Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long refutes ‘biased’ campaign finance report

This story was produced by Spotlight Delaware as part of a partnership with Delaware Online/The News Journal. For more about Spotlight Delaware, visit www.spotlightdelaware.org.

A campaign attorney for Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long told election regulators last week that neither the lieutenant governor nor her husband pulled more money out of her campaign bank account than they had contributed to it.

The statement was part of a formal written response sent to Delaware’s elections department that sought to rebut the central claim of a recent state-sanctioned report that concluded that Hall-Long’s husband – Dana Long – had withdrawn nearly $300,000 from her previous campaign account, surpassing his contributions to it by nearly $33,000.

That report, authored by former FBI official Jeffrey Lampinski, followed months of scrutiny of Hall-Long’s campaign finances, which first arose last year when several of her staffers resigned after becoming aware of high-dollar cash transfers that had flowed from the campaign to Dana Long’s bank account.

Hall-Long, who today is a leading candidate to become Delaware’s next governor, claims those cash transfers were simply reimbursements for legitimate campaign expenses.

And, included within her rebuttal letter – sent by Washington, D.C.-based attorney Neil Reiff – were images of checks and credit card statements for expenses that appeared to total more than $16,000 in campaign expenses paid by the Longs between 2020 and 2023.

The letter indicated that the remainder of the allegedly missing $33,000 could be accounted for by dozens of additional payments made before 2020 on behalf of the campaign.

“While the Campaign wishes it could produce gas, pizza, and sub-shop receipts from 8 years ago, the required retention period for the records passed several years ago,” the letter stated.

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Finally, Hall-Long’s response asserted that Lampinski had conducted a “biased” investigation and created the false narrative that Dana Long – who had previously served as her campaign treasurer – had “knowingly obscured payments.”

When reached by Spotlight Delaware, Lampinski declined to comment for this story.

In all, Hall-Long’s rebuttal attempts to challenge the primary narrative formed by the Lampinksi report. But, it ultimately may only add to a political Rorschach test because several financial details remain unknown, including the total amount of money that has flowed between Hall-Long’s personal and campaign bank accounts.

Late last year, Hall-Long reported that her campaign had reimbursed herself and her husband for expenses totaling $207,000. But, months later, Lampinski found that total to be nearly $300,000.

Today, Hall-Long’s campaign does not appear to dispute Lampinski’s figure. Instead, it said in its statement to Spotlight Delaware that it is “continuing to obtain additional documentation and information” in order to file amended campaign finance reports.

It is not clear why the campaign needs additional time after it already had an accountant review its financial statements last fall, leading to the filing of a string of amended campaign finance reports.

Also unclear is whether any newly amended filings will come before the Sept. 10 primary when Hall-Long faces Matt Meyer, New Castle County’s executive, and Collin O’Mara, Delaware’s former environmental secretary, in a race to decide who will become the Democratic Party’s nominee for governor.

A chance to respond? 

Despite the continued lack of clarity, Hall-Long’s campaign doubled down in its statement sent Monday on its claim that Lampinski failed to recognize more than $90,000 worth of expenses that had been paid out of the Longs’ personal account.

Those expenses totaled “nearly three times the $33,178 the Lampinski Report claims was over-reimbursed to the Longs,” the campaign said in its statement. 

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In her rebuttal letter to the state, Hall-Long also asserted that the elections department did not give her campaign a chance to respond to – or clarify details within – the Lampinksi report, prior to its release.

As a result, the letter formally asked Delaware election regulators to amend the Lampinski report to include details from Hall-Long's response – or update it with the response attached as an addendum.

Hall-Long’s letter also asked Delaware elections officials for an opportunity to “go over” the contested expenses with them.

It is unclear whether Department of Elections officials intend to oblige the campaign’s requests, as they did not respond to emailed questions sent by Spotlight Delaware.

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This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Delaware Lt. Gov. Hall-Long refutes ‘biased’ campaign finance report