BY RICK PLUTA
Michigan Public Radio Network
State House Speaker Jase Bolger and state Representative Roy Schmidt have a little less than three weeks to respond to complaints they broke campaign finance laws. The complaints are related to a plot to keep a real Democrat off the ballot after Schmidt jumped to the Republican Party.
One of the complaints is from the Kent County prosecutor. It said Representative Schmidt plotted to use his campaign fund to pay off a fake Democrat to be on the ballot. The idea was to avoid a serious re-election challenge after he switched parties.
The other complaint is against Schmidt and Speaker Bolger. It said they used staff time, cell phones, and other public resources for a political purpose. It was filed by Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer.
"This whole scheme involved improper use of taxpayer resources."
The Secretary of State sent letters to Bolger and Schmidt last week. A Bolger spokesman said no laws were broken. But the speaker does support legislation that would make what he and Schmidt tried to pull off impossible to do in the future.
Copyright 2012, MPRN