‘Her corruption is astounding’: Hall-Long opponents in Delaware gubernatorial primary say state report shows she’s unfit for office

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Delaware Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long has contradicted a new state Department of Elections report that found she and her husband were paid $33,000 more than they reportedly loaned her campaigns; however, her two opponents in the Democratic gubernatorial primary on Friday said that the report shows she’s corrupt and unfit for state government’s highest office.

The report and related documents that were released late Thursday — including copies of canceled checks — concluded that Hall-Long’s political campaigns repeatedly violated state law from 2016 to 2023 by not disclosing nearly $298,000 in payments to her husband Dana, who had been her campaign treasurer, or reporting $266,000 in loans to the campaign.

Hall-Long is embroiled in a three-way primary race with New Castle County executive Matt Meyer and former state environmental chief Collin O’Mara. The election is Sept. 10 — less than seven weeks away.

Despite the harsh report, state elections commissioner Anthony Albence, whose office had hired former Philadelphia FBI chief Jeffrey Lampinski to investigate the matter, told Hall-Long in writing that he was not referring the findings to Attorney General Kathy Jennings for possible criminal prosecution. Jennings said she concurred and pledged to work toward strengthening election laws so that similar issues don’t arise in the future.

Jennings issued a written statement that said if charges were brought, a defense attorney “could credibly attribute the committee’s errors to carelessness. We cannot pursue charges where the law does not provide the standards to do so; but neither should we abide a precedent that flouts the spirit of the law when committees demonstrate negligence.”

Hall-Long received the report last week and had urged Albence in writing not to release the investigatory files, arguing they were not public documents, “until such time as we can discuss our concerns with you.” Albence responded in an email that he did “not intend to publicly post or release” the report unless a public records request was made.

WHYY News made a Freedom of Information Act request last Tuesday for the files upon learning that the report had been completed after a six-month investigation, and Albence’s office released it late Thursday afternoon, nine days later. Sources have said Jennings had prodded Albence to make the report public.

Albence had not responded to requests for interviews about Hall-Long’s campaign finances since issues arose publicly last fall following a revolt within her campaign over more than $200,000 in unreported payments to Dana Long. Albence similarly has not made any comment since the report’s release.

Hall-Long would not agree to an interview about the report, but continued her practice of releasing written statements about the controversy, as she has over the last nine months.

The statement Hall-Long released late Thursday night reiterated that she “voluntarily disclosed discrepancies with previous campaign finance reports” in the fall and since then has cooperated with Albence’s office “on a confidential process to amend previous campaign finance reports.”

Hall-Long’s statement added that she will always “address any bookkeeping discrepancies head on” and noted that “none of this will be referred to the attorney general.”

In November, Hall-Long amended seven years of campaign reports to disclose $308,000 in loans and $207,000 in repayments to herself — not her husband. Her 2023 report, filed in January, forgave what the campaign said was an unpaid loan balance of more than $100,000.

She added that “contrary to the Lampinski preliminary report, our family has loaned the campaign more money than we have been reimbursed and we have forgiven that remaining loan balance.”

Lampinski’s report said that based on the bank records, finance reports and documents provided by Dana Long and the campaign, “I cannot account for the difference in their public reporting and my findings.”

Hall-Long’s categorization of Lampinski’s report as “preliminary” stands in contrast, however, to what Albence informed her Tuesday about the 16-page document.

“Please be advised that the report, dated and issued to me on July 13, 2024, by Mr. Lampinski, is his final report, not a draft. … this final version of the report is not subject to change,” Albence wrote in an email, adding that her attorney could feel free to respond to him.

In light of Lampinski’s findings, Albence also directed Hall-Long to further amend her reports to “to ensure all committee transactions … are accurately and fully reported.”

O’Mara urges AG Jennings to appoint independent counsel

While Hall-Long’s statement seeks to close the book on the nine months of questions surrounding her campaign finances, her two primary opponents contend the damning report raises even more questions.

“This independent investigation proves that Ms. Hall-Long has been lying to Delawareans for nearly a decade, and breaking the law and trying to cover it up,” Meyer said in an interview Friday.

“She must take responsibility. Ms. Hall-Long’s corruption is astounding — using campaign dollars to pay off personal credit cards, falsifying campaign documents, illegally taking money from the campaign, and lying about conducting an audit. It’s absolutely unacceptable for a public servant to behave this way.”

The Lampinski report questioned the findings and methodology of a report from Summit CPA Group LLC of Middletown, which Hall-Long hired in October to conduct what she said would be an “audit” of her campaign finance filings. That report, compiled in one month, had found no wrongdoing, but Lampinski differed with the accounting firm’s conclusions.

“That the Summit CPA Group did not appear to seek audit evidence beyond the Long’s representation that certain credit card charges were campaign related, and further accepted purported 2016 charges as campaign related with no documentation the charges had occurred, likely accounts in large part for the difference in our respective findings,” the former FBI boss wrote.

O’Mara concurred with Meyer’s sentiments and said Friday that Jennings should appoint an “independent counsel not connected” to the state’s “Democratic apparatus” to continue investigating the matter.

Jennings is also a Democrat, as is Gov. John Carney and all of Delaware’s nine statewide elective officeholders. Democrats similarly dominate the state House and Senate.

“Bottom line, this is why we need wholesale change and a new generation of leadership,” O’Mara said. “I think this is one of those times that we have to put integrity over party.”

O’Mara said that Lampinski’s “forensic fraud analysis documented blatant and sustained violations of campaign finance law — black letter violations.”

The late Attorney General Beau Biden had appointed an independent counsel in 2011 to investigate possible state campaign finance investigations after liquor executive Christopher Tigani pleaded guilty to federal campaign finance charges involving a contribution reimbursement scheme. No new charges were filed, however, and the campaign finance laws were not revamped..

“I think the only way to restore integrity and confidence in the system is to have us follow the model that Beau Bien demonstrated in 2011, when he had the courage and wisdom to appoint an independent counsel,” O’Mara said.

O’Mara also questioned Albence’s decision not to refer the findings for possible prosecution, and Jennings’s support of that call.

“I don’t understand how they came to the conclusion that there is nothing worthy of review for violating” the state’s election laws in disclosing expenses and loans, O’Mara said. “There’s multiple things worthy of [further] investigation.”

Meyer, however, stopped short of calling for an independent counsel.

“We’re still reviewing the facts,” Meyer said. “What’s clear is that she needs to be held accountable.”