Cox Calls on Benson to Release SPLC Records

“The public deserves full transparency into her time on the board and her time running Michigan’s elections. If there is nothing to hide, release the records.”

LIVONIA, MI — Today, Mike Cox, former Michigan Attorney General and 21-year prosecutor, called for an investigation and full transparency into Jocelyn Benson’s relationship with the Southern Poverty Law Center, which is now facing a federal indictment covering a period that began the same year Benson was appointed to the organization’s board.

Cox filed an extensive Freedom of Information Act request seeking records between Benson, the Michigan Department of State, and the SPLC. He also urged Benson to go further and voluntarily release all files, notes, communications, and records related to her time on the SPLC board, including the period that directly overlaps with the federal indictment.

“As a former Attorney General, I know the difference between political noise and serious public corruption concerns. This is serious. Jocelyn Benson proudly served on the board of the Southern Poverty Law Center during the same period now implicated in a federal indictment alleging fraud, false statements, and money laundering tied to millions of dollars in secret payments to extremist informants.

"This federal indictment raises obvious questions: What did Jocelyn Benson know? When did she know it? And did her relationship with SPLC continue into her work as Michigan Secretary of State?”

"Benson should immediately turn over every file, email, calendar entry, meeting note, and communication involving SPLC. The public deserves full transparency into her time on the board and her time running Michigan’s elections. If there is nothing to hide, release the records.”