State election officials have dismissed all but one of several complaints filed against state House Speaker Jase Bolger and state Representative Roy Schmidt.
The complaints of illegally using taxpayer resources were filed against the Republican lawmakers by Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer.
Bolger and Schmidt plotted Schmidt's switch to the Republican Party and tried to rig a re-election campaign by recruiting a fake Democrat to run.
More from the Detroit News:
"In conclusion, the department finds that the evidence submitted with your complaint is not sufficient to find that there may be reason to believe that any of the respondents violated the (Michigan Campaign Finance Act)," Melissa Malerman, an elections law specialist in the Bureau of Elections, wrote in an Wednesday letter to Brewer. Bolger's spokesman, Ari Adler, who was one of the aides named in the complaint, released the letter Thursday to reporters. "Once again, Mark Brewer's baseless complaints have been dismissed because the truth always trumps political rhetoric," Adler wrote in an email.
In a statement, Brewer called the Secretary of State's dismissal a "cover-up."
“The Republican whitewash of the Bolgergate scandal continues, with Secretary of State Ruth Johnson dragging her feet on the investigation and now announcing just five days before Election Day that she is dismissing the complaint,” said Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer. “It’s apparent Ruth Johnson conducted no investigation at all. She issued letters to Bolger and his staff months ago requesting their response. Why wait until the week before the election to announce her ‘findings’?
There is still a campaign finance allegation pending that was forwarded to the Michigan Secretary of State by the Kent County Prosecutor.
A grand jury is also looking into several allegations, including whether Bolger and Schmidt enticed the sham Democratic candidate to commit perjury.
