Text: April 17, 2023To whom it may concern,I am writing to respond publicly to the letter of April 12th by several media companies. That letter refers to a February press conference. Unfortunately, the events surrounding and following that press conference led to flared tempers and misunderstandings. To the extent there has been a breakdown in trust between the media and the Minnesota House DFL Caucus, my belief is that the best way forward is to start the process of rebuilding trust with one another. To that end, I would be happy to meet with the media to discuss how we can rebuild trust and improve relationships going forward.The April 12th letter also refers to the follwoing sentence in a February 27, 2023 letter to MinnPost: "House counsel, the House Sergeant at Arms, and Capitol Security were notified." That statment was intended to be informational only and was not intended to intimidate or otherwise chill speech or newsgathering. Neither my staff nor I directed that any journalist be under surveillance. I want to re-emphasize that the Minnesota House DFL Caucus values the press. Our democracy depends on a strong, inquisitive, and independent press. We want press conference to be useful to the public and that involves a give and take between public officials and the media.Sincerely,Melissa HortmanSpeaker of the House