Fox 16 is reporting that state Treasurer Dennis Milligan has written a personal check for $400 to settle four violations of state ethics rules, and that he is calling for an apology from the Jefferson County Republican Committee and the resignation of its leaders “who orchestrated this misguided effort.”
The Republican committee called for Milligan to resign last June after Milligan hired a cousin, Sam Swayze, to work in the Treasurer’s office. Milligan paid a fine of $1,000 for violating state nepotism rules in his hiring of Swayze. Among other things, the committee also cited campaign donations raised by staffers while they were working at their previous job for the American Cancer Society; the Ethics Commission found no violation there.
The state Ethics Commission ruled 4-0 that there was probable cause to find Milligan did not file in his campaign reporting in-kind contributions of graphic design from his son-in-law, Chad Brown; did not report in-kind contributions provided by Gary Underwood, now an employee in the state Treasurer’s Office, for video editing services; that he did not report expenditures made by Jason Brady for Facebook advertising and that he did not provide information about the disposal of surplus campaign assets, including two printers, an iPad keyboard, a guitar, a hard drive and other “related items.” Milligan has amended his reports to correct the omissions and has disposed of the assets.
Blue Hog blogger and lawyer Matt Campbell filed the complaints against Milligan with the Ethics Commission, which began its investigation last September. Milligan has asked the legislature to transfer $50,000 from his capital budget to cover his legal fees in a defamation lawsuit filed against him by a former employee.