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Thursday, September 14, 2017

Is the firing of former Indiana Homeland Security CFO a political cover up?





Indy Republican has been hearing from its readers about corruption and mismanagement at the Indiana Department of Homeland Security (IDHS). We have even heard rumors that IDHS is even going so far as to damage former IDHS employees to keep prying eyes away from them.

If that is what the powers that be wanted, then they are about to develop ulcers. The prying eyes are not going away.

IR's curiosity was piqued. So naturally we all decided to take a look at IDHS. And after looking into these matters. We must confess that what we found surprised even us hardened, jaded, and battle-scarred activists. But also we have a greater respect for the journalistic prowess of Sandra Chapman of WTHR-TV, and Brian Slodysko of the Associated Press, and Tony Cook of the Indianapolis Star. 

Brian Slodysko at AP in an article published today on INDYSTAR.COM "Ethics panel forever bans state government employee" had this to say:

An ethics panel found Thursday that a former state administrator violated Indiana’s nepotism law by hiring three relatives to work at her agency.

The Indiana State Ethics Commission unanimously approved banning former Department of Homeland Security administrator Leann Walton from ever working in state government.

IndyStar was the first to report Walton was fired as the agency’s chief financial officer in August 2016.

Emails produced through an investigation by Inspector General’s office show Walton hired her aunt, sister and stepdaughter to positions in the agency. Walton’s aunt and sister were in her direct line of supervision. Her stepdaughter worked in another division.

Indiana’s ethics law states that an “individual employed in an agency may not hire a relative” or have a relative in their “direct line of supervision.”

Tony Cook's August 26th, 2016 article "Indiana's homeland security CFO fired after family members hired" provides some more background information from Mrs. Walton and her attorney Steven Fulk pertaining to Mrs. Walton's termination at IDHS.

Tony Cook reported:

The state is disclosing few details about the Aug. 9 termination of Leann Walton, 47, of Danville, who had been the agency's CFO since 2012.

A Homeland Security department spokesman referred IndyStar to the state personnel department, which provided a one-sentence explanation of the firing.

"Leann Walton was dismissed from the Department of Homeland Security on 8/9/16 for poor (judgment) and lack of candor related to her involvement in the agency engaging the services of her relatives," the description said.

Neither the Homeland Security nor personnel departments would provide further details.

Walton's sister, Lisa Hunt, worked at the agency from April 29 to Aug. 5. Her aunt, Patricia Burdine, also worked at the agency from April 8 to July 22. Both were hired through a temporary agency.

State law prohibits nepotism, or the hiring of relatives. It also says employees may not be placed in a relative's direct line of supervision.

Walton and her attorney, Steven Fulk, told IndyStar that she did not play a role in the decision to hire Hunt and Burdine and did not directly supervise them. The state personnel department was aware of the relationships among the three women and signed off on the hirings, they said.

Hunt and Fulk suggested there were other motives behind the firing.

During that same period of time, Walton had been questioning "why she was the lowest paid CFO in the state, and why it appeared she was being paid less on basis of her gender," Fulk said.

When Walton was passed over for a raise in May despite three years of exceeding or meeting expectations on her annual performance reviews, she wrote a letter to the state personnel department explaining why she felt she deserved a raise, Fulk said.

A short time later, Department of Homeland Security Executive Director David Kane expressed concerns about the employment of her relatives, even though the personnel department had cleared the hirings, Walton said.

"He told me he didn’t think I understood the nepotism rule," she said.

She ended up getting approved for a raise, but was then fired, she said. Her termination letter cites "poor (judgment) and lack of candor," but does not mention her relatives, she said.

WTHR's Sandra Chapman's "13 Investigates" has this to add:

"I was terminated unfairly. I didn't hire anyone," the embattled Walton told 13 Investigates.

But Indiana's Ethics Commission disagrees and upheld charges of nepotism against her.

"Our office received numerous complaints that she was hiring relatives," said Lori Torres, the Inspector General for Indiana.

In its unanimous 5-to-zero vote Thursday, the Ethics Commission determined that Leeann Walton hid the fact that she helped her relatives get jobs.

Walton admitted she handed over resumes for her family members and reported payment information for the positions but insists she was told by a DHS personnel director there wasn't a problem.

"As long as there was no direct line of supervision, they weren't a direct report to you and you didn't participate in their interview process, which I did not, it wasn't going to be an issue. So I didn't feel like I had done anything wrong," she explained.

But investigators with the Indiana Inspector General's office say the state's nepotism rule has been updated.

"Indiana Code 4-26-16(c) simply states that an individual employed by an agency may not hire a relative. Mrs. Walton had the authority to affect the employment and all those under her office," said Stephanie Mullaney of the Inspector General’s office.

Walton's attorney argues the charges are a stretch from the intent of the law.

"There's not a single state witness that said Lee Ann Walton hired anybody. There's no basis in fact for finding she somehow violated the nepotism rules. No base in law," said Steve Fulk.

Fulk said the women were all hired by the temporary agency.

The State points to text messages Walton wrote after the secret was out.

One of Walton's staff members wrote: "...asked me if I knew if Pat was related to you. Apparently he and the director have heard the rumors. I gave Pat a heads-up and wanted to let you know too," wrote the staff member.

To which Walton replied "I'm not sure what the hell. If she has told people then she should be let go. I can't have her there."

Walton, her aunt and sister were all terminated from DHS. Walton's step-daughter took a job at another state agency. Still, Walton believes she's being targeted.

"This has been extremely difficult," said Walton, choking back tears.

"She misrepresented her role to the commission," Torres told 13 Investigates. "People are watching. It was the people at Homeland Security that made these reports to us," she added.

Walton, who worked for several state agencies over 21 years and never had disciplinary action until her firing, says she appealed the charges of nepotism because relatives of other employees are working together within state agencies.

Torres says employees may be working at the same agency, but not knowingly under the supervision of another relative. Torres says in some rare cases there could be special exceptions that are approved by the commission.

The timing of Leann Walton's termination being so close to her having complained about being passed over for a pay raise doesn't pass the smell test. Especially since her termination letter made no reference to her having allegedly hiring relatives. The State of Indiana especially since the election of former "Godfather" Governor Mitch Daniels is well known for trumping up bogus ethics violations to get rid of state employees that won't bow down and engage in the cult worship of the Governor at the time. This practice continued on under "Pampered" Pence and now Governor Eric "Bagman" Holcomb. In our experience any case in which the Indiana State Ethics Commission brings charges against a current or former state employee. It is best to operate under the assumption that the state is railroading said state employee until proven otherwise. Steven Fulk the attorney representing Leann Walton released a statement to WTHR that raises even more questions about the state's case against Walton:

"We appreciate the work of chairman James Clevenger and the members of the Indiana State Ethics Commission in their attempt to interpret and follow the rule of law. We support of the Commission's function in seeking to uphold the ethical functioning of state government.
"More importantly, I stand resolutely with my client Leann Walton and with the evidence adduced at her ethics hearing to pursue, likewise by the rule of law, the correction of the Commission's error in its order today.
"Given that the State's own witnesses admitted that Leann Walton hired and/or supervised no relatives, we are hopeful that the commission will see its error without in the necessity of judicial review. 
"IDHS employees and hearing witnesses Kim Snyder and Beth Hampshire testified that they recommended Pat Burdine and Lisa Hunt (respectively) as independent contractors, and Ashley Walton was hired by Dave Smith and Robert Johnson within the State Fire Marshal's office. There was no evidence to the contrary.
"Additionally, because these individuals were not even State employees, but KHI contractors, as the state had been under a hiring freeze since 2016, we hope the commission will see the further error in its ruling.
"As the process of correcting such errors grinds on, we remain focused on the continuing revelations of systemic mismanagement within IDHS, including inappropriate use of federal funds, fraudulent utilization of Leann Walton's electronic credentials for FEMA funding access
and cash draws, the continuing climate of retribution surrounding reporting civil rights violations within the department (such as that suffered by Leann Walton), and the intentional omission of such equal employment opportunity violations in securing federal funds through the grants application/request process--from which revelations today's erroneous ruling is but a temporary distraction." 
Steven Fulk, Attorney at Law
If Mr. Falk's statement is true that Leann Walton's electronic credentials were fraudulently used to access FEMA federal funds. Then the Holcomb administration in the words of the great Desi Arnez has "some splaining to do"! Will Falk's allegations of mismanagement of FEMA funds at IDHS come to light at a later date? We will have to wait and see. So our fellow "armchair sleuths" please feel free to examine this story about FEMA funds from WTHR's website:


Until next time from all of us here at INDY REPUBLICAN. May God Bless You and the United States of America!


Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Does Mike Pence's face show dark secrets eating away at him?


Young Mike Pence 

Hello everyone! We were just checking our archives and noticed we haven't written about Vice President Mike Pence since July. So we felt it was time to go knock old Mikey down a few pegs. As frequent readers of this blog are aware we have pointed out how the supernaturally dark circles under Governor Eric Holcomb's eyes denote the darkness in his cold, black heart.

Well a reader of this blog found something on Twitter about Mike Pence's change in appearance over the years. Speculation is the change in his facial features might be due to some dark secrets he is carrying around in his nonexistent brain. Here is the tweet and some responses. We will post them and you can all decide what if anything the pictures show:


What dark secrets are slowly sucking Pence's eyes back into his skull?
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They're trying to fill that void in his head which, in a normal person, would be home to a fully functioning brain.


I noticed that today, too. Maybe he just sucks from the inside out?


Hypocrisy will do that to a person.

Link to above tweet: https://twitter.com/LincolnsBible/status/907749483773026304

Under Fire Todd Rokita writes OP-ED vowing he will "Defeat the Elite"


Todd Rokita pretending to have balls!

All of us at INDY REPUBLICAN know by now we maybe sounding like a broken record when it comes to Todd Rokita. But him being such an easy target we just can't resist! 

It appears that all of the negative attention that Todd has been receiving has gotten his attention. Today he wrote an article for the Langley-Controlled Indianapolis Star attempting to show Hoosiers how awesome he is. Here are some extracts from his humbly titled OP-ED "In Senate, I will defeat the elite":

Since announcing for Senate under the slogan of “Defeat the Elite”, I’ve been attacked by the Republican and Democrat establishment, liberal Joe Donnelly and his Washington allies, and liberal news columnists who still don’t get it. 

“Defeat the Elite” isn’t about taking on people who are wealthy or successful.  Achieving success through hard work is part of the American Dream.  We should celebrate and encourage that success.

It is, however, about taking on the political status quo perpetuated by many in the professional political class in Washington, D.C., who only look out for themselves.  It’s people who think they know better than you do what’s best for you and your family.

It's interesting to us that Congressman Rokita does not choose to answer the criticism against him for his shabby treatment of those who work for him as we reported on here. Or some interesting questions that have been raised about alleged misconduct while he was Indiana Secretary of State  or even rumors involving his private life click here.

If he really seeks to defeat the elite, then he should welcome the opportunity to show how he is not just another useless politician. When he mentions that he has been attacked by "news columnists who don't get it". We can't help but wonder if Mr. Rokita is not referring to IR. If so we are thrilled that he has read us. And if what we have all written here has upset him. We are overjoyed to hear that!

Keep up the good work Todd! At this rate you will be unemployed after next years primary!

Monday, September 11, 2017

Mitt Romney may run for the US Senate. Would someone tell Mitt to go the Hell away!


Mitt Romney 

The rumor mill is abuzz with reports that former Massachusetts Governor and 2012 Republican Presidential Nominee Mitt Romney will run for Utah Senator Orrin Hatch's seat in Utah if Senator Hatch does not seek reelection next year.

Jack Crowe of The Daily Caller has the story:

Romney has yet to publicly commit to a Senate run, but he has reportedly decided to run in the event that Hatch steps down after his seventh term, two sources close to Romney told Utah Policy.

Hatch, 83, remains undecided about his future political career, but has said that he will run for his eighth term contingent on the continued good health of himself and his wife. Hatch likely won’t make a final decision on whether to run in 2018 until December, effectively preventing a field of challengers from assembling, according to Utah Policy.

While Hatch hasn’t made a final determination on the 2018 race, he indicated in March he would be willing to step aside if an “outstanding person” such as Romney were to run.

All of IR is praying to God that Governor Romney decides not to run for the Senate next year. After seeing him in the national spotlight for the better part of a decade. We are all more than ready to see him ride off into the sunset!

Saturday, September 9, 2017

Anti-Elite Todd Rokita's Meeting the Elite!


Todd Rokita

It seems that man of the people Todd Rokita just can't seem to catch a break. In last Friday's Indianapolis Star September 1, 2017 Brian Slodysko reported more on Congressman and Senate Candidate Todd Rokita's management style both as a Congressman and former Indiana Secretary of State. IR recently reported on Todd Rokita's treatment of his drivers here. We are curious to see what other insights are to be gleaned about a man who desires to be a United States Senator. Also we will be delving a little bit more into some aspects of good old Todd's background that he would perhaps prefer people avoid. But as Mr. Rokita is seeking an office of great public trust. And as his allies have seen fit to start off by using scorched earth tactics against his Senate Primary opponent Congressman Luke Messer. We shall see if Rokita can take it as well as dish it out.

Brian Slodysko reporting for the Associated Press writes:

Staffers in tears. Pay cuts for small mistakes. Aides who walked out of the office — and never came back.

Working for four-term Republican Rep. Todd Rokita of Indiana is an exacting job with long hours, made more difficult by a boss known for micromanaging and yelling at his staff, according to 10 former aides who spoke to The Associated Press.

All but one of the former staffers spoke on the condition of anonymity out of concern of retribution from the congressman. They include five former congressional staffers, three who worked for Rokita when he was Indiana’s secretary of state and two who worked on his political campaigns.

But even in Congress, where ambition and ego can go hand-in-hand, Rokita’s behavior is outside the norm, according to the former aides, most of whom have worked for other elected officials.

“Todd’s a hard boss to work for. He’s got some staff turnover issues,” said Tony Will, who was a constituent service representative for Rokita for nearly three years. “But he is a very hard worker.”

One moment Rokita could charm at a GOP fundraiser. The next he would belittle his aides or question their competence over the route they took to the next event, or their choice of parking spot, three former staffers said. Some say he turned angry over small details, like the kind of letterhead used on office or campaign documents.

A Jasper County teacher asked Rokita to leave his high school civics class in November 2016 after a talk that was supposed to be about the Constitution got off on the wrong foot, according to two students.

Rokita had asked the class if they were taught about “American Exceptionalism.” But when a number of students seemed puzzled by the concept, he had a testy exchange with their teacher, Paul Norwine, whom he criticized for not including it in the curriculum, the students said.

“Mr. Rokita got very angry and said, ‘You have an American congressman in your class, what are you doing?’” said Marcus Kidwell, 19, a Donald Trump supporter who was a senior at the time. “He seems like a pretty hot-headed guy. That disappointed me because he’s a Republican and I was pretty excited to meet him.”

A review of records maintained by the Congress-tracking website Legistorm shows the rate of turnover in Rokita’s office is roughly double that of his fellow Indiana Republicans in the congressional delegation. The analysis excludes temporary workers, interns or employees who are shared by multiple members of Congress.

At least two staffers were fired after they said they intended to quit, according to three people with direct knowledge of the firings. Rokita also docked the pay of at least two congressional aides for mistakes, like a minor error in a news release, according to three former aides with knowledge of the actions. Another two staffers simply walked out on the job, according to four former aides.

Mr. Slodysko's citing that Rokita has a much higher staff turnover rate than Indiana's other congressmen lends credence to the allegations that Rokita has a problem managing his staff. If Rokita does have such a huge problem managing his own staff than one has to question his suitability to be a senator. Also for a man who claims to not be an elitist, his attitude towards his workers is confusing. Tony Cook wrote a piece for the Indianapolis Star on August 24th, 2017 titled "Indiana's anti-elite Senate candidate Todd Rokita to hold swanky California fundraiser". 

Here are some excerpts from Tony Cook's article:

U.S. Senate candidate Todd Rokita, the Indiana congressman running on an anti-elite campaign theme, is holding a swanky fundraiser in California next week.

An invitation to the Aug. 30 event  requests contributions as high as $5,400 — the maximum allowed for federal elections — and the luncheon will be held at Wayfare Tavern, a restaurant founded in 2010 by celebrity chef Tyler Florence of Food Network fame.

"With the news of Rokita's list of rules for chauffeurs and now this exclusive California fundraiser, maybe Congressman Rokita should change his catch phrase to 'meet the elite,'" said Jason Kneeland, a Messer campaign advisor.

Our staff in the course of our research came across two interesting observations made about Todd Rokita by the late great Gary Welsh on his Advance Indiana blog back in 2006. We thought we would share them with you all. 


Gary Welsh also had this to say about both then State Senator Brent Waltz and Todd Rokita: "There are those among us who think that Rokita and Waltz have a distinctive similarity, but their OUTward appearance is not one of them."

We are not sure if Gary was privy to some information about Todd Rokita and former State Senator Brent Waltz's private lives or not. But based off of rumors that all of us have heard over the years about Waltz and Rokita. It wouldn't surprise anyone here if Gary was onto something about these guys.