The Michigan Attorney General's Office will not pursue criminal charges against the state Republican Party chairman over the use of party funds to convince a candidate to drop out of a statewide race in 2018.
Last month, Michigan GOP Chairman Ron Weiser agreed to pay a $200,000 fine for violating the Michigan Campaign Finance Act.
The violation involved payments from the state party’s administrative account to Stan Grot, who had been planning a run for Michigan’s Secretary of State.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel says paying a candidate to withdraw from a statewide election is "insidious behavior.”
“However, under the circumstances presented, Mr. Weiser's use of political party funds to manipulate the nomination for the office of Secretary of State for the 2018 Michigan Republican Convention did not allow for criminal charges to be generated,” said Nessel.
The lawyer for the state Republican Party calls the investigation a “waste of taxpayer dollars.”
"The Attorney General is correct that hiring Stan Grot to successfully build the grassroots of the party and win Macomb County was legal,” says John Inhulsen, General Counsel, Michigan Republican Party.
Inhulsen says the Democratic Attorney General should investigate nursing home deaths and campaign contributions given to Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
