stop filming.

“You are not authorized to film right now,” said the lawyer.

“We’re in a public place right now,” the reporter responded.

“This is not.” Wallace stated. “This is not a state property.”

But the rent on this property at Mather is in fact entirely funded by the State of California. Yet that didn’t stop EdFund from escorting the CBS 13 crew off the premises.

Later, an EdFund communications staffer told CBS 13 that the reaction was due to the confidential nature of what goes on there…in a vacant building…that, if it were operational, would be to “provide counseling and financial information for students – and ultimately guarantee the loans will be paid back.” It doesn’t seem top secret, but OK.

Taxpayers have been paying $1.3 million a year in rent for the vacant building for two years. California is in the midst of a fiscal crisis of extreme proportions, with a budget deficit of $19 billion. Could that be why they’re so averse to a news crew filming there?

Story from CBS 13