Mike Pence is going to court over his emails

Hillary Clinton lost the presidential election, but an email controversy may still end up plaguing the White House. Turns out, Vice President-elect Mike Pence is also being dogged by a case over alleged "email secrecy," the Indianapolis Star reported Monday.

On Nov. 21, the Indiana Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments over whether Pence should be forced to release redacted portions of documents, including email communications between Pence and Daniel Hodge, the chief of staff of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R). The documents in question pertain to Pence's decision to hire outside counsel in a lawsuit Republican governors brought against President Obama for his 2014 executive action on immigration. Democratic labor lawyer William Groth requested the documents because he suspected Pence's hiring of an external law firm was a "waste of taxpayer dollars." [T]he people have the right to know how much of their money was spent,” Groth said.

Though Pence responded to Groth with 57 pages of information, the documents reportedly had "substantial redaction" and a political "white paper" was apparently not attached, Indy Star reported. Groth brought the matter to the Indiana Superior Court, which ruled "the issue was not a matter for the courts to decide."

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Groth appealed that decision in June, resulting in the Nov. 21 court date. Experts argue that if the courts rule in favor of Pence, "'that would severely limit the Access to Public Records Act,'" a former Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law professor told Indy Star. Another law professor said: "It comes down to this — the court is giving up its ability to check another branch of government, and that should worry people."