Matt Meyer called for a federal investigation of Bethany Hall-Long’s campaign finances as both head into the the final weeks of campaigning for governor.
This story has been updated to reflect that Meyer said an investigation is needed to see if any federal finance laws have been broken, not federal campaign laws.
New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer on Monday called for a federal investigation of the finances of fellow gubernatorial candidate Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long.
He’s the latest to react to an independent report that said management of her campaign finances were ‘incomplete, inconsistent, often inaccurate.”
“Ms. Hall-Long has lied to the press, to her friends and supporters and worst of all, to everyday, hardworking Delawareans,” Meyer said in a morning press conference. “If we cannot trust Ms. Hall-Long with hundreds of thousands of dollars from her closest friends and supporters, how can we trust her with 6 billion dollars annually of our hard earned tax dollars?
Former Philadelphia FBI Chief Jeffrey Lampinski wrote that Hall-Long’s political campaigns violated Delaware law by not disclosing $298,000 in payments to her husband, and by failing to record advances the couple made to her campaigns as loans.
Hall-Longâs campaign reports for 2016 through 2023, even after being amended in December, still have not disclosed $91,000 in payments to Dana Long, who had been his wifeâs campaign treasurer and wrote the checks to himself, WHHY reported last week.
WHHY’s story also illuminated the “scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours” nature of government business.
It said State Elections Commissioner Anthony Albence had provided the report to Hall-Long last week, writing then that he did ânot intend to publicly post or releaseâ it unless a public records request was made.
He also said he would not pursue criminal charges and has not fined her, WHHY said.
Meyer said Monday press conference that Hall-Long’s request that the report not be released to the public was the latest in a decade-long list of issues.
“This fits a pattern of behavior â Ms. Hall-Longâs opioid commission was found to be ârubber-stampingâ millions of dollars of public funds with sloppy accountability and no guardrails â and now a dozen grantees are being audited,” he said. “The leaders of many of these organizations are maximum donors to Ms. Hall-Longâs campaign.
“As elected leaders, our greatest responsibility is to ensure the trust of the people. In my years of service, I have always valued transparency and accountability. The Delawareans we elect as
public servants must be held to a higher standard, not a lower standard.
Hall-Long blames Meyer
Hall-Long pointed out in a recent interview with DETV’s Kerwin Gaines that Albence and Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings had told her there was no criminal behavior and that she never personally benefited from campaign finances.
She claimed Meyer was desperate because he is far down in the polls, pointing to recent Public Policy Polling that said 31% of likely Democratic primary voters favored her, while only 19% favored Meyer. Former DNREC Secretary Collin O’Mara garnered only 9%.
However, a poll of 446 Delawareans by Citizens for a New Delaware Way, a political group formed to fight Hall-Long’s election, said Meyer and Hall-Long were in a dead heat.
Hall-Long has been selling her longtime state government experience as her ticket into the governor’s office, while Meyer has said the state needs fresh blood and new viewpoints. Both are running for the Democrat nomination.
On Monday, Meyer pointed to a poster that included a copy of a Post-It note that Hall-Long’s husband, Dana, said was written by his wife reminding him to create receipts for 2021 and 2022 expenditures.
Meyer said the campaign funds were largely from Hall-Long’s friends and supporters.
“If we cannot trust Hall-Long with hundreds of 1,000s of dollars from her closest friends, how can we trust her with $6 billion” in state money.
Meyer said that a federal investigation would have uncover whether Hall-Long or her husband violated any federal laws, such as mail fraud, wire fraud.
Last week, a former state chairman of the Delaware Democratic Party called on the party to rescind its endorsement of Hall-Long.
“In light of the recent independent investigative report that found Lt. Governor Hall-Long broke the law and repeatedly lied to voters, I am calling on the Delaware Democratic Party to immediately rescind their endorsement of her gubernatorial campaign,” said Erik Raser-Schramm.
“Our party has an obligation to our members and to the citizens of Delaware to ensure that our candidates reflect values of integrity and transparency.
It should not support candidates who break the rules and the law.
“Hall-Longâs actions have undermined these principles and have cast a shadow over our partyâs commitment to those values,” he said. “The people of Delaware deserve a governor they can trust, who adheres to the law, and who exemplifies the ethical standards we expect from our elected officials.”
Betsy Price is a Wilmington freelance writer who has 40 years of experience, including 15 at The News Journal in Delaware.
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