Candidates for Michigan's US Senate seat face financial disclosure complaints

A voters' rights watchdog group in Washington this week filed complaints with the U.S. Senate Ethics Committee claiming that several candidates for Michigan's open U.S. Senate seat have failed to comply with rules for completing disclosures of their personal finances.

The Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed one complaint urging the Ethics Committee to investigate Detroit actor Hill Harper, who is running for the Democratic nomination for the seat being vacated by U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., noting a financial disclosure he filed in November failed to include any sources of earned income.

The CLC argued that statement is at odds with Harper's investments in Detroit businesses and his appearing on ABC's "The Good Doctor," as well as the fact that he has lent his own campaign some $250,000 and contributed more than $200,000 of his own money to the race. Harper, however, has said he will file an updated disclosure form with the Ethics Committee by the end of this month.

The watchdog group argued that even if Harper files an updated statement it doesn't alter the fact that he was required to file an accurate one to begin within 30 days of becoming a candidate and receiving or spending $5,000 or more on his candidacy. Any extension is limited to 90 days; Harper officially became a candidate last July.

Meanwhile, in a second complaint, the CLC requested the Senate Ethics Committee to look into several other Senate candidates from Michigan failing to file any financial disclosure at all as required by law. They noted that as of now, seven other candidates haven't filed a statement, though they contend each has crossed the 30-day/$5,000 threshold.

The candidates included two Democrats, Dearborn businessman Nasser Beydoun and Ann Arbor attorney Zack Burns, though Burns has dropped out of the race. The complaint included five Republican candidates, including former U.S. Rep. Peter Meijer, R-Grand Rapids Township; mid-Michigan businessman Michael Hoover; St. Joseph physician Sherry O'Donnell; Oscoda Area School Board Trustee Sharon Savage, and Alexandria Taylor, a Wayne County lawyer.

"When candidates fail to accurately and timely file their financial disclosure reports, they deprive voters of crucial information about the financial interests of those who hope to represent them," the latter complaint said. "In some cases, the failure to accurately and timely file these reports puts even more at stake than the voters’ informational interests. The missing or inaccurate reports can conceal critical details from the Ethics Committee or law enforcement, including facts about how a campaign for Senate is ultimately funded."

A news release accompanying the complaints also referenced the recent expulsion of former U.S. Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., for allegedly filing fraudulent disclosure forms, saying it provides further reason for the Ethics Committee "to transparently communicate and enforce current financial disclosure rules with candidates." Under its rules, the committee can investigate and provide information to the Justice Department.

As a practical matter, however, it is far from clear that the committee would undertake an investigation into the absence of the disclosures or the questions surrounding Harper's, given that it's unknown how many of them will ultimately meet petition signature requirements and make the August primary ballot. As recently as last week, the CLC noted — in a call for an independent ethics body — that in 2023, the committee "dismissed nearly all of its ethics investigations and issued no penalties."

Contact Todd Spangler: tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @tsspangler

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan US Senate candidates face financial disclosure complaints