Cleveland will investigate a council employee for allegedly "improperly" downloading thousands of public records, sparking a heated conflict between Mayor Justin Bibb and City Council leadership who say the administration "threatened" council staff.

The administration said Steven Rys, a special assistant to council who has had access to the city's public records database since 2017, downloaded 2,200 documents over several years, calling the move "unacceptable." A spokesperson said those documents contained sensitive information like social security numbers, along with medical and victim information that the public records department typically redacts when documents are requested.

"We don't know what he did with those, who he shared those with, if he shared them with anybody," said Tyler

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