Posted on 08/16/2016 8:12:08 PM PDT by Republican Wildcat
Despite a lower bid, Democrats couldn’t stop Monday’s approval of the $500,000 contract to carry out Gov. Matt Bevin’s investigation of the former Gov. Steve Beshear’s administration. The Democrats also criticized awarding the contract to a firm they said employs multiple Kentucky Republican Party operatives.
The Government Contract Review Committee, made up of three Republicans and three Democrats, listened to testimony from Finance and Administration Cabinet Sec. William Landrum concerning the contract given to Indianapolis based law firm Taft Stettinius & Hollister.
Bevin announced in April that Landrum would undertake the investigation after former Personnel Secretary Tim Longmeyer was charged with bribery in a contract kickback scheme. The scheme allegedly funneled money back into Democratic Party candidates’ campaign funds and coerced donations from state workers.
Although Bevin said the investigation would end pay-to-play or pay-to-stay politics in the state, Democrats on the committee said the law firm assisting in the investigation would exemplify that kind of politics.
“According to this issue of pay-to-play and transparency, every member of the team of people you have identified are Republican operatives. That’s not transparent,” Muhlenberg House Democrat Brent Yonts said.
“One of them was an attorney for the guy who was lead counsel in impeaching President Clinton, another is general counsel to the Republican Party of Kentucky, another was general counsel to a group who tried to flip the House (from state Democratic control) that’s not transparency. That looks like pay-to-play in my view.”
John Nalbandian, the partner Yonts alluded to, served as general counsel to the Kentucky Republican Party Central Kentucky Committee and recently went as a delegate to the Republican National Convention with Bevin last month.
(Excerpt) Read more at m.state-journal.com ...
Just Dems being Dems.
“We want Democrats investigating Democrats! NOT Republicans!”
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