Latest news with #DeBoyer
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
House Republicans file lawsuit against Michigan's secretary of state over subpoena fight
Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson speaks to reporters after launching her campaign for governor in Lansing, Mich., on Jan. 22, 2025. (Photo by Andrew Roth/Michigan Advance) The Republican-led Michigan House of Representatives announced Thursday that it has filed a lawsuit against Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson for her alleged failure to comply with a subpoena issued by the chair of the chamber's oversight body. The complaint, House of Representatives v. Benson, filed in the Michigan Court of Claims on Wednesday, follows the House Oversight Committee's request for election training materials from Benson and her office, which resulted in a subpoena. House Oversight Committee Chair Rep. Jay DeBoyer (R-Clay Township) last month asked the full chamber to hold Benson in civil contempt for her alleged failure to provide the materials, which the House moved as a resolution later that day. Now, the chamber's Republicans have sued Benson seeking a declaratory judgment holding that the House issued a valid subpoena to which the secretary of state must comply. That lawsuit also seeks an injunction prohibiting Benson or the Michigan Department of State from modifying relevant records in the initial request. A request for comment from the department or Benson was not immediately returned. Benson however in a press conference when the House held her in contempt said the move was a political stunt and that if they wanted to go to court, she would see them in court. In a statement, DeBoyer said his commitment to bringing accountability to Lansing wasn't lip service. 'After going years without legislative oversight, Benson has clearly grown comfortable operating independent of the other, co-equal branches of government,' DeBoyer said. 'For months, we have tried to get her cooperation through requests, then accommodating offers, and then legal demands. Her continued defiance now brings us to the courtroom, where we will continue to diligently work to deliver government transparency for the people of Michigan.' DeBoyer added that all government officials, regardless of their title, each of them have a responsibility to uphold their constitutional duties and adhere to the law. 'Yet, Jocelyn Benson, one of the most powerful office holders in Michigan, must instead be brought to court and forced to comply with Michigan statute,' DeBoyer said. 'We will not let her disregard for the law keep us from delivering results to the people we represent.'
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Michigan SOS to House Republicans who held her in contempt: I'll see you in court
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson speaks during a virtual press conference held in response to House Republicans' resolution holding Benson in contempt. May 22, 2025 | Screenshot Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson on Thursday afternoon said she has complied in good faith with House Oversight Committee subpoenas that requested the state's election training manuals, and that their vote on the House floor to hold her in contempt was a political stunt. Benson, who is one of several candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for governor in 2026, said in a news conference that if the move resulted in a lawsuit, then she would see the Republican House caucus in court. 'We have repeatedly asked the members of this committee to meet with us over the last several months, but they have refused,' Benson said. 'Now my office has released documents to the House Oversight Committee five times. We have turned over more than 3,300 pages of election documents to this committee and to the public on our department's website. So, if … House Republicans want to go to court over this, we will see them in court.' Three key Michigan House Republicans, including Michigan House Oversight Committee Chair Rep. Jay DeBoyer (R-Clay Township), on Thursday morning held a press conference saying they would request a resolution to hold Benson in contempt for bucking the subpoena request for unredacted election training manuals. DeBoyer claimed that Benson and the department were given an opportunity to meet and discuss why the materials needed to be redacted and some information shielded, but he said the department declined the offer. In an early response to the threat of a contempt vote, the Department of State told Michigan Advance that it sent DeBoyer and others requesting the documents a letter that indicated they were more than willing to sit down and discuss the matter – but with an independent third-party mediator present. The department also questioned the scope and purpose of the inquiry. Shortly after the Republican press conference, House session commenced, and one of the first orders of business was to approve House Resolution 117 holding Benson in contempt. The resolution was sponsored by DeBoyer and Rep. Ann Bollin (R-Brighton), chair of the House Appropriations Committee. Bollin was also present at the Thursday morning press conference, along with House Election Integrity Committee Chair Rep. Rachelle Smit (R-Martin). Benson held her own news conference on Thursday afternoon, following the House session. She said has a sworn duty to protect sensitive election information from falling into the wrong hands, and that included DeBoyer, who was given authority by the House to disseminate the information provided. The secretary of state said that could very well happen if all that information was handed over without redaction or review. Overall, Benson said that the Republican-led House's tactics were 'no way to govern a state.' 'Every day the House Republicans spend playing political games like this, while the people of Michigan are struggling to pay for housing, pay for child care and pay for their basic needs, is an affront to the people they are elected to serve,' Benson said. 'This is government rooted in bullying and chaos, and I'm tired of it. It's not only ineffective, but it is dangerous, because [Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall] is the same person who chaired a committee meeting with Rudy Giuliani in 2020 to spread lies about the 2020 election.' Although she believes in oversight and transparency, Benson said truth rules the day and that also meant ensuring the safety and security of the state's elections. 'You cannot bully me or abuse your authority to get access to information that, if it ends up in the wrong hands, could be used to interfere with the chain of custody of ballots, tamper with election equipment or impersonate a clerk on election day,' Benson said. 'The caveat that we need to be clear and careful about is information that could end up in the wrong hands and essentially enable the tampering of election equipment, impersonation of a clerk or harm the chain of custody of ballots.' Given DeBoyer's broad authority, Benson said those concerns about security and confidentiality were real and justified. Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel Jr. in a statement said Hall and his caucus were abusing their power and control of the House to attack their political enemies and push election conspiracy theories. 'Right now, we are seeing yet another gross overstep by MAGA Matt Hall's House Republican caucus as they put their extremist agenda ahead of the well-being of Michiganders,' Hertel said. 'At a moment when Republicans at the federal level are trying to gut Medicaid, it's deeply concerning that Michigan Republicans are doing absolutely nothing to help Michiganders and are instead wasting time with political attacks.' Hertel added that the move by DeBoyer and Michigan House Republicans was not about election security, but rather a push to legitimize debunked election theories. 'It's an embarrassment, and Michiganders deserve better,' Hertel said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Michigan House tees up contempt resolution against Benson over election manuals subpoena
Rep. Jay DeBoyer (R-Clay Township), chair of the Michigan House Oversight Committee, announcing plan for a resolution to hold Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson in contempt. On the left is Rep. Ann Bollin (R-Brighton Township), chair of the House Appropriations Committee, and on his right is Rep. Rachelle Smit (R-Martin), chair of the House Election Integrity Committee. May 22. 2025 | Photo by Ben Solis Three key Michigan House Republicans on Thursday said they will request a resolution to hold Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson in contempt for bucking a subpoena request for unredacted election training manuals. Rep. Jay DeBoyer (R-Clay Township), chair of the Michigan House Oversight Committee, announced the plan at a news conference with Rep. Ann Bollin (R-Brighton Township), chair of the House Appropriations Committee, and Rep. Rachelle Smit (R-Martin), chair of the House Election Integrity Committee. The move could result in litigation against the department, presumably with a request for the court to order Benson to hand over the information. In a statement to Michigan Advance, the Department of State said their concerns for safety of election information were valid given the fact that the House gave DeBoyer authority to disclose confidential information to anyone he chooses at his discretion. Smit, when she was the minority vice chair of the House Elections Committee, requested access to the Bureau of Elections' e-learning portal, which holds education and training materials for the state's local clerks. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX When she became chair of the now-renamed Election Integrity Committee, Smit brought the matter to DeBoyer's oversight committee, which then issued a subpoena to the Michigan Department of State for any materials that had not already been provided to DeBoyer by May 13. The department said multiple times that it was working to fulfill Smit's and DeBoyer's individual requests, but the department was wary of releasing the materials without review or redaction for security reasons. On Thursday, Bollin, DeBoyer and Smit called foul on that position and said enough was enough. '[Our] olive branch was that we said … we'll give you until 11 a.m. today to sit down and have an opportunity to discuss some of the items that they believe are privileged or protected items,' DeBoyer said. 'Whether we agree or disagree with the theory, we believe in professionalism. So we did that, and the response to us, essentially in a letter that was returned to us this morning, said now they're not providing us with anything further with regard to that.' That included declining the offer to sit down and hash it out, DeBoyer said. 'That's a pretty disappointing thing,' he said. 'After all, the Legislature is the body that determines how elections are run, the time, the manner, the place, the laws by which they are implemented. [Smit] has not only the right but the duty in that role to request the information that is used to train local clerks with regard to how they administer elections.' That said, in the letter sent Thursday the department did agree to sit down for a meeting with House legal counsel, but indicated that it would like to have an independent third-party mediator present to resolve questions about disclosing confidential information. It also questioned the scope and purpose of the committee's inquiry. 'The Committee's generalized purpose of investigating how every election law is implemented by DOS is so broad as to emit no purpose. But even if that purpose were assumed to be legitimate, the Committee has made no effort to explain why the sensitive information is pertinent to or necessary for its investigation,' the letter said. A spokesperson for the department said it would have additional comment on the issue later. 2025.05.22 FINAL Pattwell House 2025 Subpoenas But, given the perception that the House was being stonewalled, DeBoyer said House Republicans had no choice but to ask the full chamber to support a resolution holding Benson in contempt. The next steps could include litigation. 'I think that's a strong possibility, but what a sad day for Michigan,' DeBoyer said. 'I happened to be a local clerk, as well, in 2020 when [Benson] told local clerks to not worry about signature verification on returned absentee ballots. … This is a continual problem, and the fact that we have to perhaps go to court is a shame for the people of the state of Michigan.' Smit, who also served a clerk prior to serving in the Legislature, said she could not fathom the security risks cited by Benson and the department as reasons to not release the documents or to spend excess time redacting and reviewing them. 'it just makes us [ask]: What is it that the Department of State is hiding [in] the training materials? If there is such sensitive and protected information, then why can't Secretary of State Benson explain to us what that is and sit down?' Smit questioned. 'I have been asking to have this since November 7, 2023. It is nearly seven months. We are still here without the information.' Bollin, also a former clerk, said many of these documents are available on the secretary of state's website under the election administrator tab. She wondered what was so secretive about the e-learning portal as opposed to that front-facing information. The cadre of representatives was asked if it appeared as though Benson was trying to run out the clock on the request. DeBoyer said he didn't want to speculate on her thinking, but said that has been a tactic he's seen play out in Lansing before. Bollin added that the people of Michigan deserved transparency and confidence in their elections, and that Benson's unwillingness to comply with requests from the Republican-controlled House did not instill confidence. DeBoyer went a step further and called Benson's action lawless. Benson is one of several names in the race to seek the Democratic nomination for governor. Her campaign has stumbled a bit out of the gate, with the pending contempt resolution adding to headaches over the disastrous rollout of the Michigan Transparency Network campaign finance system and the Department of Attorney General finding her in violation of the Michigan Campaign Finance Act for holding her announcement event in the lobby of the building that houses her department.
CBS News
15-04-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Michigan House Oversight Committee demands election training materials from Benson
The Michigan House Oversight Committee has approved a subpoena to the Michigan Secretary of State's Office over the matter of requested, but not received, election-related documents. The Michigan House Republicans made that announcement Tuesday, citing a vote of the committee and its efforts over the past five months to access the materials. State Rep. Jay DeBoyer, R-Clay Township, who chairs the oversight committee, is now authorized to pursue the subpoena. DeBoyer had insisted that Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson's office meet an April 14 deadline to provide the requested documents. Leading up to this step, Rep. Rachelle Smit, R-Shelbyville, who chairs the House Election Integrity Committee, testified before the Oversight Committee on March 11 regarding issues she had faced while seeking election-related materials from the Secretary of State, the press release said. The list of requested items and the applicable years is on the oversight committee's website. In response to her report, DeBoyer sent a letter requesting the missing materials. After a dispute with the Secretary of State's office over training materials for Michigan clerks and their staff, including what information could be considered confidential, DeBoyer invoked a 10-day deadline on April 4 to fulfill Smit's request. That is the deadline that has now passed. "The people and their elected representatives should not be kept in the dark on these matters, and today's move to approve a subpoena will help correct that," DeBoyer said. The Michigan Democratic Party disputes whether subpoena power is appropriate in this case, according to a statement from Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel. "Under (House Speaker) Matt Hall, State House Republicans gave themselves unprecedented power to investigate political opponents with this new sweeping subpoena power," Hertel's statement said. "This is a gross overstep by the House Oversight Committee, plain and simple. If Hall really cared about transparency, he would've sent FOIA reform to Governor Whitmer for signature, but we all know that this is really about political persecution, not good government." CBS News Detroit has reached out to Benson's office for comment. Benson is term-limited in her current role and has announced she is running for governor in 2026.
