Yesterday, we published a story on an election law complaint citing discrepancies between donations to the Committee to Elect House Republicans (CTEHR) and the campaign finance reporting. Just under 170,000 dollars is unaccounted for. When asked for comment, Majority Leader Jason Osborne replied (in part) that,
While this does not excuse the oversight, had Rep. [redacted]—who filed the “anonymous” complaint—or any other individual brought the matter to our attention, we would have promptly addressed and corrected it.
It’s redacted because the named individual didn’t file the complaints.
I have also had several conversations with individuals who are confident that leadership was made aware of these discrepancies before any election law complaints were filed. The reporting issue was a topic of discussion among several groups or individuals for some time – in other words, not exactly a secret.
If you have a story to tell, we publish anonymous op-eds, but we do need to confirm who you are before anything goes “to print.”
I, for one, would love to know where the corrected or updated finance reports are. One “rumor” is that these corrections were already filed (presumably in December at the latest). Presumably, to nip further curiosity in the bud. To prevent any complaints from being filed. But no one seems to know where they went or if they existed, nor can anyone find them almost two months later.
None of the contacts I spoke with know of updated or corrected filings, and I have to assume they would be in my possession if they existed. Leadership could have sent them to me yesterday in response to my request to comment.
We are talking about mistakes accumulated on reports from the midterms in 2022 to August of last year, which sounds less like a discrepancy or oversight issue and more like a systemic problem.
Don’t the people who donated to the CTEHR deserve to know what you did with their money?
It’s not a good look.
And to clarify, we feel confident that the individual(s) who filed the anonymous complaints we shared yesterday was not the person identified by leadership in the comment they shared with us. That was why I removed the screengrab from the post sent to me by Rep. Osborne. There are digital fingerprints, but that individual did not file the actual complaints with the secretary of state. Multiple sources have affirmed this, and pursuing it further is a distraction.
And the issue isn’t who uncovered or even reported the problem; it is the missing expenditures and updated reporting. I have asked for copies of the corrected or amended filings and promised to publish them. I’m interested in truth and transparency. We want debate and resolution. If all is well, then make it well because House leadership has enough problems 9speaking of distractions) with Rep. Pearson ignoring his constitutional duty and Rep. Weyler making fun of YDC victims. Pearson should be removed as Committee Chair, and Weyler appears to need an intervention.
Also, a bad look.
If you can’t even file finance reports properly, why would anyone expect you to keep any other part of your house in order? But you can still right the ship. The question is whether you care more about pointing fingers to cover up mistakes or doing the right thing for the House, Republicans, and the people of New Hampshire.
And no, we have not dropped the questions surrounding the other complaints.
These stories are developing.
