Initial findings from the Michigan Republican Party’s budget committee show the breadth of financial unrest that occurred during the tenure of former Chair Kristina Karamo, including $130,000 that went missing in a bank transfer and $50,000 in Federal Election Commission fines.
The findings were outlined Sunday by the conservative Rescue Michigan Coalition, which detailed those dollars but also $100,000 in legal fees after Karamo was removed by a court order earlier this year, $90,000 in overdue bills from the party’s biennial conference on Mackinac Island, and an unopened mail bag containing $15,000 in small-dollar donations that had to be returned with an apology letter.
The party confirmed that these were still initial from the budget committee, and that it continues to thoroughly comb through past financial records to right any alleged financial wrongs that arose from Karamo’s tenure.
The party also said it hopes that work will solidify its position heading into the November general election.
Karamo was chosen by the party’s delegates at convention in 2023, beating out attorney Matthew DePerno for the role. Her ascension to party chair came months after losing in the 2022 election as the Republican nominee against Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson.
She was removed by members of the party following a year of tumult over the party’s finances and commitment to transparency under her watch, but a lawsuit ensued over the legality of the vote to remove her. A judge agreed that she had been properly removed and the removal was finalized via court order earlier this year.
Karamo was officially removed from the position on January 6. She was replaced at first by her co-chair, Malinda Pego of Muskegon County, who became acting chair before the party selected current Chair Pete Hoekstra to permanently fill the role.
In a statement to Gongwer News Service, Executive Director Tyson Shephard said, “it was no secret that the new MIGOP inherited a mess.”
“It’s also no secret that we’re cleaning up the mess, and under Chairman Hoekstra’s leadership, the party’s debt had been reduced, the party’s donors have come back into the fold, and we’re fully functioning with an extensive staff that is focused on one thing and one thing only – winning in November,” Shephard said.
As far as the unopened donations go, Rescue Michigan noted in a news release that the finding of donations that had to be returned was perplexing given the fact that the party was behind in donations following the 2022 cycle.
The missing transfer was described as one from Comerica Bank to West Michigan Credit Union. Rescue Michigan said party officials were still trying to determine where the money went.
The legal fees were from Karamo’s court battle after she was removed from office in January.
If Karamo had not been removed, Rescue Michigan said the campaign of former President Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee had planned to enlist the resources of the Illinois Republican Party to run Michigan’s campaign.
– By Ben Solis
