Michigan GOP Chair Weiser pays $200K to resolve candidate payoff complaintLANSING — Michigan Republican Party Chairman Ron Weiser has agreed to pay $200,000 from his personal fortune to resolve a complaint alleging the party paid a candidate to drop out of the race for secretary of state in 2018, officials said Friday.
The Michigan Secretary of State's Office has been investigating a February complaint filed by former Michigan Republican Party Chairwoman Laura Cox about alleged improper payments from the state party to Stan Grot.
Cox, who was the outgoing party chair at the time, sent a letter to the Michigan Bureau of Elections in February reporting $200,000 in payments the party made to Grot, the Shelby Township clerk, as a possible violation of the Michigan Campaign Finance Act.
Cox disclosed what she described as a "sleazy payoff," under which the party, at Weiser's direction, paid the money to Grot over seven months so he would drop out of the race for secretary of state shortly before the 2018 convention, clearing the field for Mary Treder Lang, who was defeated by Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson in the general election.
"The Bureau of Elections determined there was reason to believe the Michigan Republican Party violated the Campaign Finance Act, and proceeded to seek a conciliation agreement as required by law," Tracy Wimmer, a spokeswoman for the agency, said Friday...........
https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2021/07/02/michigan-gop-chair-weiser-pays-200-k-resolve-payoff-complaint-grot/7847179002/
