Delaware
Delaware election officials communicated with lieutenant governor’s office amid finance scandal
State election officials in Delaware communicated directly with one or more aides in Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long’s office last year amid a scandal involving her campaign finance reports, according to emails obtained by The Associated Press.
The emails show that Elections Commissioner Anthony Albence, a fellow Democrat, wanted to keep Hall-Long’s office apprised of queries by the AP about amendments to years of campaign finance reports in which Hall-Long failed to disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans.
Albence and Attorney General Kathleen Jennings, also a Democrat, have said they will not pursue criminal charges against Hall-Long or her husband for campaign finance violations uncovered in a forensic audit by a former FBI executive.
Hall-Long is seeking the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in the Sept. 10 primary. She faces New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer and former state environmental secretary Collin O’Mara.
On Oct. 23, the AP emailed election officials with questions about apparent errors in amended filings by Hall-Long. Citing technical issues, officials sent a follow-up response the next day — while also alerting a top aide in Hall-Long’s office.
“FYI,” Albence wrote in an email to Andrew Volturo, strategic advisor for policy and special projects in the lieutenant governor’s office. The email was sent to Volturo’s Gmail account, not his state government account. It’s unclear how Albence knew Volturo had a Gmail account.
Later that day, Albence directed his staff to send Volturo another update.
“Would you like to let Drew V. know about these updates, so that he is aware?” he wrote in an email to Patrick Jackson, campaign finance manager for the department. Frank Broujos, the deputy attorney general from Jennings’ office assigned to the Department of Elections, was copied on the email.
“Called Drew, who’s now in his happy place,” Jackson responded minutes later. Broujos was also copied on that email, as well as Albence’s reply.
Volturo has previously rebuffed questions from the AP about Hall-Long’s campaign finances, implying he had no involvement in or knowledge about the campaign. He did not respond to emails Thursday.
In November, Jackson informed Albence that Hall-Long and her new campaign treasurer had been advised that they should meet with Albence “to lay things out to you directly.”
“You may, for Caesar’s Wife reasons, want to stay at arm’s length or you may want to hear it … straight from Bethany’s mouth,” Jackson wrote. Jackson’s reference was to ancient Roman accounts of Julius Caesar’s divorce, with the ruler explaining that Caesar’s wife must be “above suspicion.”
After learning of the emails in response to a November FOIA request, the AP submitted another FOIA request in May for all election department communications with six specific employees in Hall-Long’s office, including Volturo. The department said it had no responsive records.
The AP filed a petition with Jennings’ office challenging that assertion, given the records of communications with Volturo it had already obtained. Despite having been copied on those emails, Broujos maintained that the department had no responsive records regarding communications with Hall-Long’s office.
Broujos acknowledged, however, that an election official and someone in Hall-Long’s office had a series of “casual conversational text messages on the department employee’s personal cellphone that were elections-related.” The elections department asserted that the texts were not public records because they were not part of the election official’s job duties, were not done at the direction of a supervisor, and were not necessary to discharge the official’s duties.
In an opinion last week, Jennings’ chief deputy sided with the elections department, describing its records search as both “extensive” and “adequate.”
Meanwhile, Albence assured Hall-Long last month that he would not seek criminal charges in the wake of the forensic audit he commissioned. The audit found that Hall-Long and her husband, Dana Long, had received payments totaling $33,000 more than what she purportedly loaned her campaign.
It also found that, during seven years as campaign treasurer, Long wrote 112 checks to himself or cash, and one to his wife. The checks totaled just under $300,000 and should have been reported as campaign expenditures. Instead, 109 were not disclosed in finance reports, and the other four, payable to Dana Long, were reported as being written to someone else.
Hall-Long has disputed the audit’s findings and described the reporting violations as simple bookkeeping mistakes.
Under Delaware law, anyone who knowingly files a campaign finance report that is false in any material respect is guilty of a misdemeanor. Jennings has said one reason she won’t prosecute is that a defense attorney could credibly attribute the reporting violations to “carelessness.”
Albence did tell Hall-Long she needed to take “prompt corrective action” by filing amended finance reports. But Hall-Long has said those reports may not be filed before the primary. Albence’s office refused to say last week whether he will allow Hall-Long to hide the reports from voters until after the election.
Why Should Delaware Care?
A recent police shooting of a 19-year-old in northeast Wilmington has become one of the city’s highest-profile use-of-force cases in years. A Delaware Department of Justice investigation into the incident is expected to be closely watched as residents look for answers and justice.
The family of Kadir Skinner, the 19-year-old who was fatally shot by Wilmington police last month, announced Tuesday they will seek $25 million from the city in a wrongful death lawsuit.
The announcement was made during a press conference the family held with their attorneys on the same day that state and city officials released body camera footage from the night Skinner was shot.
The footage shows a chaotic 28 seconds between the moment the shooting officer leaves his vehicle to chase Skinner, before firing his weapon and handcuffing the wounded teen on the pavement of a Wilmington street. Another three-and-a-half minutes pass after Skinner was shot before officers place him into a patrol car and take him to Wilmington Hospital, where he died.
During the press conference, the family’s attorney Harry Daniels referenced that the video also shows a loose dog behind Skinner as the officer begins his pursuit.
“If they continue to shoot and kill our Black men down in the street as they’re running from a dog. If they do not want to hold those who do it accountable, then we’re gonna try to hold them accountable in their pocketbooks,” Daniels said.
The wrongful death lawsuit has not yet been filed. But the attorney said the family sent the city a notice of a claim on Thursday — a required step before the lawsuit can be filed.
Wilmington officials have said officers chased Skinner after they observed him walking out of a home and pointing a gun at a large crowd of people. The family disputes the claim. The body camera footage does not show the moments prior to the foot chase.
Chance Lynch, another attorney for the family, said during the press conference that the body camera footage sparks new questions about the city account.
“Where was this crowd that he waved a gun [at]? Why didn’t they (the city) mention the pitbull? And when he was running away from the police officer, how was he a threat to that police officer?” Lynch asked.
When reached for comment Thursday, Caroline Klinger, a spokeswoman for Mayor John Carney, said questions about previous statements made by police should be directed to the Wilmington PD.
“The details of the incident are precisely what is being evaluated through the investigation,” Klinger said.
Carney did comment on the situation in a Facebook post made before the family’s press conference Thursday. In it, he asserted that body cameras have “limitations” and that the footage from the Skinner shooting “does not capture the totality of the incident.”
The news of the family’s impending lawsuit comes after the June 24 incident sparked weeks of outcry from community members and elected officials who, until Thursday, had called on authorities to release body camera footage.
Community members have also demanded the name of the officer involved, as well as police reform at the local and state level.
Many of those demands were repeated Thursday evening during a rally and march that begin a the site of Skinner’s shooting and ended at the Wilmington Police station downtown.
Four shots fired
Two hours before the Skinner family’s press conference, the Delaware Department of Justice, city officials and Wilmington police released three body camera videos from officers on the scene the night of the shooting.
The videos show two officers near 24th and Jessup streets exiting their police cruiser before pursuing Skinner on foot.
One officer fired four gunshots while chasing Skinner. Wilmington officials have said Skinner sustained one gunshot wound to the buttocks.
The shooting officer then approaches Skinner, who is already on his knees with his hands up, pushes him to the ground, and puts a knee on his back to handcuff him. During that time, the officer tells another officer to “find the gun.”
Skinner is heard saying, “I don’t got nothing.” A crowd then begins to form in the area as Skinner repeatedly says, “I can’t breathe.”
A separate video from another responding officer shows her near the scene, stopping at a spot and reaching down. She then returns to the immediate scene as sound from her body camera turns on. The shooting officer tells her to “secure the gun.” She responds, “I have it.”
Police previously said they recovered a .45-caliber handgun with an extended magazine but did not say whether Skinner was holding it when he was shot.
The officer who fired the shot, who has yet to be identified, remains on administrative leave, according to police.
In a statement, state and city officials said the investigation into the shooting is still ongoing and noted that the officers involved will be identified once a detailed public report is issued at the end of the investigation.
Read more from Spotlight Delaware
WILMINGTON, Del. (WPVI) — The family of Kadir Skinner is calling for criminal charges against the police officer who shot the 19-year-old after the release of officer body camera footage that attorneys say contradicts the police account of the incident.
The shooting happened June 24 after 11 p.m. at 24th and Jessup streets.
Calls grow for body cam video in deadly Wilmington police shooting
Body camera video shows an officer drawing and firing his weapon while yelling commands. In the footage, officers can be heard saying, “He’s got a gun,” as they approach Skinner, who is on the ground.
Skinner repeatedly tells officers he is unarmed and says he cannot breathe.
“I don’t got nothing. I don’t got nothing,” Skinner says in the video.
Footage shows officers handcuffing Skinner and kneeling on him while he continues to say, “I don’t got nothing. I can’t breathe.”
Skinner was shot in the rear.
READ MORE | ‘We need answers’: Family disputes details after man killed in Wilmington police shooting
A second body camera angle shows a crowd forming as officers instruct people to back up.
Video from a third responding officer appears to show an officer picking something up from the grass and returning toward the crowd and the officers with Skinner.
In the footage, an officer can be heard saying, “Secure the gun,” and the officer wearing the body cam says, “I have it.”
Attorneys for Skinner’s family, along with family members and community supporters, gathered at Shiloh Baptist Church in Wilmington following the release of the video to demand justice.
“Regardless if he had a gun or not, he was still shot in the back, running from police, not having been a threat,” attorney Harry Daniels said.
SEE ALSO | Family releases witness video after 19-year-old fatally shot by police in Wilmington
Attorney Chance Lynch said the footage showed “an unjustified killing.”
“What we saw and what we witnessed was an unjustified killing,” Lynch said.
Attorneys for the family contend the video disputes the police version of events. Wilmington police previously said Skinner came out of a home armed and waved a gun at a crowd before officers opened fire.
“The video that I saw, I didn’t see a crowd, and I did not see Kadir coming out of a residence. I did not see a crowd, and I did not see Kadir pointing a firearm at a crowd,” Lynch said.
Attorneys and the family maintain that Skinner was running from a loose dog.
The family also announced a $25 million claim against the city of Wilmington for wrongful death. They are seeking criminal charges against the officer who shot Skinner.
The Delaware Department of Justice is investigating.
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Delmarva Power objects to applying legislation to interim rate
The debate among commissioners over the breadth of their oversight on utility rates comes as the company has pushed back on the group, limiting its interim rate increase to half of its total request, even while it faced criticism from commissioners that it is “cruel” and “tone deaf” for continuing to press for rate hikes.
Delmarva Power, an investor-owned utility, serves 344,000 residential and nonresidential customers in the state. Its parent company, Exelon Corporation, is the nation’s largest regulated electric and gas utility.
Its customers pay a supply and a delivery charge for gas and electricity. The supply of energy comes from PJM Interconnection, a regional grid serving Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and several other states. Delmarva Power profits through the distribution fee.
Delmarva Power Region President Marcus Beal said they need to file rate hike requests to recoup money it spends on improving and maintaining the infrastructure.
“Our equipment is extremely expensive, the items that we buy, the transformers, they’re very large, complex things to build,” Beal said. “Even something as simple as a treated pole of a certain size can be very pricey, so we spend a lot of money on the grid itself.”
Under Delaware law, interim rates can be approved seven months after a rate case is filed, while the full petition is being considered by the commission. Prior to the legislation, 100% of the rate request could be implemented. The bill caps interim rates at 50% and allows 75% of the ask to go into effect after 12 months. The bill also puts limits on Delmarva Power’s infrastructure spending.
Delmarva Power spokesperson Matt Ford said the commission overstepped its authority to cut the interim rate as much as they did and the company has argued in its PSC submissions that SB 326 did not apply to the rate increase request filed in December because it had yet to be signed into law. Meyer said he signed the bill Monday.
“Delmarva Power further reserves its objections to the applicability of the legislation, should it become effective, including its impermissible retroactive application,” the utility company said in comments filed Monday afternoon with the commission.
In addition, Delmarva Power has objected to halving $23.2 million in distribution system improvement charges as part of the interim rate commissioners approved. The fee allows utility companies to recover project costs and depreciation between full rate case proceedings.
“My suggestion is, if you don’t like it, appeal it,” Iorii said.
It’s unclear whether the utility plans to appeal the order. Ford said they were reviewing it and its implications.
Tweedie said he hopes they decide not to appeal.
“If they appeal this, what they are essentially saying is, ‘We want to extract more money from our customers than the commission intended to allow,’” he said.
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