Alison Lundergan Grimes and her assistant deny alleged ethics violations
Prominent Kentucky Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes has denied all allegations of improperly using her former position as secretary of state for personal and political purposes.
The commission accused Grimes of improperly using her position to benefit Democratic candidates prior to the 2016 election and using the state’s Voter Registration System for a “personal, private purpose.”
Grimes and former assistant Erica Galyon were both presented with charges last month by the Executive Branch Ethics Commission claiming they violated the state ethics code. Galyon denied a claim that she improperly withheld records from the news media.
Both filed their responses to the commission’s mid-November allegations last week, according to documents obtained by the Herald-Leader using Kentucky’s open records law.
Overall, the response denies that Grimes used “her influence in a matter which involved a substantial conflict between her personal or private interest and her duties in the public interest.”
Grimes also denies all serious allegations and admits only a few findings from the ethics commission’s order. In particular, she admits that lists of newly registered voters were created in advance of the 2016 election at her office’s request and that such lists were provided to “candidates that requested them,” at no cost, but denies that the lists were distributed illegally.
The response does not include any reference to the partisan leanings of those candidates, but the commission’s order claimed that the information was intended to benefit members of her own party.
“Grimes directed an independent contractor of her agency to create lists of newly registered Democratic voters and then directed a subordinate employee to email the lists to some Democratic candidates,” the order alleges.
The response stated that candidates do not have to pay a fee for the information that was provided to them, referring to a 2020 opinion from Franklin Circuit Court stating that “voting rolls” are public records.
Her response also says that the commission “fails to allege with specificity the time, manner and place of any purported violation.”
The former secretary of state also explicitly denied the claim that she used Voter Registration System information for a “personal, private purpose,” stating that she used that information in her capacity as secretary of state.
“Respondent admits that she asked state workers to download information from the Voter Registration System onto flash drives for her use,” the response reads. “Respondent denies that she made such request for any purpose other than performing her official duties as Secretary of State and Chief Election Official of the Commonwealth. “
Grimes’ response was signed by prominent Kentucky attorneys J. Guthrie True, Kent Wicker and Jon Salomon. Galyon’s counsel is R. Kenyon Meyer of the Louisville firm Dinsmore & Shohl.
True has also represented Grimes father, prominent Kentucky Democrat Jerry Lundergan. The businessman and former state party chairman reported to prison earlier this year following a 2019 conviction for funneling more than $200,000 in illegal contributions to his daughter’s U.S. Senate campaign and conspiring to cover it up.
In Grimes’ case, True told the Herald-Leader the ethics commission’s allegations were “frivolous,” and that Grimes’ actions were within her capacity as the top elections officer in the state.
“As a matter of law, we don’t think there’s any legitimate claim of an ethics violation,” True said, adding that Grimes made every member of the state legislature aware that lists of newly registered voters were being made.
In her response, Galyon called the claim that she had improperly withheld records from the news media “nonsensical.” The commission alleged she had previously given the same records to Grimes’ personal legal counsel but later altered the records she gave the media.
“When an entity produces documents it is obligated to produce, numbering the documents and including transparent shaded letters for organizational purposes it is not an ethics violation,” the response says. “Every practicing lawyer in the Commonwealth does this, and the suggestion that doing so somehow constitutes a violation of KRS Chapter 11A is nonsensical.”
Katie Gabhart, the ethics commission’s executive director, said it could be several months before an administrative hearing is held. The matters will soon be assigned to an independent hearing officer; the commission currently has three contract attorneys who must undergo checks to ensure that no conflicts of interest exist between them and Grimes or Galyon. From there, the schedule will be determined by the assigned hearing officer.
The most the commission can fine for alleged ethics violations is $5,000 per count, so Grimes’ maximum fine would be $10,000 while Galyon’s would be $5,000.
The Herald-Leader and ProPublica published a three-part series on Grimes’ conduct as secretary of state in early 2019. It first reported Grimes’ use of the Voter Registration System; the series also showed how Grimes gained unprecedented authority over the State Board of Elections, resulting in her ability to push through a no-bid contract with a company owned by a political donor.
Grimes was twice elected to her post as secretary of state, in 2011 and 2015. She left office in 2019 due to term limits. She was seen as a rising star in the state party when she ran against U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell in 2014, losing by more than 15 percentage points.
Grimes’ former office is now occupied by Secretary of State Michael Adams, a Republican.
This story was originally published December 13, 2021 at 8:40 AM.
