In the last line of her extraordinary press release in which she accuses the Nashua Police Department of launching a politically motivated investigation targeting her and her husband, Mayor Donnalee Lozeau writes, “I look forward to a public conversation about the conduct of all parties involved.” Then she adds, “The public deserves to know what happened.”

We couldn’t agree more, on both counts.

Make no mistake about it: This represents a crisis for the city. Two of the city’s most important leaders are at odds, and the charges are serious. Careers – most likely those of Lozeau and/or Nashua Police Chief John Seusing – might well hang in the balance.

According to the mayor’s statement, a man involved in a lawsuit with her husband told police in 2009 that David Lozeau was involved in bid-rigging, drug use and misconduct as a bail commissioner. On the basis of that information, police investigated, according to the mayor, who said the investigation included 11 police attempts to wiretap her husband and hundreds of hours investigating both Lozeaus. In early 2010, the mayor said, police closed the case without bringing any charges.

Mayor Lozeau said the investigation “came back to life” earlier this year in an attempt to smear her, after she took issue with the police department budget and proposed contracts for police department employees. In other words, she believes the investigation was relaunched for political purposes.

Seusing strongly denies that there is an iota of political motivation behind any department investigation.

Unfortunately for the public, charges and denials are not evidence, and thus far, the public has only heard the mayor’s version of events and a short denial from the police chief.

There are, however, police files and records, which The Telegraph has been seeking as part of a Right-to-Know request filed months ago. That request has been in the hands of police officials and David Lozeau’s attorney, who have been weighing privacy concerns against the public’s right to know.

Those scales have now tipped decidedly in the public’s direction.

When a city’s top elected official makes what amounts to corruption charges against its top law enforcement officer and there are documents that might shed light on the facts of the case and the truthfulness of the parties involved, the public’s interest in releasing those documents is compelling.

Now that the mayor has publicly detailed the scope of the police investigation against her and her husband and leveled charges against the police department in the process, there is no reason – none at all – to keep the records secret any longer.

Nor is there any reason to delay making them public when doing so could further undermine public confidence in either the mayor who runs the city or the police who are sworn to protect it.

The public interest demands that any and all documents connected to this case should be produced forthwith, so people can see the facts for themselves and draw their own conclusions.

Both sides should dare to be honest with the public about this ugly mess.

Because the mayor is right. The public deserves to know what happened.

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