GOP consultant sues over alleged 'pay-to-play scheme' involving Trump and false elector

A Michigan Republican is suing a former ally for defamation after claims that he operated a "pay to play" scheme involving a far-right activist and possibly the state GOP and Donald Trump.

Benjamin Wetmore, the new deputy commissioner for Ottawa County, filed the suit against a former business partner who posted a letter on social media alleging that Wetmore claimed he would secure endorsements from Donald Trump in exchange for a $30,000 kickback to GOP activist Meshawn Maddock and the state party, reported the Holland Sentinel.

"As a direct result of (the) defendant's defamatory statements, clients have terminated their relationship with plaintiffs or backed out of planned business relationships with plaintiffs, causing direct pecuniary losses to plaintiffs," Wetmore wrote in his lawsuit. "These statements were objectively and provably false, and defamatory."

Wetmore, 42, an attorney licensed in Texas, moved to Michigan about two years ago and most recently worked as a legislative aide for state Rep. Matt Maddock. He filed the lawsuit last week against Adam Brassfield, a Missouri man with whom he had partnered to advise Michigan GOP candidates in last year's election.

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The lawsuit seeks $75,000 in damages, as well as attorney fees. Wetmore is asking the courts to order Brassfield to issue a press release to every newspaper in Michigan, three other states and Washington, D.C., with a retraction and an apology.

Wetmore said he regularly advises Meshawn Maddock, the legislator's wife and one of 16 defendants charged in the Michigan phony electors scheme, and Brassfield made the allegations after she told one of his clients in October 2021 that Trump would consider endorsing her in another congressional race if she dropped her campaign against his favored candidate, John Gibbs.

After losing his race against Democrat Hillary Scholten in November 2022, Gibbs was hired as Ottawa County's administrator by the county board, which is dominated by the right-wing group Ottawa Impact, and he hired Wetmore last month to replace a deputy administrator who cast doubt on the county's leadership team.