MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota GOP committee recommended tighter financial oversight Monday in the wake of mismanagement that has left the party struggling to pay off more than $1 million in debt.
The special committee stopped short of assigning blame in its report, but noted that many decisions it scrutinized were made under former Minnesota Republican Party Chairman Tony Sutton and the party's former executive director, Ryan Griffin. While Sutton cooperated with the inquiry, Griffin did not, according to the committee's chairman, Jeff Johnson.
Johnson told reporters the committee's mission was to present the facts about 11 sets of transactions that had raised concerns among party activists, but not to judge whether they were wise or unwise decisions.
"We discovered instances of misreporting, both internally and externally, a lack of adequate internal financial controls, examples of questionable decision making and a lack of accountability and transparency. We did not, however, find evidence of theft on the part of anyone at the Republican Party of Minnesota," said Johnson, Minnesota's Republican National Committeeman and a Hennepin County commissioner.
Johnson declined to single out Sutton, Griffin or the party's Executive Committee, which would gain more responsibilities under the panel's recommendations.
"I think there's probably blame to go around. I'm not going to pin this on any one person," Johnson said. "Certainly I think that had the Executive Committee had more information, and more accurate information, some of this would have been avoided."
As he has in the past, Sutton on Monday defended fiscal management during his tenure. He said the party "raised a lot of money, we spent a lot of money and we took control of the Legislature, and that's a good thing."
An accurate phone number for Griffin couldn't immediately be found.
The transactions reviewed included more than $14,000 in payments to Griffin above his regular salary — for unspecified "legal services" or "legal advice" — that lacked any documentation detailing the services he provided, the report said.
The committee said it was also unable to get any answers from Griffin about the payment of more than $18,000 to a consultant who claimed Griffin hired him to do polling and research on the legalization of medical marijuana as a potential political issue. The consultant also claimed he produced very few written reports and said he didn't think he had saved any of his work, the report said.
The panel recommended setting up two standing committees to oversee financial controls and personnel policies. It also suggested splitting the job of secretary-treasurer into two positions. And it proposed requiring that certain contracts of more than $5,000 be signed by both the party chair and treasurer, and be approved by the Executive Committee in advance.
The changes require approval at the party's state convention in St. Cloud next week.
"I think those are good recommendations for improving the system. In hindsight, I wish we had those before," Sutton said Monday.