In a wide-ranging press conference Thursday afternoon, Michigan House representatives repeatedly stated that Democrat Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is stonewalling the House’s requests for election information.

Benson on Wednesday said she would not comply with the subpoenas issued by the House Election Integrity Committee that seeks training materials provided clerks and election workers by Benson’s office in past elections. The SOS, who has announced her candidacy to replace term-limited Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, claimed she will not comply with the subpoenas due to “security concerns.”

In his remarks, Rep. Jay DeBoyer, R-Clay Twp., noted the extensive background he shares as a county clerk with Rep. Rachelle Smit, R-Martin, who is also chair of the Election Integrity Committee. DeBoyer chairs the House Oversight Committee.

This experience, he noted, provides the pair with unique qualifications to scrutinize the materials he and Smit seek, provided they’re ever allowed to see the documents. Thus far, Benson has defiantly resisted all attempts to

“There’s something that’s being hidden,” he said. “All I’m asking is, ‘prove me wrong,’” he continued.

“Provide me the information,” DeBoyer added: “Let us review it,” he said, gesturing to Smit. “We both have experience administering elections.”

Addressing Benson’s stated concerns over security issues, DeBoyer responded that the SOS could fulfill her many public pledges for transparency by responding to the subpoenas and asking questions about what information the committee seeks.

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“I’m not interested in jeopardizing the security of our elections,” he said. “I’m interested in making sure our elections are being run according to the law. That’s it.”

Speaker of the House Matt Hall, R-Richland Twp., also expressed his frustration and simmering rancor with SOS Benson, which is among the reasons he sought – and won – subpoena powers for his five Oversight subcommittees last January.

“We want to see what the training manuals say,” he said, noting House Republicans want to discern whether Benson is providing correct instructions to local clerks.

He said that the committees could obtain the requested information from those clerks, but he suspects Benson would seek prosecutions through Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office to “keep this information silent.”

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Hall continued: “Basically let’s look at your election training materials and let’s make sure that you’re complying with laws and that you’re training them properly.”

He said that persistent delays from Benson’s office forced the Oversight Committee to issue the subpoenas.

“Jocelyn Benson says for weeks and weeks and weeks, ‘I’ll get that to you tomorrow, I’ll get that to you tomorrow.’… Finally, the Oversight Committee had enough and issued a subpoena.”

He added that Benson’s vow to not comply with the House subpoenas will wind up in court.

“We’re going to take action and just like all those other lawsuits Jocelyn Benson will lose again. We’ll get the training materials but it’s going to cost a lot of money for the taxpayers, it’s going to be a distraction. It’s unfortunate, but you know this is symptomatic of what we’ve seen. I mean remember in the 2020 election we wanted her to come testify before the committee and she stonewalled that until the legislative term ran out. So we’ve had a lot of challenges and problems with her office.”

Watch the full press conference here: