State Rep. Jason Woolford (R-Howell) on Monday called out Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson for refusing to enforce laws that she herself broke despite having previously purported that “no one is above the law.” Woolford referred to a letter issued by Attorney General Dana Nessel last month that found that Benson violated Michigan’s campaign finance laws by holding a press conference announcing her gubernatorial candidacy in the lobby of her state office building. Nessel’s letter states this qualifies as a misuse of taxpayer-funded state resources for campaign purposes.

“The fact that even one of Michigan’s highest-ranking Democrats had to acknowledge that her party’s leading gubernatorial candidate broke the law shows just how egregious Benson’s actions are,” Woolford said. “This whole episode is a damning indictment of the lawlessness Benson has engaged in throughout her time in office. That she, as the Secretary of State, violated the campaign finance laws she is in charge of enforcing makes it all the more embarrassing. Her office should assess penalties against her at the earliest opportunity.”

Despite finding Benson in violation of the law, the Attorney General said she will not be seeking criminal penalties for this violation, claiming that the Secretary of State herself must initiate all efforts to prosecute crimes under the Michigan Campaign Finance Act. Nessel’s refusal to charge Benson for an illegal act despite acknowledging its criminality comes while she is also seeking several dubious prosecutions against a variety of Republican elected officials, staff, and campaign consultants.

“Our state’s highest executive offices should be above selective, political persecution, but this incident shows that this is not the case,” Woolford said. “The double standard exhibited by our Attorney General, the top law enforcement official in Michigan, should alarm every Michigan citizen who cares about the rule of law. The hypocrisy coming from our state’s most powerful politicians has never been more apparent.”