<\/p>\n
Benson, a Democrat, is also running for governor this year. She has secured the backing of much of the Democratic establishment and has consistently led fellow Democrat Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson in public polling.\n<\/p>\n
Federal prosecutors announced charges against the SPLC including wire fraud, bank fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering in April.\n<\/p>\n
According to the federal indictment, the SPLC \u201csecretly funneled\u201d more than $3 million in donor funds between 2014 and 2023 to individuals associated with extremist organizations, including the Ku Klux Klan, Aryan Nations and the National Socialist Movement.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThe SPLC was not dismantling these groups,\u201d Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said at a news conference announcing the charges. \u201cIt was instead manufacturing the extremism it purports to oppose by paying sources to stoke racial hatred.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
The SPLC has denied the allegations. SPLC CEO Bryan Fair previously called the accusations \u201cfalse\u201d and defended the organization\u2019s work.\n<\/p>\n
Benson served on the SPLC\u2019s board of directors from 2014 through 2018, overlapping with the timeframe outlined in the indictment.\n<\/p>\n
The Michigan state House Oversight Committee has been investigating Benson\u2019s connections to the SPLC. It held a hearing regarding the issue Wednesday, releasing emails from the Michigan Department of State that Republicans say show she \u201cmaintained a working relationship\u201d with the organization after being elected to office in 2018.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cHer continued embrace of the SPLC makes her current situation even more difficult,\u201d said state Rep. Rachelle Smit, R-Martin. \u201cBenson led an organization accused of funneling money to hate groups and domestic terrorists. The public should rightfully question whether she was directly involved or if her leadership was so flimsy that she was completely unaware of the potential heinous actions happening right under her nose.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
In May, Smit\u00a0led a House Republican effort<\/strong>\u00a0to pass a resolution calling on Benson to release records tied to her involvement with the SPLC.\n<\/p>\n According to Republicans, the emails show that Benson participated in an SPLC event in 2019 and include internal communications among her staff about the SPLC\u2019s recent indictment that were taken \u201coffline.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \u201cThe emails we got from MDOS may seem like a step in the right direction, but the internal conversations we\u2019re now privy to do nothing but cement the clear relationship between Benson and the SPLC,\u201d DeBoyer said. \u201cThe emails we obtained just begs the question: what is Secretary Benson holding back if these are the conversations she felt comfortable being public?\u201d\n<\/p>\n Benson\u2019s office did not respond to The Center Square\u2019s request for comment on the hearing or emails.\n<\/p>\n State Republicans have promised that they will keep the pressure on Benson, though they have held off on officially issuing a subpoena.\n<\/p>\n \u201cThe people of Michigan deserve to know the full extent of that relationship and whether it had any bearing on the work of the Department of State,\u201d said Majority Vice Chair of the House Oversight Committee Matthew Bierlein, R-Vassar. \u201cWe intend to continue following the facts, reviewing every record, and making sure the people of Michigan receive the full transparency they deserve.\u201d\n<\/p>\n This article was originally published at the<\/em> The Center Square<\/em>. Photo Credit: Mark Stebnicki\/pexels.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Benson, a Democrat, is also running for governor this year. She has secured the backing of much of the Democratic establishment and has consistently led fellow Democrat Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson in public polling. Federal prosecutors announced charges against the SPLC including wire fraud, bank fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering in April.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31026,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[10333,1660,1318,2290,6412,684,9129],"class_list":["post-31025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-prayer","tag-benson","tag-full","tag-gop","tag-hiding","tag-pushes","tag-records","tag-splc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31025"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31025\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/31026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What do you think of these shocking ties? Share your scripture and prayers below.<\/h4>\n