The FBI is investigating the Connecticut House Republican caucus and its use of campaign vendor mailings, and the House Republicans' chief of staff, George Gallo, has resigned, acknowledging he is a "person of interest" in the investigation.
House Republican leader Larry Cafero on Thursday said the FBI served subpoenas on Wednesday on the House Republican Office, the House Republican Campaign Committee and the Office of Legislative Management, all at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford.
On Friday, the House Republicans released three subpoenas issued to the House Republican Office; The House Republican Campaign Committee, a political action committee associated with the House Republican Office; and New Friends PAC, a political action committee associated with the House Republican Office.
The subpoenas issued on Feb. 14 are for communications between the individual offices and any direct mail vendor the office used; documents shared between staff and Gallo; correspondence, agreements and more the staff had with the Vinco Group, LLC, Direct Mail Systems, Inc. and King Strategic Group.
Letters to the three offices said the information requested is returnable on March 4, before the grand jury sitting in New Haven on that day.
The investigation surrounds a Florida direct-mail company and whether House Republican members were improperly steered to use the vendor, according to the Hartford Courant.
"Our caucus is cooperating fully with the federal inquiry into House Republican activities," Cafero said in a statement on Thursday.
Local
Federal officials have asked members of the caucus not to release any information into the nature of the investigation, he said.
According to Cafero, Democratic and Republican leaders of the Legislative Management Committee met on Thursday and have agree to comply with all federal and state statutes and any requests filed under the Freedom of Information Act surrounding the federal subpoenas.
"In addition, our Chief of Staff George Gallo today offered his opinion that he is a person of interest of the investigation. As such, he indicated that he did not want to cause unwarranted distractions to the caucus that would take away from their legislative duties. For that reason, and for personal family considerations, he tendered his resignation and it was accepted, effective at midnight tonight," Cafero said.
Gallo has served the House Republican caucus since 2007, according to Cafero.
