Laura Cox
Laura Cox: "There is clear evidence that a secret deal was made."
Hungry for more political controversy? Well, here you go.
A state agency has opened an investigation into $200,000 in payments the Michigan Republican Party made to Shelby Township Clerk Stan Grot not to run for secretary of state in 2018, the Detroit Free Press reports. The allegation was initially made by outgoing party Chair Laura Cox last Thursday.
"The Bureau of Elections is investigating the reported possible violation of the campaign finance act, as it does with any written report that a violation of the campaign finance act may have occurred," spokesman Jake Rollow said Monday.
In an explosive letter Thursday to state Republican committee members obtained by Deadline Detroit, Cox alleged that then-party chair Ron Weiser of arranging payments in 2018 totaling $200,000. The letter came two days before the state party convention. Weiser ended up reclaiming the chairmanship, and dethroing Cox.
On Thursday, Weiser called the allegations unfounded and said the contract with Grot was on the up and up.
"Laura Cox’s baseless allegations are a desperate attempt to smear my name, based on a longstanding political grudge, and her inability to hold onto the job of party chair that she could not keep on her own merits," he wrote in a statement to Deadline Detroit.
"The contract in question was drafted by counsel, and I relied on that counsel," Weiser wrote. "What's more, Laura's false allegations have been reviewed by former Chief Justice Robert P. Young Jr. of the Michigan Supreme Court, who has also consulted with other legal experts, and they all agree there have been no violations."
But Cox alleges in the letter that the payments are highly suspect.
"There is clear evidence that a secret deal was made between Ron Weiser and Stan Grot," Cox wrote. "Between August 20, 2018 and February 12, 2019, Stan Grot was paid the sum of $200,000 – within only 7 months -- from the Party’s Administrative Account. The payments were made so he would withdraw as a candidate for Secretary of State and ensure the party nominated Mary Treder Lang at the August 2018 convention."
"One issue this raises is the manipulation of a statewide nomination process and the ethical issue of a Party chair essentially defrauding state convention delegates and depriving these delegates their choice of candidates at State Convention through a sleazy payoff. The other potential consequences for the Party are very serious, including the risk that this conduct could be deemed a violation(s) of the Michigan Campaign Finance Act (for both the Party and involved individuals)."
