LANSING, Mich. – Members of the Michigan Republican Party are speaking out after a campaign finance complaint was filed last week.
On Monday, Republicans did not have anything to add to their complaint. However, they gave broad strokes of what they think Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer did wrong.
The Michigan GOP is continuing its crusade over the governor’s trip to Florida on a private jet using money from her inauguration non-profit, outlining the party’s recent compliant to the state’s bureau of elections.
“There is nothing about that trip that would justify using the c4 that was set up for her inauguration that was set up in 2019,” said Jason Roe, Michigan GOP executive director.
Republicans are arguing the governor violated campaign finance laws by taking the jet between March 12 and March 15 to visit her chronically ill father.
The governor says she continued to work during the trip and her campaign says the use of the funds is legal, although she will be paying for the cost of her seat and the seats of her daughters on the return flight.
Meanwhile, the GOP disagrees.
“This was one-hundred percent a trip that was for the governor’s personal benefit. There was no campaign activity whatsoever and there’s no justification for the governor to use her campaign to pay for this personal trip,” said Roe.
This most recent complaint comes after another conservative group filed an IRS complaint about the trip and the FAA launched an investigation into the company that owns the jet, PVS Chemicals after questions about whether the jet could be used as a charter were raised.
The Michigan Democratic Party responded to the complaint calling it “bogus” and part of “never ending obstruction” against the governor.
Ultimately, it’s up to Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson whether to take up the complaint.
She has levied fines against the Whitmer campaign before. Back in 2019 her campaign was fined nearly $40,000 for breaking campaign coordination laws after running a series of campaign ads.