(Source: MIRS.news, Published 06/29/23) The Michigan Republican Party (MRP) under the leadership of Chair Kristina Karamo is on the path to bankruptcy, according to the party's former Budget Committee Chair, who was removed earlier this week for due to a "dereliction of duty"
Matt Johnson of Muskegon went public today with his side of the dismissal. He claims his hounding of Karamo about getting to the bottom of the party's "extremely meager" fundraising operation and developing a right-sizing plan that included cutting salaries drove her to run him out.
He issued a press release stating that the Budget Committee was "kept in the dark about almost all financial activity," even when it was requested.
The tension within the Republican Party was revealed Wednesday for the first time when MIRS reported Karamo's decision to depose Johnson, a political ally of co-chair Malinda PEGO. She also blocked Pego from accessing a MRP financial account that Pego claims she created.
Political insiders have long suspected that the MRP would struggle to raise the money needed to be an impactful operation with Karamo -- an anti-establishment, grassroots organizer with pro-conspiracy origins -- at the helm.
Johnson's statements add first-hand testimony to support that theory.
"The Budget Committee was kept in the dark about almost all financial activity, even when we made numerous and specific requests," he said. "As far as we could tell from the piecemeal information we received, the Party’s fundraising had been extremely meager, and the spending was so far out of proportion with income as to put us on the path to bankruptcy."
Karamo "adamantly opposed" his committee's efforts to get to the bottom of the situation, claiming the committee was "micromanaging" her administration.
Earlier this month, the Budget Committee passed a resolution dealing with the compensation of Karamo and other staff. Karamo's General Counsel, Dan HARTMAN, allegedly claimed the Budget Committee didn't have the authority to pass such a measure.
On June 27, she removed him from his position.
"I, and many members of the Budget Committee, hoped for unity of mission with her on those values," Johnson said. "Yet, Chair Karamo's administration seemed to find the Budget Committee's collective wisdom to be an annoying obstacle that needed to be smacked down.
"As one of the many people who had been won over with the inspiring vision Chair Karamo gave us in her speeches, I am profoundly disappointed. I know the Republican Party has lost the trust of many, and I'm sorry to see more of the same, when we can do much better," Johnson wrote.
