(Source: MIRS.news, Published 08/10/2023) Roughly a third of the Michigan Republican Party's (MRP) State Committee signed off on holding a special meeting Friday to discuss the perceived lack of communication on finance and personnel decisions from Chair Kristina Karamo and her inner circle.
However, the MRP's general counsel and executive director issued a letter Thursday to committee members that this "improperly called" meeting is a "shame" and "crosses the line of illegality."
"Any actual State Committee member conducting or participating in such an unauthorized and unsanctioned meeting in their capacity as a State Committee member of MIGOP are as well very likely violating their very real fiduciary responsibilities and duties," reads the letter from MRP Executive Director Jim Copas and General Counsel Daniel Hartman.
They suggested that participants are opening themselves up to civil and criminal fraud. Any business conducted at the meeting is not legally binding.
"We encourage each of you to carefully consider this potential liability and take this matter seriously as you each determine the choices you make," they concluded in the letter.
The perceived threatening tone of the letter rubbed some members the wrong way. They wondered if Karamo signed off on its issuance. Karamo was not available for comment. Hartman also didn't return a message for comment.
Helping organize the 7 p.m. special meeting at a church in the rural Montcalm County community of Crystal is Bree Moeggenberg of the 2nd Congressional District. She said the meeting was properly called per the MRP bylaws. It came after the July 7 special state committee in Clare, where some members didn't feel their concerns were addressed.
"Is it a crime to act within the bylaws of an organization?" asked Moeggenberg when MIRS asked about the Hartman/Copas letter.
At issue is the number of state committee members needed to call the special meeting.
MRP bylaws read that the Chair must call a special meeting of the state committee within 15 days of when one-third of the members asks for one. If the Chair does not, "any such member can give notice five days before such a meeting."
In this case, there are apparently 107 state committee slots, which means 36 members would need to ask for a meeting in order for one to be called. However, a few slots weren't full at the time the members asked for a committee, so Moeggenberg insists the number needed is 35, which is the exact number of committee members they had.
The group of state committee members are set to consider four resolutions, none of which has to do with the future of Karamo as chair. They call for:
- A smoother flow of financial information from the top brass to the Budget Committee
- A 75% vote of the state committee before the chair can remove any members from a standing committee.
- An audit of the books after the removal of the finance chair and more regularly updated state committee lists. It also calls for a fundraising plan from the finance chair within 30 days.
- Faster turnaround time on committee meeting minutes.
"This is not an anti-Kristina Karamo coup," Moeggenberg said. "This isn't a vote of no-confidence. There are many members who are enraged at what she's done. We are in a position now where we don't have information and we're literally not allowed to move forward."
The same basic group of state committee members apparently had asked for this type of meeting a couple of months ago, but Karamo opted to call for the special meeting at the Doherty Hotel in Clare July 7 instead.
Moeggenberg said the issues they wanted to bring up weren't addressed at Karamo's meeting and that she basically turned the whole meeting into a Q&A without any action taken.
Another matter that may be discussed is the state of the party's financials. According to Federal Elections Commission (FEC) filings, the MRP drained $2.18 million from their federal account for their state account, leaving them with $116,270 in cash on hand.
The transfer doesn't seem to be the issue, even though the MRP needs money in their federal account to spend in federal races like president, U.S. Senate or the U.S. House. The issue is the transfer was reported a month late.
The party wrote in its filing that the party's leadership was going through a transition at the time and that an innocent mistake was made. However, the FEC wrote back: "Although the Commission may take further legal action concerning this matter, your clarification and any additional clarification you may have will be taken into consideration."
