Tony Bennett's Newest Problem: Illegal Use of His Indiana Office?
Former Indiana K-12 boss Tony Bennett could be facing a fresh bout of trouble in light of a story about how he may have violated state law by using his public office for political purposes during the 2012 campaign for state superintendent.
The story comes via Associated Press reporter Tom LoBianco, who in late July broke the news about changes to the state's A-F school accountability system on Bennett's watch that ultimately led to his resignation as Florida education commissioner. LoBianco highlights an email that Bennett, when he was still Indiana's state superintendent, sent to staff members on Aug. 28, 2012, after his re-election opponent Glenda Ritz gave a campaign speech. Bennett wrote to his staff: "Below is a link to Glenda's forum in Bloomington. It is 1:35 minutes. I would ask that people watch this and scrub it for every inaccuracy and utterance of stupidity that comes out of her mouth."
Indiana law prohibits what LoBianco refers to as "ghost employment," which in this case means using state workers, resources, and time for explicitly political purposes like re-election campaigns. (Ritz would go on to defeat Bennett in the November elections.) In perhaps more direct evidence that Bennett might have flouted this law, Bennett campaign databases were kept on state computers. The databases included three fundraising lists and a "donor call" list. Violating the "ghost employment" statute is punishable by up to three years in prison.
Both Bennett and his then-chief of staff, Heather Neal, denied that they violated the law when LoBianco queried them about the emails, although it's not entirely clear from the AP story how