“Today, I am announcing that I am suspending my campaign for Governor of Connecticut effective immediately. The continued allegations from New Britain City Hall have understandably taken over this race and diverted attention away from the critical mission of saving our state from high taxes, high costs, the most expensive energy in America, and low opportunity for young people. As I said Tuesday night, public service comes with scrutiny, and I have always accepted that. Anyone who knows me — whether from my years serving the people of New Britain, working alongside colleagues, or simply as a friend, daughter, wife, and mother — knows the kind of leader I have always tried to be.

I take the allegations that have been made against me very seriously. And for that reason, I am
suspending my gubernatorial campaign effective immediately so that I can focus on addressing
those claims. Yesterday I requested copies of of the relevant documents and I will be reviewing them carefully. I will take accountability for any mistakes, and I intend to make full and complete
restitution to the City of New Britain — my home — for anything that I owe. It is extraordinarily difficult to make this decision because we have run an amazing campaign so far.

We attracted more than 3,000 individual donors, gained commitments from over 600 delegates,
assembled what I believe is the best political team in Connecticut, and I truly believe we were poised to win the convention, win the primary, and defeat Governor Lamont in November. I do not have enough words to express my heartfelt gratitude and love for everyone from across the state who joined our movement and believed in me personally. I know many of them are disappointed. I am too. But now is the time to step away and put my husband, our daughter, our son, my family, and their interests first.

I have spoken to Senator Ryan Fazio and informed him of my decision. I also told him that he has my full support in becoming our party’s nominee, and I encourage all delegates who were supporting me to now support him. This is the time for our party to come together and spend the next six months focused squarely on electing Republicans up and down the ballot. I have also spoken to my running mate, Tim Ackert, to let him know of my decision. Tim has been a source of unceasing hope, energy, grace, and encouragement for me, and I cannot adequately thank him for agreeing to be my running mate. I will always show up for him as he has for me.

It is my intention not only to suspend my campaign but also to step back from public life as I do what is necessary to address these questions and make things right. I cannot change the past, but I can make the next right decision — and this is it.

Thank you to my family. Thank you to my friends. Thank you to my amazing campaign team, and to my loyal supporters who have stood by me through so much over the last month.”

Originally Posted By M4A2:
They all have this "credit card" and every one of them do the same thing.

Originally Posted By M4A2:
They all have this "credit card" and every one of them do the same thing.

On Thursday, Former New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart suspended her campaign for governor. State Sen. Ryan Fazio (R-Conn.) cruised to the party’s endorsement. His only remaining opponent, former New York Lt. Gov. Betsy McCaughey, failed to get the 15% she needed to trigger a primary and immediately endorsed Fazio.

Stewart’s choice for lieutenant governor, Tim Ackert, stepped aside in favor of Fazio’s running mate, Navy veteran, businessman, and restaurant owner Matt Corey.

When asked what the number one thing he wants to accomplish as governor was, he said, “to make this state affordable, to make it easy for families to raise their kids, to work and retire here in this state,” Fazio said. It no longer is, the cost of living is high for working and middle-class, and it’s only gotten more expensive under this governor’s administration,” he continued.

Originally Posted By Andrapos:
Let's get back on track -  "what a shame they haven't caught more scumbags scamming off of the taxpayers and actually investigated and prosecuted them."

Originally Posted By sbhaven:

Yeah about that...

Ansonia mayor requests investigation into ‘potential misuse’ of city credit cards, resources

Attorney General Tong and the Department of Consumer Protection commissioner are investigating former New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart’s handling of local charity assets, specifically looking into a checking account under the same name as a local charity fund.

Tong and DCP Commissioner Bryan T. Cafferelli announced the investigation on Wednesday, which will focus on Stewart’s handling of assets for the benefit of the Mayor’s Trophy Charitable Fund, which is a donor-advised fund managed by the Community Foundation of Greater New Britain.

The investigation was opened pursuant to the Solicitation of Charitable Funds Act, as the state has become aware of two relevant accounts: the fund managed by the foundation, and a checking account also named Mayor’s Trophy Charitable Fund held by M&T Bank, which is not managed by the foundation.

New documents obtained by News 8 show that the City of New Britain reimbursed former Mayor Erin Stewart more than $30,000 to cover the cost of her Master’s program, in addition to her allegedly using her city-issued credit card to fund tens of thousands of dollars in personal expenses.

A memorandum of agreement between the city and Stewart indicates that the city agreed to cover the cost of her remaining credits for her Master’s in Public Administration in May 2021, provided that she remains employed by the city and passes her courses.

“Employee [Stewart] and the City agree that this Agreement shall not serve as evidence of a past practice or precedent in the future except as to Employee named herein, nor shall this Agreement create any rights other than those specifically identified herein,” the memorandum of agreement

Erin Stewart, the former New Britain mayor whose campaign for governor was ended by allegations of misuse of taxpayer dollars, sought to receive more than $150,000 as part of a “separation payment” at the end of her tenure as mayor, according to a new report produced by a law firm probing city finances. The firm alleged that the payments defied past precedent and that a city official felt pressure to accept Stewart’s rationale for them, and that the payments were ultimately halted by Stewart’s Democratic successor.

Originally Posted By WoodBurner-CT:
That what your post sounded like, maybe be a bit more specific?

The FBI served grand jury subpoenas at New Britain City Hall on Thursday on behalf of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, requesting all documentation regarding former Mayor Erin Stewart’s city credit card use and other payouts she received while in city office.

This development comes amid an ongoing investigation into Stewart. Stewart’s gubernatorial campaign ended in May due to allegations that she had misused more than $200,000 using a city-issued credit card “to fund routine living expenses.”

The Crumbie Law Group has been investigating those allegations by probing city finances and has found that she improperly sought a $150,000 payout from New Britain before she left the city office. The law group also found that Stewart received over $30,000 in payments for her master’s program that were unauthorized under state law and the city’s charter.

Documents obtained by News 8 on Tuesday show that, in three separate letters, New Britain lawyers demanded over $240,000 in repayment from Erin Stewart, revoked her pension, and said that Stewart used the Mayor’s Trophy Charity Fund to reimburse items that she had purchased using her city-issued credit card.

The federal subpoena signed on Thursday requires the City of New Britain to testify before a grand jury, requesting the following documents:

Purchasing Card (P-card) Program Policies and Procedures Manual
City of New Britain Purchasing Cardholder Agreement for Erin Stewart
Records for P-Card training received by Erin Stewart
All account statements for the P-Card assigned to Erin Stewart
All expense reports and receipts related to purchases made with the P-Card assigned to Erin Stewart
All documents related to the reimbursements to the City of New Britain by Erin Stewart for P-Card expenses
All documents related to audits of Erin Stewart’s P-Card
All documents and communications related to Erin Stewart’s use of her municipal P-Card, including but not limited to any internal complaints regarding such usage
All documents related to New Britain’s municipal membership at The Hartford Club
All documents or records of the City of New Britain municipal accounts on Amazon, including purchases by any municipal employee on Amazon
All documents, guidelines, financial records and memoranda of understanding describing educational reimbursement programs benefiting municipal employees
All documents or records related to the Mayor’s Trophy Charitable Fund (hereinafter the Fund), including but not limited to any statements of any bank accounts used by the Fund, lists of contributions to the Fund, financial transfers by the Fund and payouts from the Fund
The names of all the New Britain Directors of Finance and the dates when these individuals served in this capacity

Sources told News 8 on June 1 that Stewart had met with the FBI and is cooperating.

Former New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart has returned more than $180,000 in public funds to Connecticut following the termination of her campaign for governor, according to campaign filings that were received Thursday, July 9.

According to the report, Erin Stewart’s campaign returned $183,175.28 in unspent money to the state’s Citizens Election Fund, which was marked as a surplus in the campaign filing report.

After noting this expenditure refunded to the state, Erin Stewart’s campaign noted a negative balance of $75 at the end of the reporting period, which was June 30. Stewart’s campaign had spent a total of $1,042,786, according to the campaign filings.

Stewart had received an $828,255 grant from the Citizens Election Fund on Jan. 12, and had obtained $287,153 in qualified individual contributions, as referenced in a Jan. 7 Connecticut State Elections Enforcement Commission meeting.