Michigan investigating complaints over Trump event at sheriff’s office

• Michigan Bureau of investigations investigating two complaints against sheriff who hosted Donald Trump campaign event
• State law prohibits using public resources to promote political candidates
• Livingston County Sheriff Mike Murphy had argued the Trump speech was a press conference, “not a political event”

The Michigan Bureau of Elections is investigating allegations that the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff Mike Murphy violated state campaign finance law when hosting Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump this week.

The former president spoke Tuesday in a Livingston County Sheriff’s Office garage, where he was flanked by four Michigan sheriffs, including Murphy, and backed by a line of sheriff’s department vehicles.

The event, organized and promoted by Trump’s campaign, has so far sparked two campaign finance complaints against Murphy and his office, according to Angela Benander, a spokesperson for the Department of State.

The Bureau of Elections will investigate, she said, declining to share any details of the specific allegations. The probe was first reported by Detroit Metro Times.

The Michigan Campaign Finance Act holds that a “public body or a person acting for a public body shall not use or authorize the use of funds, personnel, office space, computer hardware or software, property, stationery, postage, vehicles, equipment, supplies, or other public resources” to support political candidates.

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In a video he posted before Trump’s campaign speech, Murphy claimed it was "not a political event.” The sheriff instead described it as a "press conference" about safety and crime that would include media members and "some special guests that are by invitation only."

Murphy also noted the local court and prosecutor’s office, located in the same building complex as the sheriff’s office, had to close at noon to accommodate the tight security around the event.

In his remarks, Trump asserted there would be “crime, chaos, destruction and death” if his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, is elected. He promised “law, order, safety and peace” if voters send him back to the White House.

Trump’s campaign deferred comment on the campaign finance complaints to the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office.

"I don’t believe I violated the campaign finance act," Murphy said in an email to Bridge Michigan. "I welcome the investigation.

Michigan's campaign finance law covers state elections and candidates running for state office, while the Federal Election Commission enforces federal campaign finance laws in federal races. The distinction leaves open questions about the how, if at all, Michigan's rules could apply in a presidential campaign event.

It’s not the first time Murphy, a Republican, has drawn scrutiny for alleged campaign finance violations. 

The state determined he broke the law after appearing in uniform with a department vehicle in a 2018 gubernatorial campaign video for Republican Bill Schuette.

In that case, the Michigan Bureau of Elections determined Murphy used public resources for what amounted to a campaign contribution to Schuette because he “appeared numerous times in uniform for the commercial, and that a Livingston County Sheriff's vehicle was featured prominently through most of the commercial and all of this was staged.”

Murphy ultimately paid $100 to the state and another $100 to the county as a reimbursement in order to settle the matter in 2019.