Upper Peninsula State Senator Ed McBroom wants Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson to testify about election integrity at the Senate Oversight Committee that he chairs during an April 20th hearing. Benson, through her spokesman, declined the invitation, saying it would be “political”.
Below are McBroom’s letter, and below that, her response.
Dear Secretary Benson,
Thank you for your response via your staff, Mr. Reames, to my invitation to have you testify before the Senate Oversight Committee in the coming weeks. His response stated that the Director of Elections,
Jonathan Brater, being the individual that “directly manages” the activities we will be discussing, will be attending the hearing in your absence. While the committee will benefit from having Director Brater there to provide details on certain aspects of managing election-related actions taken by the department, I believe it is imperative that the State’s chief election officer, ultimately elected to and charged with making the final decisions, be present as well.
This is precisely why my invitation was specific to having both of you attend.
The invitation for you to speak before the committee was provided well in advance, with a commitment to openness and transparency. To be respectful of your time and ensure the hearing is productive, I even agreed to a pre committee meeting to allow you the ability to prepare your answers in advance and to understand the objectives of the committee. Your decision to refuse our invitation, while recently testifying in front of the United States Congress on election procedures and policies, directly managed by Mr. Brater, is disappointing and perplexing.
Compounding my consternation is your apparent refusal to communicate with me, as I have made several attempts to reach out to you over the past two months, supplying my personal phone number to your staff with repeated requests that we connect. It is against my nature to make assumptions as to this failure to communicate but providing the benefit of the doubt becomes more difficult as time passes, and polite excuses become less believable.
Therefore, I again invite you to join us on Tuesday, April 20, to discuss the election and actions that were undertaken by the department and approved by you. This will allow the committee to complete its constitutional, and inherent, role of oversight on behalf of the people. We would be pleased to host Director Brater and your Chief Legal Director, Mike Brady, as well. If another date and time is required for you to attend, please provide it. I also remain willing to host a pre-committee meeting to discuss the committee meeting itself.
Statement from Jake Rollow, spokesperson for the Michigan Department of State, on state Sen. Ed McBroom’s letter
“Secretary Benson and her staff have worked closely with members of the state Senate and Legislature for several months and will continue to do so. To suggest otherwise is disingenuous. However, the Oversight Committee and its members have on several occasions taken action and made statements to undermine public faith in our democracy by spreading misinformation about the 2020 elections.”
“Secretary Benson has repeatedly affirmed that she cannot in good conscience participate in such a charade, particularly after multiple members of the committee recently sponsored legislation to restrict the right to vote and, among other things, undermine Michigan voters’ state constitutional right to vote absentee. The Secretary does appreciate the good faith with which members of the Legislature on both sides of the aisle have embraced components of her Advance the Vote, Protect Democracy plan and looks forward to further discussions in the weeks ahead.”
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