(The Center Square) – After months of back and forth, Michigan Republican lawmakers introduced a resolution in the House on Thursday that would hold Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson in contempt of the House.
At a press conference, both Reps. Jay DeBoyer, R-Clay Township, and Ann Bollin, R-Brighton Township, signed on as sponsors to the resolution, calling Benson’s refusal to hand over documents relating to election training material an attack on the integrity of the House.
“This is a continued demonstration of lawlessness,” DeBoyer said. “The fact that we have to perhaps go to court, what a shame for the people of Michigan.”
The Michigan House Oversight Committee and Benson have been at odds over training documents for months, resulting in an April subpoena for the materials.
Benson, through Attorney General Dana Nessel, objected, saying she will continue to protect information that could potentially be used to impact the chain of custody of ballots, tamper with election equipment or impersonate a clerk on election day.
Overall, Benson has released 3,300 pages of training documents to the committee over a five-month stretch, but the committee wants more.
“We have the right to request documents, and there is no provision in law that says she can’t give us those documents. I can’t see it any other way than lawlessness. I can’t see it any other way. We are legitimately asking for things we are legitimately entitled to,” DeBoyer said. “We do lots of things as legislators, but when you’re directly attacking the structure of the institution and the integrity of the institution, I feel you have a responsibility to deal with it.”
A letter from the Michigan House lawyer invited Benson to appear privately to explain why the secretary of state’s office can’t disclose all the unredacted training materials the committee wants to see.
The deadline for that meeting was Thursday.
