Carnahan on the way out. Live by the sword, die by the sword. "Carnahan has also been accused of making liberal use of non-disclosure agreements to silence critics, one of many subplots in the unfolding drama. Andy Aplikowski, former executive director of the Minnesota GOP, revealed in an email to members of the executive committee over the weekend that Carnahan offered him $10,000 in exchange for his silence."
Alpha News is a GOP party organ in Minnesota, so their reporting will be a beginning focus. The above headline quote is from them, here. That item continues -
“You can’t ignore that every single person put in the ED position by
Chair Carnahan has quit or been fired in a flash with little to no
explanation,” he [Aplikowski] said in a follow-up email.
His emails prompted several Republican lawmakers to call on the party
to release all current and past employees from non-disclosure
agreements, or “silence severances,” as one state senator described
them.
“As the Lazzaro situation unfolded, some individuals felt empowered
to step forward and share some troubling information. However, there may
be other parties involved who are unable to speak up as a result of
NDAs they had signed with the MNGOP,” Bobby Benson, a member of the
executive committee, said in a statement.
He then put forth a motion to “rid the party of the cancerous NDAs,” which passed in a vote of 8-6 during a Sunday night emergency meeting of the executive committee.
But now some members of the executive committee are already moving to rescind Benson’s motion, according to an email Carnahan sent to party leaders Monday afternoon.
She defended the use of NDAs as a “normal part of standard operating procedures with a majority of employers.”
“Non-disclosure agreements are important because they protect the
party’s confidential, proprietary and organizational information. It’s
of critical importance that we do not let the party’s proprietary
information fall into the hands of the left or others that do not have
our best interests and objectives in mind,” Carnahan wrote.
She also noted that NDAs do not prevent whistleblowers from coming
forward to “expose illegality or impropriety within the organization,”
but some have expressed online that they felt fear about coming forward
because of the nature of their NDAs.
Carnahan then attacked executive committee members for “leaking”
discussions from Sunday night’s meeting to “Twitter in real-time.”
“Such activity does nothing but disseminate mistruths and
misinformation in an attempt to destroy my chairmanship and defame my
personal reputation,” she said.
Carnahan joined WCCO Tuesday to discuss the situation and confirmed the veracity of a recording of her shared online by reporter Rebecca Brannon.
“Jim’s gonna be dead in two years. So be it,” Carnahan says in the
recording, referring to her husband, Rep. Jim Hagedorn, who has cancer.
Carnahan said she regrets the comment and apologized to her husband.
At least 20 Republican legislators, candidates, and causes have called on
Carnahan to resign. She has thus far resisted those calls but directed
the executive committee to take a “vote of confidence or no confidence”
in her leadership at an upcoming meeting.
“Trust must be restored in the MNGOP leadership. Many of us work
diligently to try to get Republican candidates elected, and the image of
the party is crucial,” said Conservative American PAC Chairwoman Vicki
Ernst, who called for Carnahan’s resignation.
“We are disheartened by practices put in place throughout the years
of her leadership including new requirements to sign NDAs in order to
keep board members quiet,” she added. “This is not a matter of whether
you like or don’t like Jennifer Carnahan — it is a matter of what is
right for the Republican Party.”
Alpha News reached out to the Minnesota GOP for comment. This story will be updated if a response is received.
If there's nothing to hide, don't hide it. Yes/no? That Alpha item links to another Alpha item from April this year stating in part - headlining first -
Party officials accuse Minnesota GOP chair of creating culture of intimidation - Several current and past committee members recently issued letters opposing the incumbent chair, with complaints about her lack of communication, financial mismanagement, vengefulness, and more. Some have now endorsed her opponent, Sen. Mark Koran, who has vowed to lead "without drama."
So, back then a "drama queen" suggestion about the Carnahan style. The item adds -
Republicans also lost two congressional seats in 2018. The party
extended its run of failing to win a statewide election to over 14 years
in 2020, when Tina Smith retained her U.S. Senate seat, and Joe Biden
increased the Democrats’ margin over Donald Trump in the presidential
election.
This came on the heels of Gov. Tim Walz beating Republican candidate
Jeff Johnson; Attorney General Keith Ellison defeating Doug Wardlow; and
Amy Klobuchar winning a third U.S. Senate term in 2018.
Two years ago,
Carnahan “promised President Trump that we will deliver Minnesota’s 10
electoral votes to him in 2020, and I’m committed to seeing that
through,” which didn’t occur.
Carnahan has her share of detractors. Several current and past
Executive Committee members recently issued letters opposing the
incumbent, with complaints about her lack of communication, financial
mismanagement, vengefulness, impugning of reputations, creating and
tolerating a toxic environment, bullying, disrespect, and more.
Republican National Committeewoman Barb Sutter, for instance, said in
a letter to delegates that over 50% of online donations to the
Minnesota GOP have gone to “credit card processing fees.”
“The state party has used fundraising vendors who get a percentage of
the donations. However, over the period from October 2019 to February
2020, the oversight of those allocations was virtually nonexistent,”
Sutter said in her email. “MN GOP got to keep only 48% of the money that
came in online, whether the vendor was responsible or not for the
donations. Our vendors took large fees on nearly all donations
throughout the life of our relationship.”
Sutter concluded her email by discussing Carnahan’s alleged attempts
to “ruin peoples’ reputation when they don’t do what” she wants.
“Rather than nurturing a vibrant environment that fosters teamwork
and creativity, Jennifer uses fear to intimidate and silence her
opponents. This is a drain on our party’s energy and resources, and it’s
inconsistent with the values our donors expect, and that our
Constitution stands for. We deserve better, and the conservatives in
this state deserve better,” Sutter said.
Republican National Committeeman Max Rymer said he was subjected to
the kind of retaliation Sutter described when he attempted to privately
raise concerns about the party’s financial mismanagement. In response,
Carnahan “has impugned my character, tarnished my reputation at the
highest levels of the Republican National Committee, has told explicit
falsehoods, and involved more people than just our Executive Committee —
all the way up to the COO of the RNC and beyond,” Rymer said in an email to party officials.
“I am disturbed the way MN GOP Chair Jennifer Carnahan has handled
this situation. She’s displayed prolonged financial negligence,
misrepresented the financial impact to the Executive Committee Board,
and attempted to intimidate a whistleblower (me),” Rymer continued.
Dave Pascoe, secretary of the Minnesota GOP, said in an email to
delegates that he has been “asking questions about party mismanagement
and finances” since December.
“These questions have not been well received,” he said.
“Unfortunately, it appears that me looking into these matters has been
taken as a combative personal attack.”
Janet Beihoffer, a former Republican committeewoman for Minnesota,
also objected to Carnahan’s leadership in a recent email to delegates
and endorsed her opponent.
[italics added]
Follow the money, then get into truculent characteristics. Money first, as an earlier noted Shot in the Dark posting about "an audit" seemed to suggest. Turning to two of Strib's recent posts, not as much a management examination (but with a j'accuse or two that way) as reporting MNGOP inner party claims of shrewish truculence and vengeance - First:
Growing GOP calls for chairwoman's resignation following sex trafficking indictment against top donor Carnahan tries to distance herself from furor over donor's sex trafficking charges. By Kim Hyatt Star Tribune August 15, 2021 — 9:20pm
Lazzaro, who remained in the
Sherburne County jail awaiting his first court hearing Monday, has ties
to many prominent state Republicans, including Carnahan, who recently
co-hosted a podcast with Lazzaro.
Carnahan
did not respond to repeated calls for comment over the weekend.
However, she released a lengthy statement Sunday on Facebook, saying
that "leaders in our party are now using guilt by association to demand
my resignation" and that the party and its leaders "cannot be
responsible for the actions of donors and unofficial persons," such as
Lazzaro.
"The coup taking place right now to relitigate the chair's race, smear my reputation and defame me is not right," she wrote.
She
noted that the party took immediate action to donate Lazzaro's
contributions to charity and to condemn both his and Medina's actions.
She said the state's executive committee was scheduled to meet Sunday
evening to discuss the matter.
Carnahan is married to U.S. Rep Jim Hagedorn, R-Minn., and photos of the couple with Lazzaro were circulating on social media.
The Minnesota Reformer reports
several anonymous party officials came forward after Lazzaro's
indictment, saying that Carnahan forced staffers and donors to sign
nondisclosure agreements "prolifically" to silence staff.
On
Saturday through the MN GOP's Twitter account, Carnahan released a
statement regarding the arrests and charges, but she did not address the
growing number of calls from within her party to resign.
[...] Carnahan
said the party stands with victims of sex trafficking. But some
Republicans say the statement isn't enough and the chairwoman should
step down.
[One inner party type quoted ...]
"We're
broken. Transparency is gone. Respect for one another and building a
culture of respect is not present. Accountability is often best achieved
through audits, and the potential to right the ship through audits has
been declined numerous times."
[...] State
Sen. Roger Chamberlain, R-Lino Lakes, was the first legislator to call
for her immediate resignation [...] while adding that he will be "praying for
the victims" of Lazzaro.
"Carnahan's
close, ongoing relationship with him is troubling, to say the least. I
find it impossible to believe she didn't know about his activities," he
wrote. "That relationship is cause enough for Carnahan's resignation."
Barb
Sutter, a Republican National Committeewoman and executive committee
member, said in a statement Sunday that Carnahan brought Lazzaro "into
the fold in 2017, and she actively encouraged his complete immersion
into the party structure and the homes of activists and donors."
"Her
poor judgment of character and the resulting lack of leadership has
tainted the party," Sutter wrote. She added that Carnahan's calls to
"come together as a party" and "rally around our Chair" do not address
the problem, and she must step down "for the sake of our Party's and
state's future."
Rep.
Marion O'Neill, R-Maple Lake, said in a statement that Lazzaro is "the
worst humanity has to offer." She said that if Carnahan did not have
"the wisdom to recognize the evil that lurks within," she is unfit to
lead.
On Saturday, a letter sent to the state GOP executive board
signed by Republican state Reps. Steve Drazkowski of Mazeppa, Tim
Miller of Prinsburg, Cal Bahr of East Bethel and Jeremy Munson of Lake
Crystal called for a change in leadership, saying Carnahan has "toxic
conflicts of interest surrounding herself with a board that fails to
act."
"The
news of a close, personal friend and advisor to our state party chair
being indicted and arrested for heinous crimes against children doesn't
just look bad. It is bad," the lawmakers wrote.
Minnesota
Young Republicans and Minnesota College Republicans issued statements
Sunday calling for Carnahan's resignation as well. GOP state Sens.
Michelle Benson of Ham Lake, Julia Coleman of Chanhassen and Andrew
Matthews of Princeton also have called for her to quit, as has Sen. Mark
Koran of North Branch, who challenged Carnahan for party chair this year.
Piling on? Using the Lazzaro arrest as cause to reignite an earlier failed effort to purge Carnahan? That item was followed up three days later -
Former staff for Minnesota Republican Party allege Jennifer Carnahan created 'toxic' workplace - Former executive directors of state party speak out on Carnahan; NDAs voided.
Minnesota Republican Party
Chairwoman Jennifer Carnahan has presided over a toxic workplace culture
and unchecked sexual harassment in the state party, according to a
growing number of former staffers and activists who have leveled
allegations against her.
Four
former executive directors of the party released a lengthy statement on
Wednesday saying Carnahan "ruled by grudges, retaliation, and
intimidation" in the party, often withholding prized party data to help
candidates she preferred to get a "leg up." The statement said she
retaliated against those who spoke out against her, often trying to
prevent former staff from getting other jobs.
"Carnahan
created an extremely toxic work environment, often yelling, demeaning
and questioning loyalty," the former staffers said in a joint statement.
"We would be reprimanded if we did not glowingly 'pump up' and stroke
the ego of Carnahan in our rare public appearances."
The
four former executive directors — Becky Alery, Andy Aplikowski,
Christine Snell and Kevin Poindexter — said they were able to speak out
after the party's Executive Board voted Sunday to void nondisclosure
agreements that they said Carnahan used to silence staff.
They
added their voices to a widening chorus of people calling for Carnahan
to resign from party leadership, including well over a dozen state
legislators, three Republican governor candidates and five members of
the party's own executive board.
Carnahan
has said the allegations are part of an effort by her detractors to
"relitigate" the 2021 race for party chair, when she won a third term.
The 15-member executive board is meeting Thursday night and will take a
vote of confidence in Carnahan's leadership. Ten votes are required to
remove her as chair.
Since
his arrest, other allegations have flooded social media about
Carnahan's leadership of the party. Multiple women detailed in social
media posts their experiences being harassed or spoken to
inappropriately by staff in the party, a culture they said went
unchecked.
"I
don't think young women are safe in politics," said Kayla Khang, who
interned for the party when she was 17 and said male party staffers had
inappropriate conversations with her and frequently made comments that
made her uncomfortable. She said she was warned specifically about being
alone with one former party staffer.
Sen.
Karin Housley, R-Stillwater, said allegations that the party leadership
"could have known about sexual harassment allegations involving one of
its staff and done nothing is beyond the pale and reprehensible."
In a
statement to the Star Tribune, the party said "none of the allegations
brought forth publicly in recent days were ever brought to the
Republican Party of Minnesota's Human Resources Director or the Chair."
"Had
they been brought forth; appropriate action would have been taken. The
Republican Party of Minnesota stands with all victims of sexual
harassment or assault. The allegation that the Republican Party of
Minnesota, its staff, or the Chair would ignore such complaints is
blatantly false," the statement said.
It appears released GOP party press statements have a strange angle on reality, while Carnahan looks like chopped liver from the reporting of the multitude of voices and what they voice. Where does that leave Hagedorn? If the claims of extreme shrewishness are valid, what kind of marriage responsibilities have Hagedorn and Carnahan? Who wears the pants in the family? What they do have together is the marital privilege, not being compelled to testify against one another. Like Bill and Hillary that way.
During her first campaign for #MNGOP
state chair, I supported Jennifer Carnahan. It wasn’t a slam-dunk –
Keith Downey was very capable. I thought she told a good story, and had a
good plan.
The vote made sense at the time.
But a lot has changed during Carnahan’s administration.
I left activism in 2018 – but heard the stories about the goings on
at the GOP HQ. I tend to give people the benefit of the doubt – and
politics tends to draw big egos and hair-trigger tempers (much like
radio) – so like a lot of grassroots voters, I paid them little mind.
But the tsunami of stories this past two weeks hasn’t left a lot of room for rational doubt. It’s time for Carnahan to go.
It’s not even really about the allegations about Tony Lazzaro, awful
as they are. I think it’s entirely plausible Carnahan didn’t know that
her close friend, guest at her small wedding, and primary campaign donor
was involved in the activities for which he now faces Federal criminal
charges; it’s not like sex traffickers advertise it in polite company.
I said plausible. But while rumors abound that Lazzaro’s
side hustle was an open secret in inner party circles about (including
from Andy Aplikowski’s letter this morning), let’s just leave that,
noxious as it is, to the FBI and the DOJ.
[...]
The allegations against Carnahan and her staff, though? It’s
impossible to read the credible, against-interest allegations of sexual
harassment on the parts of various staffers and not get outraged at the
“bro” culture that seems to have erupted in *our* party’s HQ.
As a conservative, a Republican and a father and grandfather of young
women, I see these stories (none of them *completely* news to me, even
outside the party) and wonder, not just why any woman would *work*
there, but why they’d vote for the GOP?
Are they merely allegations, not court verdicts? Sure.
So what about when the “allegation” go to court? With discovery,
testimony under oath? Imagine the anger every parent will feel at a
party that’d foster that kind of depravity, when allegation turns to
judgment? When that revulsion goes to vote?
Do you, loyal GOPer, feel lucky?
As to the allegations about Carnahan’s HR style, and her staff’s
dubious HR practices, and the allegations four former Executive
Directors made? Those just bounced the rubble.
It’s time for Carnahan to go.
And maybe others are reaching that conclusion:
I
have spoken to Chairwoman Carnahan, and individuals who support her
removal, and have been assured a resolution to this conflict will be
reached at tonight’s 6:30 p.m. meeting. #mngop
And if Carnahan doesn’t? The Executive Committee must relieve her of her duties.
And if for whatever reason they don’t? The State Central needs to do
it. Not just because the alternative is electoral disaster – although it
is. No – because either way it’s the right thing to do.
It should go without saying – the GOP needs an independent
investigation of the HR and financial allegations, including the out of
control spending and tens of thousands in hush money purportedly paid to
departing staffers.
Minnesota Republicans – the heart and brains of this state – may nor may not “deserve better”, but we had best demand better.
"Heart and brains of this state" seems questionable; but Berg has the opinion that Carnahan has reached the end of her shelf life, and he is a party pundit having standing among his Republican peers. Carnahan looks out. Let's see what the levels of inner party discipline Berg mentioned have to say, unless Carnahan jumps on her sword, making purging her unnecessary and honchos like Berg can gladly close the chapter on Carnahan times atop the troubled party.
That Gezelka thing - today being the 19th, that 6:30 pm confab should end in a resolution, one way or the other, with few aftershocks expected. Kill it, bury it, act from then on as if it never was. Focus on candidates, campaigns, donors as a class being ongoing without Lazzaro - ultimately they will be kept happy over their political investments. Where else can the likes of Cummins go? Wardlow and the pillow guy? That would be a hoot. Despite all the slung mud Ellison destroyed that option, DFL publishing Real Doug Wardlow and such, as part of the destruction.
__________UPDATE_________
KARE 11 posts of the Thursday evening Board meeting, for a vote of confidence or non-confidence. MSN posts a WCCO item suggesting Andy Aplikowski was a focal critic in the current reexamination of Carnahan's tenure. Andy used to blog, and freely spoke his mind. While thinking some of his opinions were wrong headed, his discourse on inner MNGOP happenings, when he'd post that way, were blunt but carried a sense of legitimacy rather than sore headedness. I trust his saying the Carnahan tenure was flawed. He says it. I believe it. He bases his critique on personal experience as he perceived it. I trust his first-person knowledge, as he is reported to have expressed it.
Carnahan is very much the person the supposed “coup” is making her out
to be. She has successfully insulated herself with loyal staff and
packed the State Executive Board and committees with people who will
vote exactly how she wants them to protect her. If Carnahan wasn’t
willing to drag down Big Brothers Big Sisters with this chaos, why would
she not afford Republicans in this state the same opportunity of a
clean slate?
The mention of Big Brothers Big Sisters relates to this published info, from days earlier, this month, the item being a terse report that Carnahan resigned from that operation's Board - per the Aug. 16 report -
“Jennifer Carnahan reached out to us and
resigned from the Big Brothers Big Sisters Twin Cities board of
directors on Saturday amidst the recent media attention. Her resignation
is effective immediately,” the spokeswoman said.
The Ex. Dir. letter's sentence, " If Carnahan wasn’t
willing to drag down Big Brothers Big Sisters with this chaos, why would
she not afford Republicans in this state the same opportunity of a
clean slate," needs the context that Carnahan was with BBBS on a volunteer board, whereas she and Hagedorn pull down money from MN GOP, with the exact figure not known at Crabgrass. Beyond that, an honorary nonprofit board seat (for a charity) is not in any sense congruent to a political party boss position - with salary. And the letter writers know this, so that sentence is more than a bit disingenuous.
That arguably stands against Carnahan's saying she knew nothing of Lazzaro's activities until the August indictment informed the public of its issuance by a grand jury. His mention of a contemporaneous July phone conversation with Carnahan might be something she'd deny, but he has made the allegation.
Beyond that, this evening's Thursday 8/19 Board event will be a web topic tomorrow.
_______FURTHER UPDATE_______
Since Aplikowski ceased blogging Crabgrass has relied upon Gary Gross, now posting here, for day-to-day Republican news. Gary's last post was August 16, while publishing nothing of the Lazzaro situation and the renewed scrutiny Carnahan faces. Looking forward to his analysis after the Board session is something we all should anticipate; along with Mitch Berg's follow-up after expressing his "reckoning" post expressing the thought that Carnahan should step aside.
If Carnahan does not tell the Board tonight of a decision to step aside, they might table the confidence vote question until after they have received and studied their audit results. That seems the prudent thing for them to do. Also, requesting that Carnahan grant Board auditing agents access to her campaign finances as part of Board follow-the-money due diligence. Sweeping things under the rug seems to not be an option. Pandora's box stands open.
