Anyone who thinks LACASA isn’t a political organization is either naive about its mission or doesn’t fully understand it. At its core, LACASA is purely political, but not in the organized Republican/Democrat way you might think. The organization — which started over 40 years ago by sheltering battered women in the homes of volunteers — deals exclusively with the politics of power, equity, and justice.
I speak after having served on the LACASA board of directors for 30 years. Some of the proudest work of my life has been as a small part of the effort that has brought LACASA to where it is today: a premier organization known statewide and nationally for the work it does with victims of domestic violence, sexual violence and child abuse. These are equal opportunity scourges that cut across all political, social, economic and religious lines, and that mainly victimize women.
If you understand this, you understand why the visit of former President Donald Trump in general — and Livingston County Sheriff Mike Murphy, a LACASA board member who hosted Trump for the campaign visit in particular — are problematic. That Trump is a Republican isn’t the issue here. If he were a Democrat or an Independent, he’d still be kryptonite to LACASA.
Let Trump’s words on “Access Hollywood” do the talking: In the infamous tape leaked before the 2016 election, Trump explained to host Billy Bush about how he tried to seduce a married woman, and how he might start kissing a woman he and Bush were about to meet.
“I don’t even wait,” Trump bragged to Bush about his modus operandi. “And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. … Grab ‘em by the p—-y. You can do anything.”
A jury also found Trump liable in 2023 for sexually abusing advice columnist E. Jean Carroll in 1996, and it awarded her a $5 million judgment.
So, how is promoting someone who brags about sexual assault — who says he can “do anything,” including grabbing a woman’s genitals, and who has been found liable for committing sexual assault — in harmony with the work of an organization that provides services for victims of sexual assault?
The correct answer is that it isn’t.
I am guessing Sheriff Murphy realized that when he resigned his position on the LACASA board of directors.
This isn’t a squishy situation in which any number of scenarios can be acceptable. While there is no litmus test for serving on the LACASA board of directors, the work of the agency requires supporting and believing victims. The problem for Murphy is that he put himself in the very public, very official, and very controversial position of supporting someone whose self-described behavior is antithetical to the work of LACASA.
Coming up with an exact analogy about Trump’s visit is difficult, but I am going to try.
Think about the optics of this made-up situation: An elected and taxpayer-funded county official who serves on the board of the Humane Society hosts South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem for a campaign visit at the taxpayer-funded Livingston County Animal Shelter.
Noem, a Republican, is the once short-listed vice presidential hopeful who famously wrote in her book “Not Going Back” about shooting the family dog for being uncooperative on a pheasant hunt. (Noem also wrote about killing a family goat, too.)
I am guessing that would get all the dog-loving county residents howling.
Lest you think I am picking on Republicans, consider the outcry if Democratic U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner of New York — convicted in 2016 of sexting a 15-year-old girl — was hosted on school district property for a campaign event by one of Livingston County’s public school superintendents.
My guess is that Weiner would not be greeted warmly.
Like I said, apple-to-apple comparisons are tough, and while these don’t quite hit the mark, they help make my point.
Complaints against Sheriff Murphy for alleged violation of Michigan campaign finance law by using taxpayer-funded property for a partisan political event have been filed.
This is not the first time Murphy has pushed the campaign finance law envelope. In 2019, he reached an agreement with the State of Michigan over a 2018 campaign ad in which he appeared in uniform with Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Schuette with a Livingston County Sheriff’s vehicle parked in the background.
For that violation, Murphy was fined $100. He then paid $100 to Livingston County to reimburse it for one hour of his wages and the use of a county vehicle, and he reimbursed Livingston County $585 for the legal fees expended on his behalf, payments that came from Murphy’s personal funds, not his campaign account.
On social media, comments about the Trump campaign event at the county complex have run the gamut, some of which are wildly speculative of how Murphy’s resignation came to be. However it came about, it was the right thing to do.
But that it was the right thing doesn’t mean it’s an easy thing. Murphy is one of Livingston County’s most popular people, and his relationship with LACASA has been long.
I know and like Mike Murphy. I served alongside him for almost the entirety of his term on the LACASA board (I retired at the end of 2023). His contributions to the organization, especially in aligning protocols for law enforcement response, have been invaluable; he also served as the board’s chair for a few years.
I also worked with Murphy during my years as editor of the local paper, and I continue to do so today with The Livingston Post. Anyone who has to chase down information from law enforcement knows that not all agencies and representatives are created equal. Murphy leads the way in that respect.
The situation created by the Trump visit is one that didn’t align with LACASA’s mission in the most public of ways. It is incongruent to promote someone found liable for sexual assault while serving in a leadership position with an organization dedicated to serving victims of sexual assault.
In his resignation notice to the board, Murphy said he did not want to “cloud the important work LACASA does” over his decision to host Trump at the sheriff’s office.
Bobette Schrandt, president and CEO of LACASA, said in a statement that the organization is proud of its “unwavering commitment to advocate for survivors.” She thanked Murphy for his time on the board, and for “recognizing that there is no room for distraction from our critical mission.”
As elections have consequences, so, too, do campaign events.
