Michigan Elections Bureau opens investigation into GOP’s $200K payments to candidate – By Paul Egan (Detroit Free Press) / Feb 8 2021
LANSING — The state Bureau of Elections has opened an investigation into $200,000 in payments the Michigan Republican Party made to a candidate for secretary of state in 2018, allegedly to get him to drop out of the race, a spokesman said Monday.
Outgoing party Chair Laura Cox sent a letter to the bureau Thursday reporting the payments made to Shelby Township Clerk Stan Grot as a possible violation of the Michigan Campaign Finance Act.
Cox also went public about the payments to Grot, which she said were orchestrated by former party chair Ron Weiser. She disclosed what she described as a “sleazy payoff” in an effort to persuade delegates to the state GOP convention Saturday to not elect Weiser to a new two-year stint as chairman. Instead, Cox urged delegates to re-elect her on an interim basis until a new election for party chair could be held.
