Republicans ask FBI to investigate Massachusetts GOP for potential campaign misspending: report

Republicans in Massachusetts have potentially uncovered a scandal over misspending more than $1 million.

"State Republican Party Chairman Jim Lyons has asked the US attorney and the FBI along with three other agencies to investigate whether former employees and fund-raisers for the GOP — including Governor Charlie Baker’s former finance director — misused more than $1 million in party funds," the Boston Globe reported Saturday.

"Lyons, who took over leadership of the party in 2019, has been reviewing the party’s finances for more than a year. In letters requesting the investigation, he alleged that John Cook, Baker’s former finance director, has since 2013 directed the party to pay more than $1 million to businesses he owned or controlled even though he was not an employee of the party or working under a contract," the newspaper explained.

Former state party treasurer Brent J. Andersen denied the allegation, which he said were motivated by politics.

"Lyons told authorities that he would soon send 250 pages of detailed records to back up his concerns. He sent the letter to the Internal Revenue Service, the FBI, US Attorney Andrew Lelling, the Federal Election Commission, and the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance," the newspaper explained. "Baker and his team have been estranged from the party since the conservative Lyons was elected chairman of the party, succeeding Kirsten Hughes, a staunch Baker ally who didn’t seek another term. Lyons, a former state representative from Andover, is up for reelection in January."

Read the full report.