Weddle attorney accuses Beshear campaign staffer of deleting exculpatory evidence
An attorney for former London Mayor Randall Weddle says a government witness in the case state prosecutors have brought against his client for alleged campaign finance violations destroyed “vital evidence” that could prove Weddle’s innocence.
A fundraiser for Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s 2023 reelection bid and a “star witness” in the government’s case against Weddle deleted text messages that detail the local ex-politician’s effort to generate hundreds of thousands of dollars for Beshear and the Kentucky Democratic Party, said Guthrie True, Weddle’s attorney in the criminal case.
But those messages between Weddle and former Beshear campaign Finance Director Lucas Johnson are not lost. They were later retrieved from Weddle’s phone and made part of a state election finance agency investigation that recommended Beshear and the KDP return the money Weddle donated, which they did.
“Once we were made aware, the campaign reported the contributions to the state regulator and refunded the contributions,” said Eric Hyers, Beshear’s two-time campaign manager and top political adviser. “Neither the governor, his campaign, nor Lucas Johnson have been accused of any wrongdoing and are fully cooperating with all requests.
“We trust the justice system to determine the truth,” Hyers added.
Republican Attorney General Russell Coleman later took over the case, despite earlier recommendations by Kentucky Registry of Election Finance staff that the case be settled out of court with a fine.
It’s the latest development in a story that began four years ago when Weddle helped recruit more than $300,000 for Beshear and the KDP ahead of the gubernatorial election. Prosecutors say he put at least $93,000 on a private credit card in the names of his family members and business associates to skirt state limits on individual donations.
But Weddle, who pleaded not guilty to four felony excessive campaign contribution charges in April, has claimed he wasn’t aware it was a crime to make donations on behalf of other people. True, his attorney, said the former mayor brought the issue directly to the attention of the former campaign staffer and Beshear himself once he learned there was “a problem” with the contributions he made.
Criminal charges stemming from excessive campaign contributions in Kentucky are usually limited to people who “knowingly” violated the law.
True filed a memo this month with the Laurel County Circuit Court judge overseeing the case, part of an effort to move proceedings out of London and to Frankfort, where the attorney says the case should be heard.
“This case is nothing but blunder piled upon blunder,” True wrote in his brief. “Regardless, none of these natty issues should be the problem of the Laurel Circuit Court because the case should not even be here.”
Weddle resigned as mayor last week after an appeals court reinstated his 2025 ouster by the London City Council over alleged misconduct, including a $5 million mortgage the court said he took out on city property without council preapproval.
The embattled mayor, whose three-and-a-half-year tenure drew sharp political divides in the small Southeastern Kentucky city, was targeted in a slew of city council-led investigations and named in multiple state and federal civil complaints over his conduct in office.
But his departure from public office doesn’t appear to be enough to shake Coleman’s criminal prosecution. When he announced charges against then-Mayor Weddle in April, the AG said he was committed to holding “anyone accountable” for misconduct in office, regardless of their political party.
True has said he believes Weddle is a scapegoat in Coleman’s effort to cast shade on Beshear, who is a Democrat.
A spokesperson for Coleman’s office didn’t immediately respond to a Herald-Leader request for comment Thursday.
