My post on Chris Bushnell—the advisor to Mayor Mike McGinn who misrepresented his educational background to employers and the public while working at King County and as a political consultant—has been generating a lot of reader interest. I’m staying on the story. Stay tuned for updates.
Meanwhile, while sifting through the public records on Bushnell’s past, I discovered two odd footnotes about the $110,000-a-year McGinn advisor.
Bushnell has claimed that he graduated from the University of Washington with a B.A. in economics in 2004, and with a law degree in 1997. (Mayoral spokesman Mark Matassa says Bushnell got “within a couple of credits” of finishing his economics B.A., which is how he was able to attend law school without finishing his B.A. first.)
However, the truth about Bushnell’s degree(s) is impossible to verify, because he has requested that the university seal his records off from all outside inquiries. (A national database of student records was also sealed.) When I called the UW registrar’s office to ask when Bushnell had attended and whether he had graduated, I was told that I needed a written statement from Bushnell authorizing the release of his records. That’s a pretty unusual move—even public officials who graduated from UW, like Heidi Wills, Judy Nicastro, and, um, Mike McGinn have graduation records that are easily accessible online.
Another thing I found out when seeking out Bushnell’s academic records: Although he has said he changed his last name to Bushnell after marrying his wife, Megan Bushnell, King County court records show no indication that he ever changed his name to Bushnell. Moreover, he’s registered to vote in King County as “Chris Haugen,” a variation on his legal name, John Christopher Haugen.
I’ve put in a request to speak to Bushnell, who was not in the office today.
