Dennis Milligan
LITTLE ROCK – A top deputy for Arkansas Treasurer Dennis Milligan has been suspended with pay pending an investigation into allegations that he sent campaign-related emails while working as a charity’s lobbyist.
Milligan’s deputy chief of staff Jason Brady was placed on paid leave Friday. Office spokesman Grant Wallace said Brady would be on paid leave at least through Wednesday.
A message left at a cellphone previously listed as Brady’s was not returned Monday afternoon.
Wallace said the internal review covers emails sent in 2013 and 2014 to Milligan’s campaign from Brady’s email account at the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, where Brady was a lobbyist. The nonprofit cannot engage in political activity.
Arkansas News Bureau reported about the emails during the weekend. The report said one Brady email asking for an expense reimbursement told campaign workers to keep his name off of campaign contribution reports for “job security” reasons.
In an emailed statement Monday, Milligan called Brady an “experienced and trusted advisor.”
“I provided Brady with a campaign email address and expected him to use it to communicate with me and others tied to my campaign,” Milligan wrote. “If he used resources he should not have at his former employer, it was against my design and wishes, and I will discuss with Brady ways he can make amends to the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.”
Milligan also said Brady had not used his state email address, computer or Internet service for campaign purposes, and the office had conducted a “quick but thorough” review of his email communication to make sure.
Brady previously worked as deputy chief of staff for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. Milligan said Brady worked on his Republican treasurer campaign as an unpaid volunteer.
Milligan’s office said the investigation is not related to its recently adopted policy of destroying all emails after 30 days. According to a memo written by Gary Underwood, chief information officer for the treasurer’s office, on April 17, all staff were directed to delete emails after 30 days “on a regular and systematic basis.”
Wallace said the policy went into effect that day. He also said it was based on policies at the Arkansas attorney general’s office and secretary of state’s office.
Laura Labay, a spokeswoman for Secretary of State Mark Martin, said the policy is in place to ensure there’s enough server space for the office’s more than 160 employees to conduct everyday business. She said the policy was put in place by a previous administration before Martin took office.
Attorney General Leslie Rutledge is in the midst of a systematic review of employee policies, said spokesman Judd Deere. He also said the policy was put in place by a previous administration.
“It is one of a number of policies in an employee manual that are undergoing a review process to determine, which policies will be kept, amended or rewritten,” he said.
(Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten, broadcast or distributed.)
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