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Indianapolis Star
2 days ago
- Business
- Indianapolis Star
Secretary of State Diego Morales gets flak for overseas travel. Is he breaking any rules?
Indiana lawmakers seemed to be sending a signal to Secretary of State Diego Morales with a new addition to the two-year budget they crafted this session: Tell us more about your world travel. Morales' 10-day trip to India had recently made headlines. Some legislators and naysayers questioned why the secretary of state needed an "economic development" sojourn and wanted to know who paid for it. But this new law requiring annual travel reports from statewide elected officials wouldn't even have applied to that trip, since taxpayer dollars allegedly weren't involved. Nor to Morales's recent "personal" trip to Hungary, during which he spoke at a Conservative Political Action Conference. Nor for his other trip to Hungary, in 2023. Nor does there seem to be any other state rule or law that requires Morales to share where he went, who paid for it, and how much it cost, given the specific circumstances of these trips. Morales can travel the world on a mystery dime, and there's little in Indiana law to compel him to share the details. "To me, he's getting while the getting's good," said Julia Vaughn, executive director of Common Cause Indiana. His wanderlust, however legal it may be, may have in part earned him some early competition in next year's Republican state convention, where delegates choose the next secretary of state. Both Knox County Clerk Dave Shelton, who ran against Morales in 2022, and 2024 gubernatorial candidate Jamie Reitenour have said in recent weeks that they intend to run. Morales himself announced his reelection campaign in a five-minute video in early May. Morales has defended this travel on the airways and social media and said his international speaking engagements fall well within his job description. "There are people that will say that I shouldn't be doing stuff like this or that it's not part of the job. I disagree respectfully," he told Fort Wayne radio station WOWO. "We charter new businesses every day in the office, and we want to let everyone know that Indiana is the top state to start a business." "I'm not choosing to take these trips over other things," he continued. "I do it all. I'm going 100 miles per hour." His potential challengers next year have other ammunition unrelated to travel. He's currently under investigation by the Marion County Election Board for potentially violating election law by allegedly using footage from an official visit in that campaign announcement video. He's caught flak for giving a lucrative job to a brother-in-law, and was in India during his agency's budget request presentation to senators this year, during which his stand-in fielded rigorous questioning about the office's no-bid contracts. That followed a 2022 campaign season during which questions about his voting history, professional background and allegations of sexual assault came to light. If Morales were a member of Congress ― as he tried to become in 2018 ― Hoosiers would be able to find out a lot of information every time he hit the road. U.S. representatives and senators have to file travel reports for all "travel-related expenses reimbursed by non-government sources," known as "gift travel," as well as expenses related to all "official foreign travel." Their annual financial disclosure forms require great detail, including all sources and amounts of income and liabilities. Further, U.S. senators have to get approval 30 days in advance from the Select Committee on Ethics for privately sponsored trips. These requirements would likely have covered Morales's trip to India, which he said was initially sponsored by a private entity, as well as his second Hungary trip, for which he said CPAC Hungary covered his costs. But in Indiana, reporting requirements are far more lax. Statewide elected officials file annual financial disclosure forms on their own, without the assistance of their offices. In Indiana law, the definition of reportable "gifts" is anything worth more than $100 that they receive from a person who does business with the office-holder or their agency. The state budget's new language only applies to trips funded by state taxdollars and done in an "official" capacity. These rules let Morales off the hook for his two most recent trips. CPAC doesn't do business with his office, a spokesperson said. Same goes for the private sponsor of the India trip, Morales said on the radio, so disclosing that identity "never came up." Still, in light of public scrutiny, Morales said in the radio interview he decided to personally reimburse that private sponsor ― "because that's the right thing to do." The private funding sources for each of these trips exempts them from disclosure under the new state budget language. And even if that wasn't the case, Morales also billed the Hungary trip as "personal time," though he happened to also accept an invitation to speak in his official capacity at CPAC Hungary. "He's tourist Diego over in Hungary… but then he's public official Diego at the same time because they needed him," Vaughn said. "It's infuriating that there's this space in Indiana law that allows him to get away with this." His public speaking gigs likely fall through the cracks of campaign finance law, too, because Morales appears at such events as secretary of state and not as a secretary of state candidate ― even though he is now both of these things at once. The law doesn't necessarily account for activity that looks and feels like campaigning, even if it's not labeled as such ― like networking at CPAC Hungary with other high-profile conservative political figures, said Gregory Shufeldt, political science professor at the University of Indianapolis. This is where the difference between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law can come into play, he said. "Even if there isn't a quid pro quo ― or it doesn't break the law ― the appearance of corruption can have the same disastrous effects on public confidence, support for institutions, and political efficacy," he said. Morales sees these trips differently. He told the Fort Wayne radio station that even while visiting family in Hungary, he would never turn down an opportunity to represent the state of Indiana, especially at a conservative conference. "I always enjoy these opportunities that allow me to showcase Indiana and let companies across the world know, we are open for business," he said. He also committed to never using taxpayer dollars for overseas travel. In India, accompanied again by his wife, Morales spoke at two tech conferences. He said a private business that doesn't work with his agency, but "saw the benefit of Indiana being represented in these conferences," paid for the travel arrangements. In response to many calls to disclose the funder's identity, Morales said he asked if he could, but the benefactor was "afraid of being targeted by the liberal media or the crazy left." More: Secretary of State Diego Morales faces criticism for 10-day India trip. Here's why he was there So Morales said he personally reimbursed the funder. In a statement to IndyStar, an office spokesperson said he did this "in an effort to be transparent and in respect of the business wanting to be anonymous." "Secretary Morales maintains the utmost commitment to transparency," the office said. But for observers, this action only made appearances worse. "The fact that he's working overtime to keep the original funder secret just makes it more suspicious," Vaughn said. "It's just not believable that somebody out of the goodness of their heart finances a trip like this." Even if everything is above board, speaking in an official capacity in Hungary, a country the European Union no longer considers a democracy, might not be a good look for Indiana's top election official, Shufeldt said. Morales' office did not respond to IndyStar's question about the appropriateness of networking in Hungary or whether he sought formal or informal ethics opinions on any of the international trips. "If nothing else, this is tone deaf and flouting the rules," Shufeldt said. "Whether he has broken any rules or not ― which speaks to how poor Indiana's campaign finance laws are, how perhaps toothless these new reforms passed by the IGA are or will be ― Morales has been subject to consistent controversies and bad press based on his own poor judgment. This is just another example."
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Groups plan town hall in South Bend on array of issues. Rep. Yakym invited to participate.
SOUTH BEND — A public town hall — titled 'The 2nd Congressional District Town Hall Meeting: Important Issues Facing Indiana and the U.S.' — will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday, April 14, where experts will speak on issues like education, immigration, civil rights, campus free speech, health care, the environment and foreign policy. The groups Common Cause Indiana and Michiana Alliance for Democracy are organizing the event, which will be in the Gillespie Conference Center, 53995 Indiana 933. The groups say they have invited Rep. Rudy Yakym (R-2nd) to participate, but, as of Thursday morning, they hadn't received a confirmation from him. In their invitation to Yakym, the organizers said the event is "non-partisan" and stressed the importance of representatives hearing from their constituents and constituents hearing from their representatives. "As Indiana's 2nd Congressional District Congressperson, we recognize your expertise and would value your input on our panel to discuss topics of interest to the voters in your district," they wrote in their invitation to Yakym. "You bring knowledge of the workings of our House of Representatives, and you hold a key role as a member of the Ways and Means Committee, so your participation will greatly inform the discussion." The town hall also will include time for questions and answers. Audience members will submit their questions to a moderator, who will then pose them to the panelists for any of them to respond. Michiana Alliance for Democracy organized South Bend's rally that drew thousands of participants as part of the national April 5 "Hands Off!" protests. This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: South Bend town hall to discuss education, immigration, health care
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Voting rights groups claim new law violates National Voter Registration Act
Voting rights groups sent a letter to Indiana election officials on Wednesday alleging a new law violated national voter protections. (Getty Images) Several voting rights groups sent a 'notice of violation' to the Indiana Secretary of State's Office and the Indiana Election Division on Wednesday, alleging that a new state law violates the National Voter Registration Act. 'U.S.-born citizens would not face the same barriers while naturalized citizens would be required to jump through additional hoops to register to vote,' said Julia Vaughn, the executive director of Common Cause Indiana in a Thursday release. 'Indiana already struggles with low voter turnout — it doesn't make sense to impose new barriers.' The pertinent portion of House Enrolled Act 1264 from 2024 doesn't go into effect until July 1. It requires the state's National Voter Registration Act official — in this case, the co-directors of the state's election division — to 'compare the statewide voter registration system with the Bureau of Motor Vehicles list of temporary credentials …' Groups signing the letter include: Common Cause Indiana, the League of Women Voters of Indiana, Hoosier Asian American Power, the NAACP Indiana State Conference, the Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights, the National Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and attorneys William R. Groth and Daniel Bowman of Bowman & Vlink, LLC. That official 'shall' notify the local county that 'the registered voter may not be a citizen of the United States.' The law further dictates that the registered voter must provide proof of citizenship within 30 days of receiving a notice or the county will cancel that registration. 'The reality is that non-citizens are not voting in our elections and the citizenship check provision of 2024's HEA 1264 will be harmful for voter access,' said Ami Gandhi, with the Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights. 'By relying on flawed data matching processes that use outdated BMV records, and requiring citizenship verification under tight deadlines, this law increases the risk of wrongful voter purges. This is a violation of the (NVRA) and creates unnecessary hurdles that only naturalized citizens — and no U.S.-born citizens — will have to endure to exercise their right to vote.' According to the Secretary of State's Office, the NVRA had a three-pronged goal: increasing the number of registered eligible voters, protecting the voting process' integrity and enhancing voter participation. But the voting rights groups said it was also meant to protect citizens from 'discriminatory and unfair registration laws, particularly those that negatively impact eligible voters from historically marginalized communities.' 'Requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote disproportionately impacts communities of color,' said Sadie Harper-Scott, the president of NAACP Indiana State Conference. 'Many eligible voters, including Black people and people of color, may not have access to the documents that are being required in HEA 1264. This will suppress voter participation, not protect democracy.' Thursday's press release concludes by saying that if the state fails to respond and correct violations within 90 days, the coalition 'may' file a lawsuit. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
