Connect with us

New Hampshire

Legally required expense records still missing for several current, former NH officials | Manchester Ink Link

Published

on

Legally required expense records still missing for several current, former NH officials | Manchester Ink Link


The N.H. Statehouse in Concord. File photo/Hannah Schroeder, Sentinel Staff

Story Produced by the Keene Sentinel, a Member of

Copy of


The N.H. Attorney General’s Office is in charge of enforcing RSA 14-C, a state law requiring legislators to submit reports after organizations cover more than $50 of their expenses in attending political, charitable or ceremonial events.

An investigation by The Sentinel, published nearly a month ago, found several legislators attended expense-paid conservative conferences in Florida in recent years but didn’t have the required paperwork on file to show any air travel or accommodation benefits they received.

The Attorney General’s Office was non-committal this past Tuesday in response to questions on whether it is investigating potential violations of the statute or whether it has ever done so.

“The New Hampshire Department of Justice takes violations of State law seriously and proceeds with investigations and enforcement based on evidence,” Michael Garrity, the attorney general’s spokesman, said in an email.

Advertisement

“We work closely with the New Hampshire Secretary of State’s Office and the New Hampshire Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Unit would investigate alleged violations of the statute. We would not comment on any open matters, however we take appropriate action where we have evidence of violations of New Hampshire law.”

The N.H. Legislature passed RSA 14-C in 2016. The law spells out its purpose as minimizing inappropriate influence from organizations with an interest in matters pending before the Legislature.

Former Republican Rep. Edward Gordon of Bristol, chairman of the Legislative Ethics Committee, said in an interview last week that his panel is not looking into any potential violations of the law, which carries a misdemeanor penalty for those who knowingly fail to comply with its provisions.

“We are not a police force,” Gordon said. “We don’t go out looking for offenders. We would deal with it if somebody brought it to our attention in the form of a complaint. We would address it then.”

Nobody has filed such a complaint, he said.

Advertisement

The Sentinel reported on April 5 that Texas-based Young Americans for Liberty covered costs New Hampshire lawmakers incurred to attend its conferences in Florida, usually exceeding $1,000, per public records dating back to 2021. The organization spent at least $92,000 for Granite State legislators to attend these gatherings during this time, the records show.

Reasons current and former legislators offered for the missing records include failure to file, not understanding their legal requirements or forms getting lost in the mail.

After being questioned by the newspaper, some of them filed late reports for benefits received for these conferences: N.H. Reps. Juliet Harvey-Bolia, R-Tilton; Matthew Santonastaso, R-Rindge; Lisa Post, R-Lyndeborough; Rep. Tom Kaczynski Jr., R-Rochester; and former state Reps. Dawn Johnson, R-Laconia; Tim Baxter, R-Seabrook; and former state Sen. Gary Daniels, R-Milford.

Reports still were not on file on the N.H. Secretary of State’s website as of Friday for others who said they attended the Young Americans for Liberty’s 2021 conference, including former state Reps. Cody Belanger, R-Epping; Max Abramson, R-Seabrook; and William Foster, R-New Boston.

Last week, Abramson said he believed that he filed the report after the conference and hasn’t tried to refile it. Foster said he believes “that was filed but if you’re not seeing it, I’ll take a look at that.” Belanger also said he thought he filed it, but wasn’t sure what state office he sent it to.

Advertisement

Former state Rep. John Lewicke, R-Mason, said he also remembers attending one of the group’s conferences, but there’s no online record that he filed a report on any benefits received.

Online photos for the group’s 2022 conference show Rep. Erica Layon, R-Derry, in attendance, but there is no record she ever filed the required report for the gathering.

Layon did not return a call for comment last week but previously said she would make sure her report gets properly filed, adding that New Hampshire representatives have many deadlines and little help.

She went to the group’s 2021 gathering and filed a report with a list of the New Hampshire lawmakers who were planning to attend that year, including former Rep. Michael Yakubovich, R-Hooksett. He does not have any reports on file and did not return calls for comment.

Rick Green can be reached at rgreen@KeeneSentinel.com or 603-355-8567.

Advertisement

GSNC 2 Color

These articles are being shared by partners in The Granite State News Collaborative. For more information visit collaborativenh.org. 



Source link

New Hampshire

Senate panel endorses reporting exemption for players on New Hampshire Fisher Cats

Published

on

Senate panel endorses reporting exemption for players on New Hampshire Fisher Cats





Advertisement





Source link

Continue Reading

New Hampshire

Possible 2028 Democratic White House contenders weigh in on Iran with New Hampshire voters

Published

on

Possible 2028 Democratic White House contenders weigh in on Iran with New Hampshire voters


As the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran overtakes the foreign policy debate in Washington, two Democratic governors with potential 2028 presidential aspirations — Gavin Newsom and Andy Beshear — recently traveled to New Hampshire, introducing themselves to the state’s famously engaged voters. The two weighed in on the war and both criticized and questioned President Trump’s strategy and endgame. 

“If a president is going to take a country into war, and risk the lives of American troops and Americans in the region, he has to have a real justification and not one that seems to change every five to 10 hours,” Beshear told CBS News after a Democratic fundraiser in Keene. 

“This President seems to use force before ever trying diplomacy, and he has a duty to sell it to the American people and to address Congress with it,” Beshear continued. “He hasn’t done any of that. In fact, it appears there isn’t even a plan for what success looks like. He’s gone from regime change to strategic objectives and now is talking about unconditional surrender, which isn’t realistic where he is.”

Beshear also said he thought that Congress should have reined in Mr. Trump’s war powers.

Advertisement

“He is trying to ignore Congress. He’s trying to even ignore the American people,” Beshear said. 

He went on to note that the president’s State of the Union address took place “three — four days before he launched this attack,” and Mr. Trump “didn’t even have the respect to tell the American people the threat that he thought Iran posed to us.” 

Last week, both the House and the Senate failed to pass resolutions to limit Mr. Trump’s war powers and stop him from taking further military action against Iran without congressional support.

Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear speaks with voters in Keene, New Hampshire, on March 7, 2026.

Advertisement

Anne Bryson


For Newsom, the war with Iran constitutes part of a broader criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 

At an event last Tuesday in Los Angeles, Newsom had compared Israel to an “apartheid state.” Later, in New Hampshire, he sought to clarify his comment.

“I was specifically referring to a Tom Friedman [New York Times] column last week, where Tom used that word of apartheid as it relates to the direction Bibi is going, particularly on the annexation of the West Bank,” Newsom explained during a book tour event Thursday night in Portsmouth. “I’m very angry, with what he is doing and why he’s doing it, what he’s going to ultimately try to do to the Supreme Court there, what he’s trying to do to save his own political career.” 

Friedman wrote that at the same time that the U.S. and Israel are prosecuting a war in Iran, within Israel, Netanyahu’s government has undertaken efforts to annex the West Bank, driving Palestinians from their homes; fire the attorney general who is leading the prosecution against Netanyahu for corruption; and block the government’s attempt to establish a commission to examine the failures that led up to the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre of Jews by Hamas.

Advertisement

CBS News has reached out to the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., for comment.

On Iran, Newsom said, “I’m very angry about this war, with all due respect, you know, not because I’m angry the supreme leader is dead. Quite the contrary. I’m not naive about the last 37 years of his reign. Forty-seven years since ’79 — the revolution,” Newsom said. “But I’m also mindful that you have a president who still is inarticulate and incapable of giving us the rationale of why? Why now? What’s the endgame?”

img-4603.jpg

California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks with political commentator Jack Cocchiarella at an event in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on March 5, 2026.

Anne Bryson


Many attendees at Newsom’s book event said that the situation in Iran is a top-of-mind issue for them, too. Some said they’re “horrified” by what is happening.

Advertisement

29-year-old Alicia Marr told CBS News she decided to attend Newsom’s event because of his social media response to the war with Iran. 

“There was one spot left, and I decided to pick it up, and it was due to his response to the war, that it is just unacceptable, and I would agree with that,” Marr said.

While some voters like Marr are eager to hear about where potential candidates stand on foreign policy, many at Newsom’s event said they care most about how potential candidates plan to address domestic issues. 

“I’m more focused on getting the middle class back on track and fighting the oligarchy, and I’m less invested in international issues,” said Anita Alden, who also attended Newsom’s event, 

“I wouldn’t call myself America first, but we have so many problems at home that are my priority,” she told CBS News. 

Advertisement

Former Vice President Kamala Harris, who may also be weighing another White House bid, told Fox 2 Detroit last week that she “unequivocally opposes” the Trump administration’s military action in Iran and urged Congress to take action. 

“If we want to stop Donald Trump with this random decision that he has arrived at, then Congress must act, and Congress must act immediately. The American people do not want our sons and daughters to go into this unauthorized war of choice,” Harris said. 

Mr. Trump has lashed out against Democrats who have pushed back on his Iran strategy, calling them “losers” last week and arguing that they would criticize any decision he made on Iran.

“If I did it, it’s no good. If I didn’t do it, they would have said the opposite, that you should have done this,” the president said.

Advertisement



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

New Hampshire

Mass. man nabbed after allegedly driving over 100 mph in N.H.

Published

on

Mass. man nabbed after allegedly driving over 100 mph in N.H.


Local News

Police say the Attleboro man was driving 104 mph in a 55 mph zone on Route 202 near in Rindge, New Hampshire.

A Massachusetts man was arrested late Wednesday night after police say he was driving more than 100 mph on a New Hampshire roadway. 

Officers with the Rindge Police Department stopped a vehicle shortly after 11 p.m. on Route 202 near Sears Drive in Rindge following a report of a car traveling at excessive speed, according to a statement from Chief Rachel Malynowski. 

Advertisement

The vehicle, a 2020 Kia Stinger, was spotted traveling at 104 mph in a posted 55 mph zone, Malynowski said. 

The driver, a 21-year-old man from Attleboro, was arrested and charged with reckless operation of a motor vehicle, according to police. 

He is scheduled to be arraigned April 5. If convicted, the man faces a fine of at least $750, in addition to the court’s penalty assessment, and a 90-day license suspension, Malynowski said. 

Sign up for the Today newsletter

Get everything you need to know to start your day, delivered right to your inbox every morning.

Advertisement





Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending