Another Deception from House Republicans
Norelli and Wallner Call on House Republicans to Repay Taxpayers for Political Work; Reiterates Call for Independent Investigation
CONCORD – Decrying Republican deceptions to the people of New Hampshire, House Democratic Leader Terie Norelli and Deputy Democratic Leader Mary Jane Wallner today called on Bill O’Brien and the House Republican Political Committee to immediately repay taxpayers for the costs of Bob Mead’s salary and benefits and to begin an independent investigation of both the Mead and Bettencourt scandals.
“First, House Republicans lied to the people of New Hampshire and said Bob Mead repaid taxpayers for the cost of his political trips. Now we learned that didn’t happen and that Mead believed he was instructed to recruit candidates on the taxpayers’ dime,” Norelli said. “Bill O’Brien should stop stonewalling questions about this serious breach of public trust.”
“Bill O’Brien and the House Republican political committee should immediately repay taxpayers the costs of Bob Mead’s salary and benefits for working on Republican political activities. And Bill O’Brien should support an independent investigation into both the Bettencourt and Mead scandals, clearly there are a number of unanswered questions,” Rep. Mary Jane Wallner said.
The Concord Monitor reported today that Mead refused to repay the mileage funds because he was doing the tasks that he was assigned. O’Brien and his chief of staff Greg Moore have refused to answer questions about who assigned Mead to perform political activities, as well as questions about whether Mead received taxpayer-funded comp time off for the time he spent on Republican recruiting.
O’Brien’s chief of staff, Greg Moore, approved Mead’s mileage requests – knowing that they were for “Republican outreach.” Moore has refused to answer questions. He told the Monitor yesterday that the question of whether Mead had repaid the funds was a “personnel question.”
“Bill O’Brien has fostered a culture of corruption in the State House. This is a question about the inappropriate use of public funds for Republican political activities. The people of New Hampshire deserve transparency and answers from Speaker Bill O’Brien and his chief of staff,” Norelli said.
In addition to the issues with Mead, O’Brien has also stonewalled questions about his role in attempting to cover up the alleged fraud of his second-in-command, DJ Bettencourt. Bettencourt has falsely representing to the University of New Hampshire Law School that he had completed a legal internship.
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