What Did He Know and When Did He Know It?
LANSING – In an appearance on WKAR’s “Off the Record” program taped today, Michigan Republican Party Chairman Robert Schostak admitted House Speaker Jase Bolger discussed Roy Schmidt’s party switch with him, but claimed he could not recall whether Bolger communicated with him before fake candidate Matt Mojzak filed fraudulent candidate papers on the filing deadline.
“Bobby Schostak’s evasiveness in addressing the issue of what he knew — and when he knew it — about the Bolgergate scandal is troubling,” said Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer. “He claims not to have been a participant in the scheme, but a text message from Bolger to Schmidt indicates they were going to run Mojzak’s fraudulent paperwork by ‘the GOP’ before filing. Schostak cannot tell whether he’s been questioned by the grand jury, but his admission today indicates he certainly should be called.”
After being asked by Detroit News reporter Chad Livengood whether Bolger communicated with him about the party switch before the filing deadline, Schostak responded, “Jase Bolger told me, I don’t know about the date, I can’t recall the date… I don’t recall the date. I don’t know. I was aware that there was a representative from the west side that was going to caucus with the Republicans….”
“Off the Record” host Tim Skubick followed up, asking if it was “good” that a grand jury investigation is looking into Bolgergate. Schostak said, “I think if there was something inappropriate going on, it needs to be investigated.”
Bolger sent the following text message to Schmidt on the morning of May 14:
This week’s “Off the Record” is available online, with the Bolgergate exchange beginning around 17:00:
http://video.wkar.org/video/2293786521
Voters can view all of the publicly available documents and media reports on the scandal at Bolgergate.com.
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